Photo: Keith Caneiro/Facebook (3)
Two days before Thanksgiving,flames tore through the $1.8 million New Jersey mansionwhere 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!”
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 wasPaul Caneiro, Keith’s older brother and longtime business partner. He is charged with four counts of murder and two counts of arson.
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The 51-year-old Paul, investigators allege,fatally shot Keith before shooting and stabbing Jenniferand 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, Paulallegedly set fire to the exterior of his own home, just a short drive away in Ocean Township.
Paul has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers have not responded to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
The slow-burning blaze was set after the family of four was murdered.Andrew Mills/NJ Advance Media Group / Advance Media
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.
The Caneiro.USA Today
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.
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Gramiccioni says evidence collected in the investigation allegedly suggests Paul’s motive was “financial in nature.”
Paul Caneiro faces life in prison if convicted.Ocean Township Police Department
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.
source: people.com
