35-year-old loved his dog, the outdoors and his mother who is accused of killing him

Chase Catelli never did anything without his dog.

“His favorite thing to do was just drive around with his dog,” said Crystal Michaels, Catelli’s half-sister. “That was his best friend and really, it was, like, pretty much his only friend other than talking to us.”

Catelli, 35, was shot and killed in June. His mother, 58-year-old Christine Catelli, admitted to killing her son, cutting off his head and dumping his body in Whitman County.

His body was not discovered until last month, when Christine Catelli confessed to the killing and led authorities to her son’s body. According to court documents, Christine Catelli’s brother persuaded his sister to turn herself in after she told him Jan. 14 she killed her son before she entered drug rehabilitation last summer.

Christine Catelli said in court documents she shot her son multiple times because she “didn’t want him to suffer.” The shooting happened at her boyfriend’s Spangle home, where, according to Michaels, Chase Catelli also lived off and on.

Michaels, who lives in Georgia, said Chase Catelli had a rough childhood.

“I knew all about his life,” Michaels said. “He would tell me stories about everything his mother did to them, and they were horrible.”

Still, Michaels said her brother was full of life and love, including for his mother.

Michaels and Chase Catelli share the same father, Robert Edinger, who Michaels described as a decorated Vietnam War veteran. She said she has not spoken to Edinger in a dozen years.

“His main concern in life was his mom,” Michaels said of Chase Catelli.

In November 2020, he wrote a Facebook post saying he hoped to one day buy a home for his mother. Chase Catelli often wrote on his Facebook page about depression, loneliness and how he missed his family. His posts stopped in December 2020.

Michaels said she spoke with her brother frequently up until about the last 1½ years of his life. She knew he had a drug problem.

“He was really calm, sweet and passive for the most part,” she said.

Michaels said Chase Catelli had five children. He loved animals and outdoor photography, taking pictures of animals and landscapes. She said he would stop his vehicle on the side of the road and take pictures if he saw an animal.

She said he played with reptiles like turtles and snakes, and showed her, via video calls, that he made friends with animals, like chipmunks and raccoons.

“Pretty much every animal would just follow him around, I think,” Michaels said. “He was like an animal spirit.”

She said she and others tried to contact Chase Catelli last year, but he never answered. She feared something bad may have happened to him, or perhaps that he was in jail.

Michaels said her brother took road trips with his dog, taking photos and hanging out by himself during the trips, which could have also explained why she could not reach him.

“We tried like crazy to get in touch with him,” she said.

Michaels said she was devastated when she found out what happened.

“The same woman that I knew that destroyed his whole life is the same one who’s gonna take it,” she said.

Christine Catelli is in the Spokane County Jail facing a second-degree murder charge. She is scheduled for an arraignment Tuesday in Spokane County Superior Court.