A New Jersey jury on Friday found Paul Canerio guilty of murdering his brother and his brother’s family before setting their house on fire.
Caneiro, 59, was charged with killing his brother, Keith, his sister-in-law, Jennifer, and their two young children, Jesse and Sophia, in Colts Neck in November 2018. The jury convicted him on all four murder counts.
Prosecutors said Caneiro disabled his brother’s home surveillance system before setting his brother’s mansion on fire. He was also accused of starting a fire at his own home in Ocean Township, where his wife and two daughters were inside.
The jury found Caneiro guilty on all 16 counts he faced. In addition to the murders, he was charged with multiple arson and weapons offenses, misapplication of an entrusted property and hindering the prosecution.
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The judge at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold set Caneiro’s sentencing for May 12. Caneiro faces life in prison, but he may appeal the verdict and/or file a motion for a new trial by Feb. 23, the judge said.
Caneiro pleaded not guilty to the murders in 2018.
Massacre over money, prosecutors say
Prosecutors said Caneiro’s motive was to receive $1.5 million from an insurance policy if his brother’s family was dead.
According to the 16-page indictment, he was allegedly about to be cut off from the family’s technology company after money went missing from the firm.
Keith Caneiro wrote in an email the night before the murder that he would stop paying his brother’s wife until he could find the missing funds, the document stated.
Prosecutors said they found Paul Caneiro’s clothes hidden in the basement with his neice’s blood on them. They also said a gas can was found in his driveway, evidence of arson.
Defense argues a third brother could have been involved
The defendant’s two daughters took the stand Tuesday to defend their father.
Marissa Caneiro described to jurors the moment she and her dad were told her uncle and his family died.
AP
“When they told us everyone died, my dad was really upset and crying. He fell to the floor, and I was just holding him,” she said.
Jurors were also shown a video of the defendant’s family on their lawn after escaping flames at their own home.
Paul Caneiro’s lawyers said throughout the trial that police failed to investigate a third brother. They said he also would have received $1.5 million from the insurance policy, but that brother was not in court.
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