The trial of a New Jersey businessman accused of killing his brother and the brother’s family and setting their house on fire began Monday, more than seven years after his arrest.
Paul Caneiro, 59, was arrested in late November 2018 for the murders of his younger brother and business partner, 50-year-old Keith Caneiro, his 45-year-old sister-in-law, Jennifer Caneiro, and the couple’s two young children, 11-year-old Jesse and 8-year-old Sophia.
Caneiro’s headline-grabbing quadruple murder trial — which saw multiple delays due to the COVID pandemic and disputes over evidence — got underway in Monmouth County Superior Court in Freehold on Monday, where defense attorney Monika Mastellone vigorously defended her client’s innocence.
Paul Caneiro, formerly of Staten Island, is accused of shooting his brother in the head and back in the driveway of the man’s $1.5 million home in upscale Colts Neck, N.J., just days before Thanksgiving, 2018. He then went into the house, shot and stabbed his brother’s wife, and repeatedly stabbed his nephew and niece, prosecutors said.
After the gruesome attacks, which investigators say were carried out for financial gain, the defendant went into the basement and set the mansion ablaze, according to prosecutors. He is also accused of setting his own home on fire to mislead investigators while giving the “illusion” that his family had also been targeted.
“He did not set any house on fire,” Mastellone told the jury. “And he certainly did not brutally murder the family members that, you will hear, he loved and cherished and adored so much.”
The defense also challenged the prosecution’s argument that the defendant killed his younger brother after he was caught stealing money from their business, suggesting that another brother may have been responsible for the slayings.
The other brother, Corey Caneiro, would also benefit from Keith Caneiro’s $3 million life insurance policy, Mastellone said.
The high-profile trial of the man accused of killing a wealthy couple and their two children — a crime that shook the Monmouth County community and made national headlines — is expected to last until at least March 20. According to NJ.com, it is the “biggest murder trial in N.J. in the past five years.”
