A New Jersey man was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole after he was convicted of murdering his brother and his brother’s family in what the judge said were “brutal” and “calculated” killings.
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Paul Caneiro, 59, was found guilty in February of murder, aggravated arson, theft and other crimes in the 2018 deaths of Keith Caneiro, 50; his wife, Jennifer Caneiro, 45; and their children, Jesse, 11, and Sophia, 8.
Prosecutors said the murders were motivated by “greed and desperation.”
Bette Karidis, Jennifer’s mother, called Caneiro a “monster.”
“He stole the source of joy and happiness in our lives and replaced it with bottomless sadness, sorrow and grief,” she said in court Tuesday.
Karidis described her daughter as “warm, vibrant, caring” and “accepting of everyone for who they were.”
Wearing a yellow jumpsuit, Caneiro sat emotionless as she read a prepared statement.
Karidis said Keith “was a loving and devoted father, husband, son and brother.”
“He had a brilliant mind and his success was only because of his incredibly hard work and doggedness,” she said. “He was the son I never had, a true loving son.”
She said Caneiro stole the lives of her young grandchildren.
“Every birthday, anniversary, family holiday is now filled with pain,” she said.
An attorney for Caneiro told the judge that her client maintains his innocence. Before handing down the sentence, the judge asked Caneiro if he had anything to say.
“No, Your Honor,” he said, standing.
He remained standing as the judge sentenced him to four life sentences plus 16 years without the possibility of parole.
“It’s not a tragedy. It’s a flat-out killing of innocent people,” the judge said.
He called Caneiro a “callous, heartless, brutal killer” and said the killings were “calculated.”
Keith Caneiro was found in the front yard of his Colts Neck, New Jersey, home by authorities responding to a call about a house fire. He had been shot once in the back and four times in the head, according to an affidavit in support of an arrest warrant.
His wife had also been shot and stabbed, authorities have said. Her body was found inside the home. The children were also stabbed, but Monmouth County Assistant District Attorney Nicole Wallace said they were alive when Caneiro set the house on fire.
Prosecutors alleged that Caneiro tried to cover up the killings by also setting his own home on fire, with his family inside, to make it appear as if they had all been targeted. No one in Paul Caneiro’s family was injured in that fire.
During the trial, defense attorney Monika Mastellone had accused investigators of having “tunnel vision” in the case and suggested another sibling who was never accused of the crimes may have been responsible. Prosecutors said DNA, ballistics and security video linked him to the Nov. 20, 2018, murders.
The day before the killings, Keith Caneiro had confronted Paul Caneiro about taking money from a trust that had been set up nearly two decades prior. Keith and Paul ran two companies together.
Wallace, the assistant DA, said Keith Caneiro had made Paul Caneiro the trustee, and he had started taking money from the account the year before the killings. An indictment charged Paul Caneiro with stealing at least $75,000.
Wallace said Keith Caneiro had called his brother about the money and had given him a deadline to return it.
“Instead, he began making plans that were executed eight hours later,” Wallace said, referring to the killings. “You know how those plans ended.”
Mastellone said Paul Caneiro would not murder his brother and family over the tens of thousands of dollars he was accused of stealing.
