COLTS NECK - The mansion at 15 Willow Brook Road is the site where authorities allege Paul Caneiro murdered his brother and his brother's family before setting the home ablaze in
one of the most brutal killing sprees in Monmouth County history.
And now it's gone, thanks to a demolition crew.
The Colts Neck Building Department issued a permit June 3 to raze the burned-out home, once worth $1.2 million, along with an in-ground swimming pool and "accessory structures." The estimated cost of the work was $118,000.
The last major development in the case came nearly a year ago, in July 2019, when prosecutors added a
charge of insurance fraud against Paul Caneiro, alleging he fraudulently collected disability payments while he continued to work and be paid in his wife's name.
Paul Caneiro has
pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Defense attorneys who initially represented him said he maintained his innocence and had no reason to harm his family. Those attorneys have now left the case over unspecified conflicts of interest. He is now being represented by the public defender's office, which has not commented publicly on the case.
Progress in the case stalled last year because prosecutors had to
examine more than 1,000 pages of financial documents related to the investigation and turn them over to the defense.
The case is likely to be delayed even further by court restrictions put in place by the coronavirus pandemic.
A trial date hadn't been set at the time the state judiciary
suspended all new jury trials when the pandemic arrived in March.
Officials have
allowed some court events including sentencings and guilty pleas to resume in-person. But with jury trials remaining shut down, a resolution in the Caneiro case likely remains many months away.
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