DNA, money, and betrayal take focus in Colts Neck family murder trial

⚖️ Opening statements were given in the quadruple murder trial of Paul Caneiro
⚖️ Prosecutors allege financial ruin and betrayal as motive, pointing to DNA, ballistics, and surveillance footage
⚖️ Defense attorneys insist Caneiro is innocent, and suggest a third brother was never properly investigated.

FREEHOLD BOROUGH — Opening statements were delivered Monday in the quadruple murder trial of Paul Caneiro, as jurors heard an overview of extensive evidence from prosecutors, while the defense attorney declared her client’s innocence.

The bodies of 50-year-old Keith Caneiro, his 45-year-old wife, Jennifer, and their children, 11-year–old Jesse and 8-year-old Sophia were found on Nov. 20, 2018.

Their million-dollar Colts Neck home was engulfed in flames and each victim had been shot, stabbed, or in Jennifer’s case, both.

Read More: Jury is selected for Paul Caneiro in 2018 family murder case

Prosecutors allege financial motive and betrayal

Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Nicole Wallace outlined a motive of financial ruin for accused killer Paul Caneiro, including a confrontation the day before in which Keith asked about stolen funds involving the two companies that the Caneiros co-owned.

Evidence to be examined at trial includes ballistic proof matching a gun and bullets owned by Paul Caneiro, to bloodstained clothing retrieved from his own home — including DNA on jeans that matches his slain young relatives.

DNA, ballistics, and final phone calls highlighted at trial

Jurors will also hear the final two calls between the victim and his older brother, exchanged the day before the Colts Neck family was killed.

Defense attorney Monika Mastellone countered the prosecution, saying that Paul Caneiro would never kill his brother Keith, as he was his “favorite person in the whole world.”

She said the DNA evidence being presented at trial used algorithms to zero in on a relative, which Mastellone said could have been the third and youngest Caneiro brother, Corey, who was never investigated as a suspect.

Surveillance footage seizure becomes key trial issue

Another piece of evidence that can be submitted during the trial is footage from a surveillance camera at Paul Caneiro’s home in Ocean Township.

Hours before the Colts Neck crime scene was discovered, police were called around 5 a.m. to an active fire at the Ocean Township home of Paul Caneiro.

Investigators saw signs of potential arson and made the call to remove the security camera DVR inside the garage, as responders battled the fire from spreading.

Last recorded footage from the morning of the homicides shows Paul Caneiro around 1:28 a.m., walking into his own garage and disconnecting his cameras.

It was that footage that Mastellone fought to have thrown out, as it was seized without a warrant.

In December, the state Supreme Court said that prosecutors can still submit that footage, as police had acted in an “objectively reasonable manner” in removing the DVR.

“Make absolutely no mistake, this case is about evidence,” Wallace told the jury in her opening statements, as reported by NJ.com.

On Monday, among those who gave testimony was a former client of Square One, the computer consulting business co-owned by the brothers — in a split of 90% Keith Caneiro, 10% Paul Caneiro.

She told jurors at the time just before the 2018 killings, her organization was on the verge of ending their work with the Caneiros, NJ.com reported.

The Caneiros' business accountant and their insurance broker also testified before a 3 p.m. break, after which a close neighborhood friend of Keith Caneiro's took the stand.

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