12-05-2025
Paul Caneiro's attorney asks judge to exclude key evidence from his quadruple murder trial
FREEHOLD With his trial just months away, Paul Caneiro's defense attorney is now asking a judge to throw out most of the key evidence in the quadruple murder and double arson case against her client.
Monika Mastellone has filed motions seeking to bar the state's arson expert from testifying at the 58-year-old Ocean Township man's trial and to exclude ballistic and motive evidence from being introduced to the jury, Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemeiux revealed at a conference May 8.
Mastellone also has filed motions to suppress "evidence seized with an over-broad warrant,'' and other evidence seized without a warrant, said Lemieux, Monmouth County's assignment judge.
Caneiro is charged with the murders of his brother, Keith, 50, sister-in-law Jennifer, 45, and the couple's two children, daughter Sophia, 8, and son, Jesse, 11, found slain at the family's mansion on Willow Brook Road in Colts Neck in 2018.
In addition, Caneiro is charged with two counts of aggravated arson related to an inferno that destroyed his brother's mansion in an attempt to cover up the murders and a fire at his own home, allegedly set to throw off investigators by making it appear his entire family was being targeted by violent thugs.
Caneiro also faces weapons and theft charges.
Authorities allege he committed the murders after his brother caught him stealing from the businesses they co-owned.
Some of the evidence seized by detectives executing the search warrant at Caneiro's home included blood-stained jeans, a bloody latex glove, a 9mm Sig Sauer firearm and a 9mm bullet tucked in a fold of clothing, according to police documents. Analysis of the bloody items revealed mixtures of the defendant's DNA with that of his niece and nephew, according to prosecutors.
Detectives also found Caneiro's passport in a backpack in one of his cars.
Lemieux said the evidence seized without a warrant is a DVR security system, taken from Caneiro's garage with the defendant's consent.
Footage from the DVR system, played in court during pretrial proceedings last month, showed Caneiro walking up to the camera at 1:29 a.m. on Nov. 20, 2018, just before power to the surveillance system was cut.
Paul Caneiro told investigators he was home sleeping from 6 p.m. the night before and never left his house, although surveillance footage from neighboring homes showed his sport-utility vehicle leaving his driveway at 2:07 a.m. on Nov. 20, 2018, the same day his brother, sister-in-law and the couple's two children were slain.
The victims' bodies were discovered later that day, when a slow-smoldering fire set at the mansion escalated into an inferno and brought first-responders to the scene.
Keith Caneiro, found on the lawn, had been shot four times in the head and once in the back. Jennifer Caneiro and the two children, found inside the home, were repeatedly stabbed and badly burned. Jennifer Caneiro also had been shot in the head.
Lemieux gave prosecutors until May 28 to respond to the defense attorney's motions to exclude the ballistics evidence, the evidence seized pursuant to the search warrant and footage from the DVR security system. The judge scheduled hearings on those motions for June 3.
Lemieux directed prosecutors to respond to the defense motions seeking to exclude testimony of the arson expert and evidence of a financial crimes motive by June 5. He scheduled hearings on those motions for June 10.
Caneiro's trial date has been pushed back multiple times. Jury selection for the trial is now scheduled to begin Sept. 8.
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 khopkins@
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Caneiro's lawyer wants key evidence in quadruple murder trial tossed
