Charged: Paul Caneiro, 51, has been charged with setting his own house on fire, seven hours before his brother was found murdered in his own burning mansion
The brother of a New Jersey millionaire who was murdered at his home with his wife and kids on Tuesday has been charged with setting a fire at his own house 12 miles away, seven hours earlier.
Paul Caneiro, 51, was charged with aggravated arson for the fire that was reported at his own home in Ocean Township, New Jersey, on Tuesday at 5am.
He has not been charged for the murders of his brother and business partner Keith, 50, or those of Keith’s wife Jennifer and their two children but prosecutors tell DailyMail.com they expect to file more charges throughout the day.
Keith was shot in the back and head and his wife and children, Sophia and Jesse, had been stabbed.
All of the bodies were badly burned. Paul, who is yet to be pictured, remains in custody at the Monmouth County Correctional Facility.
The fire at his home was reported at around 5am.
His neighbors say he stood outside his home afterwards looking ‘upset’ and claiming that a gas leak had caused the fire.
Neither he nor his wife Susan were harmed and they stayed outside their house in Ocean Township until around noon then left the site.
Less than an hour later, at 12.38pm, the fire at his brother’s home was reported 12 miles away.
Prosecutors will not release further details before a scheduled press conference at 2pm.
Victims: Paul’s brother Keith was found dead inside his home with his wife Jennifer and their two children, Jesse and Sophia, on Tuesday, 12 miles away at their home in Colts Neck. Keith, 50, had also been shot. Jennifer, Jesse and Sophia were all stabbed
PAUL’S HOUSE: Paul Caneiro, 51, has been charged with setting the fire at his home in Ocean Township, New Jersey, (pictured) which was reported seven hours before his brother Keith was found dead with his own family in their home after a fire 12 miles away. Keith had also been shot
KEITH’S MANSION: Keith and his family were found dead inside their $1.5million home in Colts Neck (above) as it burned at around 12.30pm
The two houses are 12 miles apart. There were just over seven hours between the two fires
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. ‘
The couple has two adult daughters. It is not clear if they were in the home at the time.
After the fire at Keith’s house was reported, emergency crews and news cameras flocked to the scene.
Videos showed smoke pouring out of the home as the fire teams worked to get the blaze under control.
Paul (left) and his brother (right) worked together at a tech consulting firm in Asbury Park which Keith was the founder and CEO of. Paul worked as the vice president. It is unclear what motivated the fires and murders. The brothers were close at one time at least, with Keith acting as Paul’s best man when he got married in 1991
The mansion in Colts neck was torched by the fire. There were dozens of police there on Wednesday
After the fire at his house (pictured), Paul stood in the street with ‘tears in his eyes’ and told neighbors a gas leak had caused it. He left the area at noon, 40 minutes before the fire was reported at his brother’s home 12 miles away
A police officer is shown outside the home of Paul and Susan Caneiro on Wednesday after he was taken into custody on arson charges
A sheet, seemingly covering Keith’s body, could be seen in the middle of the yard next to the housewith police tape cordoning off the area.
The official cause of death is yet to be released but a law enforcement source yesterday said that he had suffered a gunshot wound which did not appear to be self-inflicted.
The brothers were partners in a tech consulting firm where Keith was the CEO and founder and Paul was the vice president.
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.
They were also partners in a pest control company they operated from the same office. 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.
Typical homes in the town of 10,000 are valued at about $750,000.
Authorities are now investigating the horrific scene as a quadruple murder after it was revealed Caneiro’s gunshot wound was not self-inflicted
Firefighters were still working to control the blaze at Keith Caneiro’s home hours after it was first reported around 12.30pm
Firefighters carry a stretcher to the scene of a fatal fire at the mansion on Tuesday afternoon