Kitsap County Prosecutors plan to file murder charges Thursday against a Bremerton man suspected of stabbing his wife at their apartment Monday morning.

Michael Charles Cully, 27, made an initial appearance in Kitsap County Superior Court Tuesday afternoon in red jail garb following his arrest and interview by Bremerton detectives.

Police believe Cully stabbed and killed Girlie Q. Weight, 26, while she showered, then attempted to "establish an alibi" to cover up the alleged crime.

Those who attended Tuesday''s court hearing, in which Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jay Roof found probable cause to hold Cully on $500,000 bail at the Kitsap County jail, remained in disbelief.

Beverly Atkins, of Bremerton, said Cully and Weight were "the cutest couple," who were happy and hard-working parents raising their 1-year-old daughter. She described Cully as "laid back," and someone who "you never heard yell or scream."

"He just must have snapped," she said.

Atkins and Crystal Jackson, also of Bremerton, said they are the godmothers of the 1-year-old, who police say was in the house at the time of Weight''s death.

"This is just a real tragedy," Jackson said.

Police were called to 634 Montgomery Avenue at about 11 a.m. Monday on a report of a woman who was not breathing. There, they found Weight dead in the bathroom.

Cully was detained by detectives outside the apartment initially because he had made the 911 call to police.

After hours of interviews Cully confessed to killing the woman and even took detectives to a Dumpster on Nollwood Drive where a butcher knife, believed to be the homicide weapon, was recovered.

Cully allegedly stabbed Weight "about seven times," mainly in the chest and throat area, while she was taking a shower, according to the statement of probable cause for his arrest. He also attempted to clean up the bathroom floor using cleaner and towels, changed his clothes, and made a "series" of phone calls "to establish an alibi" following the alleged crime, detectives said.

Cully reportedly told detectives he was "sorry for what he did." Detectives said the couple had argued around 8 a.m. Monday morning about their relationship, and that "Cully suspected Weight had a relationship with another man," the probable cause statement said.

"It''s a shocking, despicable crime," said Jennifer Lindley, who told a cadre of broadcast television cameras in a hallway outside the courtroom Tuesday that she''d known the couple about four years. "A young girl''s mother he''s taken away."

The coroner''s office determined Weight died of "multiple sharp force injuries," and her death has been classified as a homicide.

Their 1-year-old daughter was taken into protective custody by police.

"Their daughter is the one who''s going to pay for this," Lindley said. "We can only hope and pray she ends up in the right hands and with a loving family."