Paul Caneiro, the New Jersey tech boss accused of killing his brother and the sibling’s family, was “very quiet” while his wife and kids sobbed at the revelation their relatives were dead, a cop told jurors Thursday.
Caneiro’s reaction caught the attention of investigators when he, his wife and daughters were taken to the police station after a suspicious fire started at their Ocean Township, NJ, home earlier that morning.
While at the station, the Caneiros got a text from a friend and started seeing press reports that Paul’s younger brother Keith and Keith’s family were found dead after a fire ignited at their Colts Neck, NJ mansion, Detective Christopher Brady with the Ocean Township Police Department testified.
“They had received a text message from a family friend advising them of the fire” and “they were seeing media updates,” Brady said.
“There were a lot of emotional outbursts and crying,” the detective said.
While Paul, 59, did look “upset,” he “was very quiet. He did not say a lot,” Brady told the jury.
Prosecutor Nicole Wallace told a Monmouth county jury Monday that Paul killed his business partner brother and his family on Nov. 20, 2018, and then set their home on fire to cover up the killings. He then returned to his own home and sparked a blaze there to make it look like he was also being targeted, Wallace claimed.
But unlike with Keith’s family, Paul made sure his wife and daughters got out unscathed, the prosecutor said.
Paul carried out the quadruple homicide after Keith the night before confronted him about stealing $78,000 from a trust fund meant to pay for Keith’s $3 million life insurance policy, Wallace claimed.
Paul and a third brother, Corey, stood to split the life insurance payout in the event that Keith and his whole family had died.
And Paul was struggling financially, living outside his means while on disability at a time when he and his brother’s companies were declining, Wallace said. The duo co-owned tech firm Square One and vermin control company EcoStar.
What the jury hasn’t been told is that in addition to paying for three Porsches and a lavish lifestyle, Paul was also allegedly bankrolling his mistress’ $50,000 Audi Q5 SUV and rent, a fact which prosecutors disclosed to the judge during a hearing last summer.
The jury Tuesday heard a call from a livid Keith around 6 p.m. the night before the murders yelling at Paul to give him the login information for Keith’s trust account so he could find out where his money went.
Keith hung up on Paul after demanding the brother give him an answer within two hours.
Instead of turning over the information, Paul plotted to kill his brother just hours later, Wallace said.
Paul went to Keith’s manse in the middle of the night, cut the power and turned off the generator, “waiting in the shadows” for Keith to come outside and check on the electricity, Wallace said.
Then Paul shot Keith in the head four times, before going into the home and shooting and killing Keith’s wife, Jennifer, 45, and then repeatedly stabbing Keith’s daughter, Sophia, 8, and son, Jesse, 11, Wallace alleged.
Finally, Paul started a slow burning fire at the brother’s home, forcing the bleeding children to breathe in smoke as they died, Wallace claimed.
Caneiro pleaded not guilty to murder and related charges.
His lawyer, Monika Mastellone, suggested to the jury Monday that Corey Caneiro may have committed the slayings, since he also stood to inherit $1.5 million if Keith’s whole family died.
Mastellone claimed investigators from the start made up their minds that Paul was the killer and failed to investigate any other potential suspects.
When Mastellone described how close Keith and Paul were, Paul began crying in court.
Over the past two days, a handful of law enforcement officers and fire officials have been called to testify about responding to both fires and suspecting they were cases of arson.
Some of Paul and Keith’s neighbors have also been put on the witness stand to tell jurors about what they did when the fires began.
The trial is slated to last up to 2 1/2 months.
