Jury convicts New Jersey man in murder and arson plot

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A Monmouth County jury on Friday convicted Paul Caneiro of killing four relatives in 2018, according to Associated Press reporting. The jury found him guilty on four murder counts, two aggravated arson counts and two weapons counts, after deliberating for about five hours.

Prosecutors told jurors that the killings grew out of a dispute between brothers, including what they said was Keith Caneiro’s discovery that Paul Caneiro was stealing money from their businesses and from Paul personally. They said Paul then attacked Keith’s family while they slept and carried out additional arson afterward in an effort to make it appear the entire family was being targeted, AP reported.

The case arose from fires reported at both brothers’ homes on Nov. 20, 2018. Emergency crews responded to the fires, and AP said Paul Caneiro’s wife and children escaped safely from their home in Ocean Township.

Keith Caneiro was found dead outside his burning Colts Neck mansion, AP reported. Prosecutors said he had been shot numerous times. Inside the home, investigators found Jennifer Caneiro, who prosecutors said had been stabbed and shot, along with the couple’s two children, 11-year-old Jesse and 8-year-old Sophia, who prosecutors said were also stabbed.

During the two-month trial, prosecutors described a sequence in which Paul Caneiro allegedly sneaked up on his brother’s family in the middle of the night and then set fires at both homes to cover what investigators said he did. Prosecutors also pointed to what AP described as Paul Caneiro’s focus on a life insurance trust account tied to Keith in the day before the killings, according to their closing argument.

Caneiro’s attorney, Monika Mastellone, told jurors during her closing that prosecutors’ case depended on an investigation she characterized as incomplete. She told the jury that authorities developed “tunnel vision” around her client and, in AP’s account, “did not investigate any other suspects, even obvious ones,” and she criticized what she said was a failure to pursue additional investigative steps that could have identified other potential contributors.

Mastellone also emphasized that a third Caneiro brother denied any role in the deaths, and she suggested to jurors that other people may have been involved. AP reported that during her closing argument she floated an idea that two people reportedly seen at Keith Caneiro’s home shortly before police and emergency responders arrived may have been involved; prosecutors rejected that suggestion, saying the two men were first responders and that neighbors were wrong about the time they were spotted.

AP also reported that Caneiro’s trial had been delayed multiple times, including delays tied to the coronavirus pandemic and additional legal disputes over what evidence could be presented, including arguments before New Jersey’s state Supreme Court. After the guilty verdict, Caneiro faces a potential life term when he is sentenced May 12, AP reported.