Bullets, money trouble and a bloody glove: Affidavit lays out Colts Neck quadruple killing
FREEHOLD - Keith Caneiro was planning to cut his brother Paul out of their joint business ventures before authorities say Paul killed Keith and his entire family, according to an affidavit of probable cause against Paul. Investigators also found a bloody glove and clothing in Paul Caneiro's basement, according to the affidavit.
Longer than three months after the gruesome killings of an entire Colts Neck family, authorities have finally released the full text of a document charging the victims' relative with their murders.
Keith Caneiro sent an email "to two business associates indicating that there was money missing from the business and that he, (Keith), would be discontinuing payment" to Paul's wife until the money was found, according to the affidavit.
Keith was also planning on selling off one of his and Paul's joint businesses, and had told a relative "that he was frustrated with Paul and the amount of money Paul spent from their business accounts," according to the affidavit.
Keith forwarded that email to a relative the night before he was found dead with his family. according to the affidavit.
Caneiro Affidavit
Keith Caneiro owned 90 percent of Square One, a web development company, and Paul the other 10 percent, according to the affidavit. They owned equal shares in EcoStar Pest Management, which shared offices with Square One in Asbury Park.
An office manager told investigators that Paul Caneiro was disabled after a car crash, and that his salary "was paid to his wife," according to the affidavit. "The office manager reported that in the past year, Keith has told her to stop payment to (Paul's) wife because of arguments with Paul over money."
Superior Court Assignment Judge Lisa P. Thornton
ordered the records sealed Dec. 3, 2018, citing potential harm to the investigation into the horrific killings of Keith and Jennifer Caneiro, 50 and 45, and their children, 11-year-old Jesse and 8-year-old Sophia.
The full affidavit catalogs a list of evidence a state trooper and his K-9 partner found in Paul Caneiro's home, such as "a plastic container containing clothing, including jeans and a latex glove, with red stains consistent with blood," it read.
Investigators also found an unspent 9 mm round in the clothing, which was "consistent" with shell casings they found at Keith's home, according to the affidavit.
Another Colts Neck resident called 9-1-1 to report "four to five loud 'cracks' consistent with gunshots followed by one single gunshot," according to the affidavit.
"Because the parties established good cause that disclosure, at this juncture, would harm the investigation and prosecution of defendant and threaten the integrity of the proceedings and defendant's right to a fair trial, the motion is granted in part," Thornton wrote in the order to seal.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said the killings were tied to the family's finances.
Authorities believe Paul Caneiro shot Keith to death outside Keith's Colts Neck Home, then went inside and shot and stabbed Jennifer, stabbed the children and set a fire in the basement to cover his tracks.
Paul Caneiro's attorneys, Mitchell Ansell and Robert Honecker, have said their client maintains his innocence, that he loved his brother and had no early reason to have killed Keith Caneiro and Keith's family. Honecker said Monday morning that there would be a formal response to the updates Monday afternoon.
One news outlet - the Wall Street Journal - may have received a copy of the then-missing records by requesting them from Colts Neck Municipal Court, where the charges originated, rather than Monmouth County Superior Court, where they will be adjudicated, according to Thornton's December motion. Those records were not in the superior court's possession at the times when other outlets requested them, and therefore would not have been released, according to the motion.
"Because the Asbury Park Press expressed interest in obtaining the Affidavit of Probable Cause after hours on Friday evening, this court provided the newspaper with notice of this application and a right to be heard," the motion read. "They declined to participate."
Caneiro Affidavit
Bullets, money trouble and a bloody glove: Affidavit lays out Colts Neck quadruple killing