The New Jersey tech boss accused of gunning down his business-partner brother after the sibling 𝒄𝒂𝓊𝓰𝒉𝓉 him stealing — money prosecutors have said funded an 𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝒻𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇 — teared up Monday as jurors heard he methodically “hunted” down and killed the victim’s family.
Grisly details of the 2018 quadruple murder were laid bare for jurors in Monmouth County Superior Court, with prosecutors accusing Paul Caneiro, 59, of being driven to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 because of “greed and desperation” after his brother, Keith, accused him of swiping money from a trust fund.
“On Nov. 20, 2018, the defendant murdered a family of four in their own home,” prosecutor Nicole Wallace said, referring to Keith, his wife Jennifer, 45, who was also shot, and the couple’s kids, Sophia, 8, and Jesse, 11, who were viciously stabbed to death.
Paul Caneiro sobbed in court Monday as prosecutors detailed how he methodically “hunted” down and killed his brother and his family in 2018.Law & Crime
A prosecutor told jurors during opening statements at Paul Caneiro’s murder trial Monday that he “hunted” down his sister-in-law, niece and nephew after executing his brother so the dad couldn’t protect his family.Law & Crime
“He waited until dark until the early morning hours after midnight. He came prepared. He armed himself with a handgun, wore black, snuck up on the family while they slept.”
She alleged Paul first shot Keith, 50, to death when he came outside to check the generator after he cut the power to the family’s $1.5 million Colts Neck mansion so he couldn’t protect his family.
He then fatally shot Jennifer before knifing his little niece and nephew and then set fire to their home in hopes of covering up what he’d allegedly done.
Caneiro began crying as his own lawyer, Monika Mastellone, blamed a third Caneiro brother, Corey, for the heinous murders, claiming Paul was “best friends” with Keith and loved him and his family dearly.
Caneiro is on trial for killing his business partner brother, Keith Caneiro, 50, his wife Jennifer, 45, and their daughter and son, Sophia, 8, and Jesse, 11.
Paul Caneiro is slated to go on trial for allegedly killing his brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew in 2018.for New York Post
Paul and Keith — who together ran a tech company called Square One — “loved each other very much,” Mastellone said as Paul pulled his glasses down and dabbed his eyes.
“They were best friends.”
The accused kin killer carried out the slaughter because his younger brother found out that he was stealing tens of thousands of dollars to fund an 𝒶𝒻𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇 with a mistress, prosecutors previously claimed, according to a report by the Asbury Park Press.
Paul Caneiro in an undated booking photo.?????????????
Paul Caneiro standing in court.Law & Crime
But Mastellone said Paul would never have killed his brother — let alone for such a paltry sum of money — and instead pointed the finger at Corey, 52.
“There is no world in which Paul would murder his own brother Keith — let alone his family, including his baby niece and nephew — over that money, over $78,000,” Mastellone said.
Corey, she claimed, would have had the same financial motive as Paul, since both brothers stood to inherit $1.5 million each if Keith and his family died.
Caneiro allegedly set his brother’s home on fire after killing the family, to cover up what he’d done. Then Caneiro set his own home on fire to make it look like they were all being targeted, prosecutors alleged.Brigitte Stelzer
“Paul’s financial situation was a house of cards, but what you’ll also hear during this trial was that Corey Caneiro’s situation was even worse,” Mastellone said.
But officials said Keith called Paul the day before the murders, confronting him about why money was missing from a trust fund that was being used to pay Keith’s $3 million life insurance policy premiums, officials claimed.
Paul was the sole trustee of the fund.
Paul dodged the grilling, claiming he had a migraine. The next day, he killed Keith and his family before his swindling could be confirmed, prosecutors alleged.
“It was this, the entanglement of their finances, that was the cause of some discord between the brothers and really the crux of the defendant’s motive,” Wallace claimed. “The defendant’s house of cards was about to come crumbling down.”
Firefighters battled the blaze at the house in Colts Neck, NJ, in 2018.WABC
Keith was allegedly shot in the head four times, with his wife shot in the head as well.
Paul “waited in the shadows” for his younger sibling to come outside and check the generator after he cut the power and turned off the backup power, Wallace alleged.
The alleged killer then started a slow-burning fire in the basement, and the two children, still breathing, inhaled smoke as they bled out, Wallace claimed.
After that, Paul went home and set his own Ocean Township home ablaze to make it look like the whole family had been targeted, Wallace claimed. But he made sure his own wife and kids escaped without injuries.
The prosecution called a handful of witnesses Monday to testify about the dire financial straits that Paul and he and Keith’s company were in.
Guli Basu, a former director at the Doris Duke Foundation, talked about how the non-profit was likely going to drop Paul and Keith’s company because their services were too expensive.
The brothers’ longtime accountant, Steven Weinstein, told jurors about how the Doris Duke Foundation made up 90% of Square One’s business.
The torched New Jersey mansion.for New York Post
Weinstein said Keith knew they were going to lose the lucrative client and had planned to sell the company and get out of business with his brother. The move would’ve been a big financial hit for Paul, who was getting paid by Square One while on disability.
Paul and Keith’s insurance broker, Ronald Artiges, testified about helping Keith get to the bottom of discrepancies with his life insurance payments.
The fourth and final witness of the day, Ben Paolucci, testified about how he was a close friend and neighbor of Keith whose son was close to Jesse.
He recounted going to dinner with a “frustrated” Keith a few days prior to the murders and told him to “start worrying about himself and his family” and stop supporting his brother Paul.
Then on the day of the murders, Paolucci texted Paul and Keith — not yet knowing he was dead — alerting them Keith’s house was on fire and telling Paul to come right away. Paul told Paolucci the police weren’t letting him leave the station because of another suspicious fire at Paul’s house and he couldn’t come to Keith’s home.
After Paolucci informed Paul someone was lying on the ground outside Keith’s house, Paul texted him back: “I can’t breathe.”
“I am sorry for your loss,” Paolucci texted Paul back when he found out all four family members were dead.
Caneiro faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted on the top charges.for New York Post
Paolucci never heard from Paul again after he was arrested.
The neighbor testified he went to the scene of the crime and told cops that Keith and his brother Paul had been having problems.
“We were very upset when we found out the babies were dead, Jen was dead, Keith was dead,” Paolucci said. “Everybody was crying.”
Paul has insisted on his innocence on 16 charges of murder, aggravated arson, weapons possession, theft, hindering his arrest, and related crimes. He faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted on the top charges.
He’s been jailed without bail since his arrest on Nov. 21, 2018.
The case has faced years of delays for myriad reasons, including the courts’ slowdown during the pandemic, Paul’s lawyers seeking to keep DNA and surveillance evidence out of trial, and a new lawyer joining his case last year.
A panel of 12 jurors and four alternates will be tasked with deliberating at the trial, which is slated to last up to 2 1/2 months.
Corey did not immediately return a request for comment Monday afternoon.
Trial is set to resume Tuesday.