NJ man accused of killing brother and family before burning down mansion, heads to jury selection

The trial of Paul Caneiro — who authorities say fatally shot his brother and then viciously stabbed his sister-in-law, niece and nephew to death before burning down their New Jersey mansion — begins Monday.

Caneiro, 59, the former vice president of NJ-based tech company Square One, was in a money dispute with his little brother Keith, the president of the company, in a rivlary that boiled over into a horrific quadruple murder in 2018 at the $1.5 million Colts Neck spread.

The pretrial phase has dragged on for seven years. The New Jersey Supreme Court rejected his bid to be released, and ruled that surveillance video challenged by the defense will be allowed into evidence.

That footage from a camera at Caneiro’s Ocean Township home home allegedly showed him outside at 1:29 a.m., just hours before the carnage in nearby Colts Neck.

“Him being in view of the camera. The camera then cut out. He was in front of the screen and then the power got cut,” Sgt. Christopher Brady of the Ocean Township Police testified in April 2024.

Prosecutors claim he disconnected the security camera at his own home and then traveled to his brother’s property — where he also cut off the electricity.

Keith, 50, was lured out of the home by the loss of power and was shot four times, including once in the head.

The crazed Caneiro then stabbed his sister-in-law Jennifer, 45, who was found on the basement stairs, before setting upon the couple’s two kids, 8-year-old Sophia and 11-year-old Jesse, with the blade, prosecutors alleged.

Jesse was found in the kitchen and Sophia on the stairs with 30 stab wounds, according to authorities.

The suspect then allegedly set the home on fire, igniting the flames in the basement. Authorities discovered the bodies hours later while responding to the blaze.

Caneiro then went back home and set fire to his own house, where his wife and two daughters slept, none of whom were hurt, prosecutors alleged.

He apparently hoped to create an alibi that showed both brothers were being hunted by an unknown assailant, authorities have said.

Keith discovered that Paul had stolen up to $75,000 from two Asbury Park-based businesses, EcoStar Pest Management and IT venture Squareone, which they co-owned, and was planning on shutting off his brother’s paychecks.

Just 18 hours before the killings, Keith emailed younger brother Corey Caneiro, alleging that the money was missing from the family-owned business and that he was prepared to cut Paul’s $250,000 salary.

Jennifer and the children were allegedly targeted for slaughter because Paul would not receive Keith’s life insurance payout if the family was alive, prosecutors alleged.

While locked up, Caneiro was hit with a lawsuit claiming he stole $90,000 from his niece and nephew’s college fund, of which he had been the trustee.

Prosecutors claim to have overwhelming physical evidence of the crime — including weapons, blood-stained clothes, a DNA trail, and security camera footage.

While searching Caneiro’s 2016 Porsche Cayenne hours after the bloodbath, cops found a backpack containing a laptop, his passport, a 9mm barrel of a Sig Sauer, a silencer, and FLIR night-vision scope designed to attach to a firearm.

Caneiro has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder.

Jury selection began on Jan. 6. The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and defense attorneys for Caneiro declined to comment.