The brother of a New Jersey millionaire found shot in his burning mansion with his stabbed wife and children earlier this month has been arrested for their murders.
Paul Caneiro, 51, was charged on Thursday with the murders of his 50-year-old brother Keith, Keith’s 45-year-old wife Jennifer and their children, Sophia, eight, and Jesse, 11.
Caneiro was previously arrested for setting fire to his own house.
The blaze at his home was reported seven hours before fire fighters were called to Keith’s mansion in Colts Neck, New Jersey.
It remains unclear what the motive for the killings was. Prosecutors refused to share more information about the most recent charges on Thursday morning until a press conference scheduled for 11am.
Keith and his family were found dead at their home on November 20 after a landscaper reported it being on fire.
Paul Caneiro, 51, was charged on Thursday with the murders of his 50-year-old brother Keith, Keith’s 45-year-old wife Jennifer and their children, Sophia, eight, and Jesse, 11.
When police arrived, they found Keith shot outside and his wife and children stabbed inside.
Their bodies were badly burned and it took investigative teams days to be able to get into the house to survey the damage.
At 5am that morning, a fire was reported at Paul’s home in Ocean Township, 12 miles away.
He was at the home with his adult daughters and wife at the time but they all made it out alive and stayed at the scene for hours afterwards to talk to police.
He left the area at around noon. Forty minutes later, the fire at Keith’s home was reported.
Workers were seen at Keith’s home in Ocean Township on Wednesday. It was partially damaged in the fire police say he set himself while he was inside with his wife and adult daughters
Keith’s wife Susan, left, and one of his adult daughters, right, were seen at the property on Wednesday
A worker surveys the damage inside the home which neighbors say was Keith’s pride and joy
Prosecutors say Paul (right after a car accident which gave him a limp) set fire to his home using gasoline while his wife Susan, (center left) and daughters Marissa, 23, (second from right) and Katelyn, 26, (left) were inside the home
The two houses are 12 miles apart. There were just over seven hours between the two fires
On November 21, Paul was charged with arson for allegedly setting fire to his own home but authorities refused to say whether he was a suspect in his brother’s death or the deaths of his family.
Neighbors of Paul’s in Ocean Township told DailyMail.com afterwards that they would be surprised if he had had anything to do with his brother’s murder and that they thought it was unlikely he would set fire to his own house because he was so proud of it.
They described him as being a ‘big fish in a small pond’ who never quite lived up to the wealth his younger brother had amassed.
After the fire at his house, Paul and his wife Susan stood outside for around seven hours, according to his neighbors.
‘He said it must have been a gas leak, he had tears in his eyes. Susan was devastated,’ one neighbor, who did not want to be named, told NJ.com.
‘He said, “I’m in complete shock, I can’t believe this is happening to me.”
‘They were here until about noon. ‘
Keith’s burned mansion had been boarded up on Wednesday. It took firefighters several hours to put out the blaze inside the $1.5million home
The mansion on Wednesday was a shell of what it once was. Keith and his wife had recently paid off their mortgage
Keith’s mansion in Colts Neck is shown above on the day of the fire as firefighters worked frantically to put out the blaze
Paul (left) is the older of the two brothers by a year but he worked for Keith (right with his son when he was a baby)
Jennifer and Keith were well regarded in the town of Colts Neck where they were friends with the mayor
The brothers worked together at a technology consultancy firm which Keith founded and where Paul was the Vice President.
They also ran a pest control business together.
They both grew up in Brooklyn with a younger brother, Corey, who does not appear to be involved in the fires or murders.
Both Paul and Keith married women from Staten Island. At Paul’s wedding in 1991, Keith acted as the best man.
Colts Neck, where Keith lived, is a well-to-do community about 50 miles south of New York City and is home to horse farms.
One woman, who owns a horse farm near Keith’s home, told The Asbury Park Press that Jennifer often brought the children by to feed the horses.
She said she was ‘so nice’ and ‘beautiful’.
Typical homes in Colts Neck are valued at about $750,000.
According to records obtained by NJ.com, Jennifer and Keith paid off their $1.8million mortgage two years ago.