Judge OKs use of controversial DNA evidence in Paul Caneiro quadruple murder trial

Yahoo

10-03-2025

FREEHOLD -- Monmouth County's top judge has rejected Paul Caneiro's bid to keep critical evidence out of his quadruple murder trial, ruling late last week that DNA evidence generated by cutting-edge but controversial computer software can be introduced to a jury deciding the case.
Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux, in a decision Thursday and made public Monday, denied the 58-year-old Ocean Township man's motion to exclude DNA evidence analyzed with a computer software program known as STRmix at his upcoming trial in the 2018 murders in Colts Neck of his brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew.
Attorneys from the state Public Defender's Office challenged the results generated from the software at a weeks-long hearing late last year. Defense attorneys argued the technology — which utilizes a method of analysis known as probabilistic genotyping — did not undergo adequate, independent testing in the scientific community to prove its reliability for use in criminal trials.
Lemieux, Monmouth County's assignment judge, rejected that argument in a 212-page ruling that is likely to have statewide implications for the STRmix software, which had never before been subject to a court challenge in New Jersey.
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"STRmix has been tested,'' Lemieux wrote in his decision. "It has been tested over 9 billion times. Its performance across a vast range of samples has been extensively charted.
"The numerous articles, the discussion and spirited debate between forensic experts as to (probabilistic genotyping's) role in their industry, and the thoughtful and thorough judicial opinions from other jurisdictions all lead to the same conclusion: probabilistic genotyping is reliable. STRmix implements it reliably. STRmix works, and it appears to work very well.''
While the DNA evidence generated by STRmix will be admissible at Caneiro's trial, the defendant can raise issues about what impact related contributors to DNA mixtures have on the results, whether laboratories processing the results adhered to standard operating procedures and general criticisms of probabilistic genotyping and the STRmix software, Lemieux ruled.
STRmix and other probabilistic genotyping programs are used to analyze small amounts and complicated mixtures of DNA that often can't be analyzed by the traditional method of DNA analysis in use for decades.
The traditional method, know as random match probability, generates a statistic on the probability a match to a DNA profile can be found in the general population. Probabilistic genotyping generates a "likelihood ratio" that a person of interest can either be included or excluded as a contributor to a DNA mixture.
Jury selection for Caneiro's trial is scheduled to begin May 19.
He is charged with the murders of his brother, Keith, 50; sister-in-law Jennifer, 45; niece Sophia, 8; and nephew Jesse, 11, as well as other crimes that speak to the motive for the killings and attempts to cover them up.
Emergency workers responding to a slow-burning fire at Keith Caneiro's mansion on Willow Brook Road in Colts Neck discovered the bodies of the victims on Nov. 21, 2018.
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Keith Caneiro had been shot four times in the head and once in the back. Jennifer Caneiro and the two children were repeatedly stabbed and badly burned. Jennifer Caneiro also was shot in the head.
Prosecutors allege Paul Caneiro committed the murders after his brother found out he was stealing from businesses they co-owned. They allege the defendant then set fire to the mansion before setting his Ocean Township home ablaze to make it look like the entire family was being targeted by violent thugs.
DNA that the STRmix program determined to be a mixture from Paul and Sophia Caneiro, and another mixture to which Jesse was deemed to be a contributor, was later found on clothing recovered from the defendant's basement.
Prosecutors have said they also have additional DNA evidence analyzed by the traditional method that implicates Paul Caneiro in the crimes.
The Public Defender's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lemiuex's ruling on the STRmix DNA evidence.
"While we certainly appreciate and respect the exhaustive analysis conducted by the Court in this matter, given the close proximity to the anticipated start of the trial, we must respectfully decline further comment,'' Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said.
Both sides have indicated in the past that the ruling would most likely be subject to an appeal.
Lemeiux also will be tasked with ruling on a defense motion to move Caneiro's trial out of Monmouth County due to pretrial publicity. He has scheduled a hearing on that motion for April 2.
Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Caneiro Colts Neck murder trial: Judge rules DNA evidence can be used