A Brother's Betrayal? How a Torched N.J. Mansion Led Police to a Slain Family and a Shocking Arrest
A Brother's Betrayal? How a Torched N.J. Mansion Led Police to a Slain Family and a Shocking Arrest Crime News,Murder,News Two days before Thanksgiving, flames tore through the $1.8 million New Jersey mansion where tech entrepreneur Keith Caneiro and his wife raised their children. Neighbor Boris Volshteyn first reported the fire, calling 911 on the afternoon of Nov. 20, after seeing smoke billowing from the basement. “Oh my God,” exclaimed Volshteyn, as he made his way towards the front yard, “there’s blood here!” Get push notifications with news, features and more. Follow Following You'll get the latest updates on this topic in your browser notifications. The blood was Keith’s: the 50-year-old had been shot multiple times just feet from his front door. Inside the Colts Neck home, investigators found the charred remains of his wife, Jennifer, 45, and their two kids, 8-year-old Sophia and Jesse, who’d only turned 11 the week before. The identity of the suspect would shock the affluent town some 60 miles from New York City: Arrested in the case was Paul Caneiro, Keith’s older brother and longtime business partner. He is charged with four counts of murder and two counts of arson. The 51-year-old Paul, investigators allege, fatally shot Keith before shooting and stabbing Jennifer and also stabbing his niece and nephew. He then allegedly set a slow-burning fire in the basement of his brother’s home. Later, with his own wife and children still inside, Paul allegedly set fire to the exterior of his own home, just a short drive away in Ocean Township. The arsons were part of a “ruse,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni alleges, designed to both destroy crucial evidence and misdirect detectives by creating “the illusion that the overall Caneiro family was somehow victimized or targeted.” Paul has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers have not responded to PEOPLE’s requests for comment. The Caneiro brothers were close. After growing up on Staten Island, both brothers moved to New Jersey in the late 1980s, when Keith hired Paul as the first official employee at Square One, the Asbury Park-based technology start-up he founded in 1989. In five short years, the booming company was generating nearly $6 million in revenue. In time, they’d absorb a failing pest control business, turning it into a moneymaker. But after the tech boom bubble burst, the brothers’ businesses started struggling. Keith decided to explore his options, childhood friend Connie Thanasoulis tells PEOPLE — including searching for jobs at other firms and getting a masters degree at Columbia University. Gramiccioni says evidence collected in the investigation allegedly suggests Paul’s motive was “financial in nature.” A case backlog means that Paul may not face trial until early 2020. If convicted, Paul faces 30 years to life in prison on each of the four murder counts.
