NJ - Multiple Deaths in Mansion Fire, Monmouth County, Colts Neck, 20 Nov 2018 *Arrest* #2

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  • #21
Tuesday,, July 1st:
*Motions Hearing (@ am ET) – NJ – Keith Martin Caneiro (50), his wife Jennifer Karidis Caneiro (45) & 2 children Jesse (11) & Sophia (8) (Nov. 20, 2018, Colt’s Neck; died prior to fire @ home) – *Paul Jay Caneiro (51/now 57) (bro) arrested (11/20/18), charged (11/29/18), indicted (2/25/19) & arraigned (3/18/19) on 4 counts of murder, 2 counts of felony murder, 2 counts of aggravated arson, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, possession of a knife for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a knife, theft, misapplication of entrusted property & 2 counts of hindering apprehension. Plead not guilty. Held without bond. Monmouth County
*Indicted (7/1/19) & arraigned (3/18/19) with 2nd degree insurance fraud (from 11/6/12 to 7/9/19). Plead not guilty.
Previously charge with 2 counts of 2nd degree aggravated arson (in connection to fire set @ his Ocean Township home on the same day before fire in Colt’s Neck) & with 4 counts of murder, with possession of a firearm & possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose. Plead not guilty. Held without bond. Paul Caneiro allegedly stole $78K from Keith & Jennifer Caneiro. He stole the money sometime between January 2017 & the day of the murders.
Jury selection set to begin on 9/8/25.
Trial set to begin on 9/8/25 after jury selection. (should take about 4 weeks)
Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley, presiding. Monmouth County Prosecutor Deputy First assistant Christopher Decker & Assistant Monmouth County prosecutor Nicole Wallace. Deputy Public Defender Tamar Lerer, Public defender’s office attorneys W. Michael Wicke, Victoria Howard & Monika Mastellone.
Court hearing from 11/28/18 thru 6/4/25 reference post #19 here:
https://websleuths.com/threads/nj-m...ounty-colts-neck-20-nov-2018-arrest-2.740776/
6/10/25 Update: When Keith Caneiro created an irrevocable trust to fund the payment of premiums on his $3 million life insurance policy, he gave his brother, Paul, sole access to the trust fund, making him responsible to ensure the premiums were paid. But at 3:37pm on Nov. 19, 2018, after Keith Caneiro received notice from the insurance company that the premiums hadn't been paid for months, he called Paul, demanding to see the trust account statements. Less than 3 hours later, at 6:06pm, Keith Caneiro called his brother again, this time angry, yelling & demanding to be given the password for the trust account so he could see for himself where the money was going. Paul Caneiro dismissed the demand, telling his brother he had a headache & didn't know the password. About 12:30pm the next day, Keith Caneiro, his wife & two young children were found murdered at their Colts Neck mansion as an inferno consumed the 5,800-square-foot home. Nicole Wallace, assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, revealed those details of Keith Caneiro's financial affairs 6/10/25, at a pretrial hearing for Paul Caneiro. Wallace & Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Decker allege Paul Caneiro's motive for the murders was that his brother discovered he had been stealing from him. Paul Caneiro's defense attorneys have asked Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux to bar any evidence of the financial motive from being introduced to a jury at the upcoming trial. Deputy Public Defender Tamar Lerer argued the state's theory of motive should be excluded because it is too complicated for an average juror to understated. Wallace, however, elaborated on the state's theory with information she said was garnered from certified bank records & communications, electronic and otherwise, between the two brothers. Judge Lemieux did not make a decision on whether to exclude the evidence of a financial motive from the trial. Instead, he scheduled a further hearing on the defense motion for the week of 6/30/25. The judge also scheduled a hearing that week to take testimony from the state's arson expert, which the defense also is seeking to bar. For more info see post #17, page 1, thread 2. Next motions hearing on 6/30/25.
6/24/25 Update: Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux, in a ruling issued June 24, excluded from evidence the DVR security system & its contents. Lemieux suppressed the evidence because police did not first obtain a warrant before searching Caneiro's garage & seizing the DVR system. Authorities allege Paul Caneiro walked up to the security surveillance system in the garage of his Ocean Township home & shut it off at 1:29a.m. on Nov. 20, 2018, to mask his wee-hours departure to drive to Colts Neck & murder his brother's family under cover of darkness. Judge Lemiuex's ruling came as other defense motions to suppress key evidence against Caneiro remain pending. Hearings on motions to exclude evidence are scheduled to continue the week of June 30, when Lemieux will hear testimony from the state's arson & ballistics experts, which the defense is seeking to exclude from trial. The defense also is seeking to exclude evidence related to the alleged financial motives for the murders.
6/30/25 Update: Detective Joseph Cordoma crime scene investigator of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office led a tour of the grisly scene where a family of four was found murdered at their million-dollar Colts Neck estate, through a series of photographs of the mansion's charred remains shown in court to describe how investigators determined the inferno was deliberately set. An arson expert for the defense is expected to testify when the hearing resumes on 7/1/25.
 
  • #22
  • #23
  • #24

Keith Caneiro's last text messages before murders revealed at brother's pretrial hearing​


FREEHOLD — Keith Caneiro sent a series of text messages to his brother around 3:15 a.m. on Nov. 20, 2018, telling him the electricity to his Colts Neck mansion had been cut, and that he was going outside to check on his generator.

Hours later, he was found dead on his lawn.

Christopher Decker, deputy first assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, revealed that information about Keith Caneiro's final text messages at a pretrial hearing July 1 for the victim's brother, Paul Caneiro, who is charged with the murders of Keith Caneiro and his family.

Decker said the generator the victim said he was going out to inspect was "very close to where Keith Caneiro was found shot dead.''

At the hearing before Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux, Decker asked a defense expert if he considered that information in forming his opinion that it was impossible to determine how long a fire at Keith Caneiro's mansion on Willow Brook Drive had been burning that day.

Chris Wood, the arson expert for the defense, said he didn't take those text messages into consideration; he only reviewed information from the fire scene, and from that, he couldn't determine if the fire was fast- or slow-burning.

How fast the fire burned is relevant to the state's case against Paul Caneiro, 58, of Ocean Township, who is facing trial in September in the murders of brother Keith, 50, sister-in-law Jennifer, 45, and the couple's two children, daughter Sophia, 8, and son Jesse, 11.

Prosecutors allege Paul Caneiro left his home at 2:07 a.m. that day, drove to Colts Neck, committed the murders and set a slow-burning fire at the mansion to cover them up before leaving at 3:48 a.m. and returning home 20 minutes later.

Prosecutors developed that timeline from surveillance footage.

They allege the defendant then set fire to his own home, summoning firefighters there around 5 a.m., in an attempt to throw off investigators into thinking the entire Caneiro family was being targeted by thugs.

The fire at the mansion on Willow Brook Drive in Colts Neck wasn't reported until about noon that day, when someone called 911 after seeing smoke pouring from the home. The victim's bodies were then discovered by first responders.

Keith, found on the lawn, had been shot four times in the head and once in the back. Jennifer and the children were found inside. They had been repeatedly stabbed and badly burned. Jennifer also had been shot in the head.

Wood's testimony differed from that of the state's arson expert, Detective Joseph Cordoma of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, who said the fire burned slowly.

Cordoma testified June 30 that the fire was deliberately set in a closet in the basement of the mansion.

During his testimony, he pointed out areas of "alligator charring'' in the storage closet, describing them as shiny blisters that formed on the wood over a period of time and saying they were indicative of a slow-burning fire.

Defense attorneys, seeking to bar Cordoma from testifying at Caneiro's trial, called Wood to the stand to rebut Cordoma.

Wood dismissed the relevance of the alligator charring on the wood in the closet.

"All it tells you is, it's been exposed to a high heat level,'' Wood said.

Cordoma said he took other information into account in rendering his opinion, including that the electric meter had been ripped off the wall at the mansion, a phone cord in the basement had been cut, the generator was turned off and the silhouette of a person was spotted on surveillance footage going back and forth in the area of the electrical panel between 2:45 and 3 a.m. that day.

Decker confronted Wood with that information, noting that the power was cut at 2:52 a.m. He asked Wood if he thought that was relevant.

"In the overall scheme of things,'' Wood responded.

Decker also pointed out that neighbors of the victims told investigators the Caneiro children never made it to the school bus stop that morning and asked Wood if he thought that was relevant.

"To the overall investigation,'' Wood said, although he repeated throughout his testimony that he only took information from the fire scene into consideration in forming his opinions.

Wood did not offer an opinion on the cause of the fire, but he agreed with Cordoma that it originated in the basement storage closet.

In addition to seeking to exclude Cordoma's testimony, Caneiro's attorneys also are seeking to bar testimony from the state's ballistics expert and evidence of an alleged financial motive for the murders. The pretrial hearings are expected to continue through July 3.

https://www.app.com/story/news/loca...ul-caniero-brother-text-messages/84384747007/
 
  • #25
Thursday, July 3rd:
*Motions Hearing (@ am ET) – NJ – Keith Martin Caneiro (50), his wife Jennifer Karidis Caneiro (45) & 2 children Jesse (11) & Sophia (8) (Nov. 20, 2018, Colt’s Neck; died prior to fire @ home) – *Paul Jay Caneiro (51/now 57) (bro) arrested (11/20/18), charged (11/29/18), indicted (2/25/19) & arraigned (3/18/19) on 4 counts of murder, 2 counts of felony murder, 2 counts of aggravated arson, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, possession of a knife for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a knife, theft, misapplication of entrusted property & 2 counts of hindering apprehension. Plead not guilty. Held without bond. Monmouth County
*Indicted (7/1/19) & arraigned (3/18/19) with 2nd degree insurance fraud (from 11/6/12 to 7/9/19). Plead not guilty.
Previously charge with 2 counts of 2nd degree aggravated arson (in connection to fire set @ his Ocean Township home on the same day before fire in Colt’s Neck) & with 4 counts of murder, with possession of a firearm & possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose. Plead not guilty. Held without bond. Paul Caneiro allegedly stole $78K from Keith & Jennifer Caneiro. He stole the money sometime between January 2017 & the day of the murders.
Jury selection set to begin on 9/8/25.
Trial set to begin on 9/8/25 after jury selection. (should take about 4 weeks)
Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley, presiding. Monmouth County Prosecutor Deputy First assistant Christopher Decker & Assistant Monmouth County prosecutor Nicole Wallace. Deputy Public Defender Tamar Lerer, Public defender’s office attorneys W. Michael Wicke, Victoria Howard & Monika Mastellone.
Court hearing from 11/28/18 thru 6/24/25 reference post #21 here:
https://websleuths.com/threads/nj-m...colts-neck-20-nov-2018-arrest-2.740776/page-2
6/30/25 Update: Detective Joseph Cordoma crime scene investigator of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office led a tour of the grisly scene where a family of four was found murdered at their million-dollar Colts Neck estate, through a series of photographs of the mansion's charred remains shown in court to describe how investigators determined the inferno was deliberately set. An arson expert for the defense is expected to testify when the hearing resumes on 7/1/25.
7/1/25 Update: Chris Wood & Robert Cook, arson experts for the defense took the stand during a pretrial hearing before Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux. Next motions hearing continues on 7/3/25.
 
  • #26

Desperate for affair money, phone call convinced Paul Caneiro to kill brother: Prosecutors​

  • Paul Caneiro is accused of murdering his brother, Keith Caneiro, his wife, and their two children due to financial desperation and fear of his brother discovering his misappropriation of funds.
  • Prosecutors allege Paul Caneiro was stealing from his brother's trust fund and using the money for personal expenses, including an extramarital affair.
  • Keith Caneiro's final phone calls to Paul, demanding explanations for the missing money, are believed to be the catalyst for the murders.
FREEHOLD -- Paul Caneiro was desperate.

He was looking at losing a majority of his income, some of which he used to maintain an extramarital affair.

His brother, Keith, was on the brink of discovering his trust fund was serving as Paul's "cash cow."

And three final phone calls Keith Caneiro made to Paul, demanding explanations for missing money, were the final straw, motivating Paul Caneiro to murder Keith, his brother's wife and the couple's two young children hours later in their Colts Neck mansion.

Assistant Prosecutor Nicole Wallace recited those allegations at a hearing July 7 in an effort to convince a judge to allow a jury to hear evidence at Paul Caneiro's upcoming trial of what the state asserts was his financial motive to commit the murders.

Trouble between the two brothers had been brewing for months in 2018, with Keith Caneiro informing Paul he was going to cut him off from money derived from the businesses they co-owned, Wallace said. Keith Caneiro was planning to sell one of their businesses and be done with his brother financially, Wallace said. Income from their other business was about to dry up because its sole contract was coming to an end, she explained.

In April 2018, Keith Caneiro confronted Paul about money missing from his trust fund at TD Bank, from which Paul, its sole trustee, was supposed to be paying the premiums on his brother's life insurance policy, Wallace said. Paul Caneiro apologetically told his brother then that he mistakenly "selected the wrong payee," and funneled the money to his own daughter's student loan, and that he would pay Keith back with interest, the assistant prosecutor said.

All along, Paul Caneiro, 58, of Ocean Township, had been "using that (trust account) as a cash cow," she said.

Wallace argued that a series of communications between the two brothers since April 2018 should be presented to the jury at Paul Caneiro's upcoming trial to provide context for the effect Keith Caneiro's final phone calls had on him.

"It's a snowball effect that is happening at least since April," Wallace said. "The defendant is desperate. He knows Keith is going to find out where that missing money was.

"This whole house of cards that he set up was going to come crashing down," the assistant prosecutor said.

During the hearing, prosecutors played video from Keith Caneiro's home-security system, which contained audio of the final three calls he made to Paul on Nov 19, 2018. The security system only recorded Keith's side of the two-way conversations.

On the first call, at 3:50 p.m., Keith Caneiro asks his brother for access to the trust account, explaining the life insurance company claimed it hadn't received any payments since April.

"I know it's not true," Keith Caneiro says. "I need you to send me a statement that says that.

"… You don't have your online access?" he says. "If you could just send me the passwords, I'll do the research myself."

On the next brief phone call, at 6:05 p.m., Keith Caneiro tells his brother's wife he's looking for Paul.

On the final phone call a minute later, Keith Caneiro tells his brother he just spent an hour and a half on the phone with the insurance company, and he wants to know where his money went.

"Give me the log-in to the TD account," Keith Caneiro tells him. "You don't know your TD log-in? You better find it and give it to me. I need to see it now. Paul, I'm telling you — I need it, I need it, I need it. Give me the (expletive) log-in Paul.

"Paul, just give me the log in so I can see where the money went," he says. "Get on the computer and tell me where the money went. … I just spent half the day looking for it. I need to know where that money went, Paul. Paul."

He asks his brother, "Are you sure it went to the right place this time? You have the cashed checks?"

Not only was Keith Caneiro about to find out his brother was stealing from him, but also that he was falsifying the bank statements, Wallace alleged.

With Paul Caneiro about to lose income from their businesses and from the trust fund, he'd be left only with disability payments, she said.

At trial, Wallace said she plans to call as a witness a woman the defendant was having an affair with.
The woman is expected to testify about the money Paul Caneiro was spending on her during their relationship, Wallace said.

Monika Mastellone, Caneiro's attorney, argued the affair was irrelevant to the murders, and the jury shouldn't hear about it.

But Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux, who presided over the hearing, said prosecutors are offering the affair to show the defendant was "trying to have a certain lifestyle with this woman" that could be jeopardized by his loss of income.

The state alleges the defendant was going to get an apartment for the woman and was making her car payments, the judge said.

"The fact that Mr. Caneiro had a paramour is not relevant to determine whether he murdered his brother and his family," Mastellone argued. (Continued, if you can't access it, I will post the rest)

https://www.app.com/story/news/loca...ide-money-stolen-for-affair-cops/84459134007/
 
  • #27
Oh man, I really dislike Paul... I'm so sorry for his parents and so many others he deceived. :(
 
  • #28
cass523 said:

Desperate for affair money, phone call convinced Paul Caneiro to kill brother: Prosecutors​

  • Paul Caneiro is accused of murdering his brother, Keith Caneiro, his wife, and their two children due to financial desperation and fear of his brother discovering his misappropriation of funds.
  • Prosecutors allege Paul Caneiro was stealing from his brother's trust fund and using the money for personal expenses, including an extramarital affair.
  • Keith Caneiro's final phone calls to Paul, demanding explanations for the missing money, are believed to be the catalyst for the murders.
FREEHOLD -- Paul Caneiro was desperate.

He was looking at losing a majority of his income, some of which he used to maintain an extramarital affair.

His brother, Keith, was on the brink of discovering his trust fund was serving as Paul's "cash cow."

And three final phone calls Keith Caneiro made to Paul, demanding explanations for missing money, were the final straw, motivating Paul Caneiro to murder Keith, his brother's wife and the couple's two young children hours later in their Colts Neck mansion.

Assistant Prosecutor Nicole Wallace recited those allegations at a hearing July 7 in an effort to convince a judge to allow a jury to hear evidence at Paul Caneiro's upcoming trial of what the state asserts was his financial motive to commit the murders.

Trouble between the two brothers had been brewing for months in 2018, with Keith Caneiro informing Paul he was going to cut him off from money derived from the businesses they co-owned, Wallace said. Keith Caneiro was planning to sell one of their businesses and be done with his brother financially, Wallace said. Income from their other business was about to dry up because its sole contract was coming to an end, she explained.

In April 2018, Keith Caneiro confronted Paul about money missing from his trust fund at TD Bank, from which Paul, its sole trustee, was supposed to be paying the premiums on his brother's life insurance policy, Wallace said. Paul Caneiro apologetically told his brother then that he mistakenly "selected the wrong payee," and funneled the money to his own daughter's student loan, and that he would pay Keith back with interest, the assistant prosecutor said.

All along, Paul Caneiro, 58, of Ocean Township, had been "using that (trust account) as a cash cow," she said.

Wallace argued that a series of communications between the two brothers since April 2018 should be presented to the jury at Paul Caneiro's upcoming trial to provide context for the effect Keith Caneiro's final phone calls had on him.

"It's a snowball effect that is happening at least since April," Wallace said. "The defendant is desperate. He knows Keith is going to find out where that missing money was.

"This whole house of cards that he set up was going to come crashing down," the assistant prosecutor said.

During the hearing, prosecutors played video from Keith Caneiro's home-security system, which contained audio of the final three calls he made to Paul on Nov 19, 2018. The security system only recorded Keith's side of the two-way conversations.

On the first call, at 3:50 p.m., Keith Caneiro asks his brother for access to the trust account, explaining the life insurance company claimed it hadn't received any payments since April.

"I know it's not true," Keith Caneiro says. "I need you to send me a statement that says that.

"… You don't have your online access?" he says. "If you could just send me the passwords, I'll do the research myself."

On the next brief phone call, at 6:05 p.m., Keith Caneiro tells his brother's wife he's looking for Paul.

On the final phone call a minute later, Keith Caneiro tells his brother he just spent an hour and a half on the phone with the insurance company, and he wants to know where his money went.

"Give me the log-in to the TD account," Keith Caneiro tells him. "You don't know your TD log-in? You better find it and give it to me. I need to see it now. Paul, I'm telling you — I need it, I need it, I need it. Give me the (expletive) log-in Paul.

"Paul, just give me the log in so I can see where the money went," he says. "Get on the computer and tell me where the money went. … I just spent half the day looking for it. I need to know where that money went, Paul. Paul."

He asks his brother, "Are you sure it went to the right place this time? You have the cashed checks?"

Not only was Keith Caneiro about to find out his brother was stealing from him, but also that he was falsifying the bank statements, Wallace alleged.

With Paul Caneiro about to lose income from their businesses and from the trust fund, he'd be left only with disability payments, she said.

At trial, Wallace said she plans to call as a witness a woman the defendant was having an affair with.
The woman is expected to testify about the money Paul Caneiro was spending on her during their relationship, Wallace said.

Monika Mastellone, Caneiro's attorney, argued the affair was irrelevant to the murders, and the jury shouldn't hear about it.

But Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux, who presided over the hearing, said prosecutors are offering the affair to show the defendant was "trying to have a certain lifestyle with this woman" that could be jeopardized by his loss of income.

The state alleges the defendant was going to get an apartment for the woman and was making her car payments, the judge said.

"The fact that Mr. Caneiro had a paramour is not relevant to determine whether he murdered his brother and his family," Mastellone argued. (Continued, if you can't access it, I will post the rest)

https://www.app.com/story/news/loca...ide-money-stolen-for-affair-cops/84459134007/
Click to expand...

I sure hope his wife has divorced him by now.
 
  • #29
Sure wish we knew the next hearing date! I have seen none in any articles.
 
  • #30
And I see another hearing was on July 7th - so will post this update - even if it is a bit late.

Monday, July 7th:
*Motions Hearing (@ am ET) – NJ – Keith Martin Caneiro (50), his wife Jennifer Karidis Caneiro (45) & 2 children Jesse (11) & Sophia (8) (Nov. 20, 2018, Colt’s Neck; died prior to fire @ home) – *Paul Jay Caneiro (51/now 57) (bro) arrested (11/20/18), charged (11/29/18), indicted (2/25/19) & arraigned (3/18/19) on 4 counts of murder, 2 counts of felony murder, 2 counts of aggravated arson, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, possession of a knife for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a knife, theft, misapplication of entrusted property & 2 counts of hindering apprehension. Plead not guilty. Held without bond. Monmouth County
*Indicted (7/1/19) & arraigned (3/18/19) with 2nd degree insurance fraud (from 11/6/12 to 7/9/19). Plead not guilty.
Previously charge with 2 counts of 2nd degree aggravated arson (in connection to fire set @ his Ocean Township home on the same day before fire in Colt’s Neck) & with 4 counts of murder, with possession of a firearm & possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose. Plead not guilty. Held without bond. Paul Caneiro allegedly stole $78K from Keith & Jennifer Caneiro. He stole the money sometime between January 2017 & the day of the murders.
Jury selection set to begin on 9/8/25.
Trial set to begin on 9/8/25 after jury selection. (should take about 4 weeks)
Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley, presiding. Monmouth County Prosecutor Deputy First assistant Christopher Decker & Assistant Monmouth County prosecutor Nicole Wallace. Deputy Public Defender Tamar Lerer, Public defender’s office attorneys W. Michael Wicke, Victoria Howard & Monika Mastellone.
Court hearing from 11/28/18 thru 6/30/25 reference post #25 here:
https://websleuths.com/threads/nj-m...colts-neck-20-nov-2018-arrest-2.740776/page-2
7/1/25 Update: Chris Wood & Robert Cook, arson experts for the defense took the stand during a pretrial hearing before Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux. Next motions hearing continues on 7/3/25. 7/3/25 Update: Next motions hearing on 7/7/25.
7/7/25 Update: Assistant Prosecutor Nicole Wallace recited those allegations [due to financial desperation & fear of his brother discovering his misappropriation of funds; Prosecutors allege Paul Caneiro was stealing from his brother's trust fund & using the money for personal expenses, including an extramarital affair. Keith Caneiro's final phone calls to Paul, demanding explanations for the missing money, are believed to be the catalyst for the murders] at a hearing July 7 in an effort to convince a judge to allow a jury to hear evidence at Paul Caneiro's upcoming trial of what the state asserts was his financial motive to commit the murders. During the hearing, prosecutors played video from Keith Caneiro's home-security system, which contained audio of the final three calls he made to Paul on Nov 19, 2018. The security system only recorded Keith's side of the two-way conversations. At trial, Wallace said she plans to call as a witness a woman the defendant was having an affair with. The woman is expected to testify about the money Paul Caneiro was spending on her during their relationship, Wallace said. Monika Mastellone, Caneiro's attorney, argued the affair was irrelevant to the murders & the jury shouldn't hear about it. But Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux, who presided over the hearing, said prosecutors are offering the affair to show the defendant was "trying to have a certain lifestyle with this woman" that could be jeopardized by his loss of income. Judge Lemieux is tasked with deciding whether the financial motive will be admissible at trial. He also will be ruling on Mastellone's motions to bar the state's ballistics & arson experts from testifying.
 
  • #31
@cass523 - you seem to be able to find "current" articles! I personally have found none on the hearing on 7/7 - anything new? Any next court hearing dates?? TIA! :)
 
  • #32
Niner said:
@cass523 - you seem to be able to find "current" articles! I personally have found none on the hearing on 7/7 - anything new? Any next court hearing dates?? TIA! :)
Click to expand...
Hi Niner,

The last article I posted on Tuesday the 8th, was in the Asbury Park Press at 5:05 am. It must be from the hearing on July 7th. I have been checking the APP daily and haven't seen anything since.
Here is the rest of the article:

Lemieux is tasked with deciding whether the financial motive will be admissible at trial. He also will be ruling on Mastellone's motions to bar the state's ballistics and arson experts from testifying.

Prosecutors allege Paul Caneiro committed the murders and set his brother's Colts Neck mansion on fire to cover them up. Then, they allege, he set fire to his own home in Ocean Township to throw off investigators and make it look like the entire family was being targeted by thugs.

The bodies of the victims were discovered the afternoon of Nov. 20, 2018, after firefighters were summoned to the slow-burning mansion fire.

The body of Keith Caneiro, 50, was found outside on the lawn. He had been shot four times in the head and once in the back.

The bodies of his wife, Jennifer, 45, and the couple's two children, daughter Sophia, 8, and son Jesse, 11, were found inside the home.

Jennifer Caneiro and the children were repeatedly stabbed and badly burned. Jennifer Caneiro also had been shot in the head, authorities have said.

Jury selection for Paul Caneiro's trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 8.
 
  • #33
cass523 said:
Hi Niner,

The last article I posted on Tuesday the 8th, was in the Asbury Park Press at 5:05 am. It must be from the hearing on July 7th. I have been checking the APP daily and haven't seen anything since.
Here is the rest of the article:

Lemieux is tasked with deciding whether the financial motive will be admissible at trial. He also will be ruling on Mastellone's motions to bar the state's ballistics and arson experts from testifying.

Prosecutors allege Paul Caneiro committed the murders and set his brother's Colts Neck mansion on fire to cover them up. Then, they allege, he set fire to his own home in Ocean Township to throw off investigators and make it look like the entire family was being targeted by thugs.

The bodies of the victims were discovered the afternoon of Nov. 20, 2018, after firefighters were summoned to the slow-burning mansion fire.

The body of Keith Caneiro, 50, was found outside on the lawn. He had been shot four times in the head and once in the back.

The bodies of his wife, Jennifer, 45, and the couple's two children, daughter Sophia, 8, and son Jesse, 11, were found inside the home.

Jennifer Caneiro and the children were repeatedly stabbed and badly burned. Jennifer Caneiro also had been shot in the head, authorities have said.

Jury selection for Paul Caneiro's trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 8.
Click to expand...

Thanks - I got notes from your last post! Guess we wait until some article tells us when the next hearing date is.
 
  • #34
I don't think this has been posted - 7/17/25 is in the link of this article


FREEHOLD - In his latest ruling, a judge has thrown out more evidence against Paul Caneiro in the 2018 murders in Colts Neck of four family members.

Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux last week issued an opinion suppressing all evidence found on two of Caneiro's Apple devices - his iPad tablet and MacBook laptop computer.

The ruling comes on the heels of another decision by Lemieux in June ordering the suppression of evidence found on the defendant's home security system.
[.....]
Lemieux, however, ruled that prosecutors can present some evidence found on the defendant's Apple iPhone and Apple watch, both which also contained communications between Paul Caneiro and his dead brother, Keith.

Lemieux limited evidence from Paul Caneiro's phone to information generated between Nov. 19 and Nov. 20, 2018. That includes data likely indicating the defendant's whereabouts when his brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew were murdered and the time frame leading up to murders.
 
  • #35
Still have not seen any thing on his next hearing though...
 
  • #36

Arson expert can testify at Caneiro quadruple murder trial, judge rules. Why it matters​

FREEHOLD - Monmouth County's top judge rejected Paul Caneiro's bid to bar the state's arson expert from testifying at his upcoming trial in the murders of four family members, clearing the way for prosecutors to put forth their timeline for the series of crimes the defendant is accused of.

Attorneys for Caneiro, 58, of Ocean Township, asked Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux to bar Detective Joseph Cordoma from testifying at Caneiro's upcoming trial, questioning not only the detective's qualifications, but also the methodology he used in reaching his expert opinion in the case.

However, Lemieux, Monmouth County's assignment judge, cited Cordoma's training and the more than 100 fire investigations he has conducted during his 24-year career in law enforcement in ruling that the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office detective is qualified to testify as an arson expert.

Lemieux, in a written ruling issued July 24, also said Cordoma's methodology in reaching his opinion in the case adheres to the scientific methods endorsed by the National Fire Protection Association, which sets forth standards and guidelines for fire investigations accepted by both the prosecution and the defense.

At a pretrial hearing in June, Cordoma not only testified that a fire at the Colts Neck mansion where Paul Caneiro's brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew were found murdered on Nov. 20, 2018, was deliberately set, he also said the fire slowly smoldered for hours before erupting into an inferno that brought crews of emergency workers to the scene shortly after 12:30 p.m., leading to the discovery of the victims' bodies.

In an attempt to block Cordoma's testimony, defense attorneys presented its own fire expert, who testified it was impossible to tell whether the fire burned slowly or erupted quickly into a massive fire that destroyed the mansion on Willow Brook Road.

Cordoma's opinion that the fire burned slowly is crucial to the prosecution's theory that Caneiro committed the murders at his brother's mansion in the early morning hours and then set the home on fire to cover up the crimes before returning to his own home and starting another arson fire there around 5 a.m. to throw off investigators.

By the time the mansion was burning out of control that afternoon, Caneiro for hours had been back at his home in Ocean Township with police investigating the fire at his home on Tilton Drive.

Caneiro is charged with the murders of his brother Keith, 50, sister-in-law Jennifer, 45, and the couple's two children, son Jesse, 11, and daughter Sophia, 8.

Their bodies were found when firefighters responded to the mansion fire.

Keith, found on the lawn, had been shot four times in the head and once in the back. Jennifer and the children were found inside the mansion. They had been repeatedly stabbed and badly burned. Jennifer also had been shot in the head.

Prosecutors allege Paul Caneiro committed the murders because Keith was about to discover he had stolen tens of thousands of dollars from him.

They allege the defendant set his own house on fire to mislead investigators into thinking the entire family was being targeted by thugs.

The timeline prosecutors have put forth, partly based on various surveillance footage, alleges that Paul Caneiro left his home at 2:07 a.m. on the day of the murders, drove to his brother's mansion in Colts Neck, committed the murders and set the mansion on fire before leaving at 3:48 a.m., returning home 20 minutes later.

The fire at the defendant's own home was reported about 5 a.m. the same day.

Testifying at the pretrial hearing, Christopher Wood, an arson expert for the defense, criticized Cordoma's methodology in reaching his conclusion that the mansion fire burned slowly. Specifically, Wood said Cordoma took into consideration information that was not gleaned directly from the fire scene in reaching his conclusion.

Lemieux said "it defies logic to exclude relevant non-scene information when establishing the fire's timeline.''

Lemieux said the non-fire scene evidence Cordoma deemed relevant included:
  • Surveillance footage showing an individual outside the garage door to the mansion about 3 a.m., shortly before power to the home was disabled;
  • A tampered electrical panel with its door ripped off and lying on the ground;
  • A tampered home generator located in close proximity to the tampered electrical panel, close to where the person was captured by surveillance footage about 3 a.m.;
  • A 911 call made about 3:33 a.m. from a location 2.6 miles away, reporting five gunshots and a two-second pause, followed by a sixth gunshot;
  • Keith Caneiro's body found on the lawn with multiple gunshots, and six shell casings nearby;
  • Jennifer Caneiro's body found inside the home with a single gunshot wound and multiple stab wounds, along with the bodies of two children, who did not show up at their school bus stop that morning;
  • A severed fiber optic line, which disabled communication and internet-connected devices around 3 a.m.;
  • The absence of fire alarm activation due to the power outage;
  • and fire patterns in the area of origin.
Cordoma evaluated all relevant information to corroborate his findings, Lemieux said. That Wood disregarded non-fire scene information in his analysis "renders his opinion less reliable,'' the judge wrote.

"Ultimately, the reliability of each expert's methodology will be a matter for the jury to assess,'' Lemiuex wrote. "However, the Court finds that Detective Cordoma's consideration of non-scene evidence aligns with accepted scientific methodology and provides reliable foundation for his conclusions.''

Jury selection for Caneiro's trial is scheduled to start Sept. 8.

https://www.app.com/story/news/loca...from-trial-in-colts-neck-murders/85375458007/
 
  • #37
Niner said:
I don't think this has been posted - 7/17/25 is in the link of this article


FREEHOLD - In his latest ruling, a judge has thrown out more evidence against Paul Caneiro in the 2018 murders in Colts Neck of four family members.

Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux last week issued an opinion suppressing all evidence found on two of Caneiro's Apple devices - his iPad tablet and MacBook laptop computer.

The ruling comes on the heels of another decision by Lemieux in June ordering the suppression of evidence found on the defendant's home security system.
[.....]
Lemieux, however, ruled that prosecutors can present some evidence found on the defendant's Apple iPhone and Apple watch, both which also contained communications between Paul Caneiro and his dead brother, Keith.

Lemieux limited evidence from Paul Caneiro's phone to information generated between Nov. 19 and Nov. 20, 2018. That includes data likely indicating the defendant's whereabouts when his brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew were murdered and the time frame leading up to murders.
Click to expand...

Hi Niner, I missed this one. July 17th, my children came home to visit and I wasn't on my laptop.. Sorry this is now out of order

Judge tosses more evidence against Paul Caneiro in Colts Neck quadruple family murders​

FREEHOLD - In his latest ruling, a judge has thrown out more evidence against Paul Caneiro in the 2018 murders in Colts Neck of four family members.

Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux last week issued an opinion suppressing all evidence found on two of Caneiro's Apple devices - his iPad tablet and MacBook laptop computer.

The ruling comes on the heels of another decision by Lemieux in June ordering the suppression of evidence found on the defendant's home security system.

Prosecutors have not specifically said what was on Caneiro's iPad and MacBook, but they argued at recent hearings that because he and one of his victims were brothers and business partners, it could be expected the electronic devices would contain communications between the two that would shed light on the planning and motive for the murders.

Lemieux, however, ruled that prosecutors can present some evidence found on the defendant's Apple iPhone and Apple watch, both which also contained communications between Paul Caneiro and his dead brother, Keith.

Lemieux limited evidence from Paul Caneiro's phone to information generated between Nov. 19 and Nov. 20, 2018. That includes data likely indicating the defendant's whereabouts when his brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew were murdered and the time frame leading up to murders.
Among the evidence collected in the case are four text messages sent from Keith Caneiro's phone to his brother's Apple watch between 3:14 a.m. and 3:18 a.m. on Nov. 20, 2018, according to the judge's ruling.

At a hearing July 1, Christopher Decker, deputy first assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, revealed the text messages sent from Keith Caneiro's phone to Paul relayed that the electricity to his house had been cut off and that he was going outside to check on his generator. Keith Caneiro's body was found later that day not far from the generator, Decker said.

Defense attorney Monika Mastellone sought to have all evidence found on all of Paul Caneiro's electronic devices suppressed, arguing warrants to search the devices were overly broad.

Lemieux agreed as far as the iPad and MacBook were concerned. Those devices were located in the defendant's Porsche Cayenne with a warrant authorizing a search of his home and vehicles, including any and all cell phones, computers, and tablets found within.

In an affidavit submitted when applying for the search warrant, Detective Brian Weisbrot, now a captain in the Monmouth County Prosecutor's office, said he expected any electronic devices to contain evidence of arson and related crimes, according to Lemieux's ruling. But, Weisbrot did not explain in the affidavit why such evidence was likely to be found "on any and every computer encountered,'' or reasons to believe any computers would be found in the Cayenne, the judge wrote.

That search warrant "failed to identify with particularity the specific devices expected to be found or articulate probable cause to believe those devices contained evidence of the alleged crimes,'' Lemieux wrote.

"As a result, all data recovered form the iPad and MacBook laptop is suppressed in full,'' he wrote.

In ruling that evidence from Paul Caneiro's watch would be admissible at trial, the judge said detectives, in applying for a warrant to search the device, established "a well-grounded suspicion of potential motive evidence as far back as April 2018.''

It was in April 2018 when Keith Caneiro first confronted his brother about missing money, prosecutors have said.

Lemieux said prosecutors can use evidence from the watch generated from July 4, 2018, when the defendant purchased it.

Last month, Lemieux ordered the suppression of evidence contained on Paul Caneiro's home security system because investigators did not first get a warrant to seize the security system.

Prosecutors unsuccessfully argued there was no time for police to get a warrant because Paul Caneiro's house was on fire. But Lemieux agreed with the defense that the garage where the security system was located was not under threat from the fire when police seized it.

Authorities alleged the security system showed Paul Caneiro walking up to it and shutting it off at 1:29 a.m. on Nov. 20, 2018, to mask his departure from his home to drive to Colts Neck to murder his brother's family.

Lemieux has yet to rule on other defense motions in the case seeking to bar the state's arson and ballistics experts from testifying at trial and to suppress evidence of a financial motive for the murders.

https://www.app.com/story/news/loca...ul-caneiro-in-colts-neck-murders/85248975007/
 
  • #38
Thank you @cass523 for the news posts. NJ has proven stingy for many of us due to paywalls or EU restriction. :)
 
  • #39
Thank you @cass523 for those articles. I wish the articles would put in there when the next hearing is....
 
  • #40
Just a small bump - I looked for any newer articles but not coming up with anything after the last one we have posted above.
Guess I will move him to Sept. 8th for trial.
 
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