On the night of November 20, 2018, Paul Caneiro drove to his brother’s home in Colts Neck, New Jersey, cut the power to the house, and waited. What happened next would shock an entire state — and reveal a cold, calculated murder plot rooted in financial betrayal.
By the time firefighters arrived at the burning home, they found four bodies: Keith Caneiro, 50; his wife Jennifer, 45; and their two children, 11-year-old Jesse and 8-year-old Sophia. All four had been killed before the house was set on fire.
“In a time and place that a family should feel the most secure — he coldly executed his own brother and went on to stalk and eliminate the remaining family members one at a time in the dark.”
How It Happened — Step by Step
- Paul cut power to Keith’s home, plunging the house into darkness
- He lured Keith outside — then shot him
- He returned inside and shot and stabbed Jennifer
- He stabbed both children, Jesse and Sophia
- He set the house on fire to destroy evidence
- He drove home and set his own house on fire — with his family inside — to make it appear the whole family was being targeted
Prosecutors say the motive was money. Paul and Keith co-owned two companies together: Square One Consulting and EcoStar Pest Management. In the weeks before the murders, Keith had discovered money was missing from the business and sent Paul an email saying he would stop paying him until the funds were located.
That email, investigators believe, sealed the fate of an entire family.
Sentence — May 19, 2025- Found guilty of 4 counts of first-degree murder, 2 counts of aggravated arson, and related charges. Sentenced to four consecutive life terms plus 16 years — no possibility of parole — by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago did not mince words at sentencing: the list of charges, he said, “does little to adequately describe the hideous nature of his actions.” He described how Paul created an atmosphere of “incomprehensible and inescapable pain, confusion, and terror” for the victims trapped in a darkened home.
“To be clear — he first sabotaged their sense of safety by cutting power to the house, luring his own brother outside, then coldly executed him and went on to stalk and eliminate the remaining family members one at a time.” — Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago
Paul Caneiro was indicted by a Monmouth County grand jury in February 2019 on a 16-count indictment. More than six years later, he was formally sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars. He will never be eligible for parole.
