NJ tech boss Paul Caneiro sentenced to die in prison for killing his brother and family
The New Jersey tech boss convicted of killing his brother and his brother’s family in their upscale Colts Neck mansion in 2018 was sentenced to die in prison Tuesday — because the decide slammed him as a “heartless, brutal killer.”
Monmouth County Judge Marc Lemieux sentenced Paul Caneiro, 59, to the necessary penalty of 4 life sentences with out the potential of parole.
“In this case, there was an avalanche of evidence pointing to the defendant being a callous, heartless, brutal killer,” Lemieux mentioned on the Tuesday sentencing.
“This was an annihilation of an entire family, a mass murder carried out by a person who should have protected them the most… because the defendant constructed lies that were collapsing down around him,” the decide added.
“He was and continues to be a manipulative, cold-blooded killer.”
Caneiro was convicted by a jury in February of capturing his enterprise accomplice brother, Keith Caneiro, 50, outdoors the sibling’s mansion earlier than going inside and capturing and stabbing Keith’s 45-year-old spouse, Jennifer, on Nov. 20, 2018.
Paul then stabbed his niece and nephew, Sophia, 8, and Jesse, 11, earlier than setting the house on fireplace and returning to his personal Ocean Township home, lighting a blaze there too to make it seem as if he was additionally being focused. Paul’s spouse and two daughters had been unscathed.
Jennifer’s mom, Bette Karidis, informed the decide forward of sentencing that “a thousand years would not be enough” of a punishment for Paul, whom she slammed as a “monster” and “pure evil.”
“In an act of pure evil, he took the lives of four innocent people,” Karidis mentioned. “His personal flesh and blood out of greed and selfishness. He dislikes us.
“He stole the source of joy and happiness in our lives and replaced it with bottomless sadness, sorrow and grief.”
Jennifer’s sister, Bonnie Karidis, known as for the harshest sentence attainable, telling Paul “must be removed from society.”
“The sheer malice and betrayal is unbearable,” Bonnie mentioned. “They had been executed and tortured by somebody who was family… they welcomed him into their area and he took their lives for materials wealth.
“The satin in this room stole decades of laughter, holidays, graduations and weddings from all of us for temporary material wealth,” Bonnie mentioned.
Paul appeared somberly, sporting yellow jail garments. He didn’t converse in courtroom however his lawyer Monika Mastellone mentioned he “maintains his innocence.”
“The amount of loss and devastation is truly immeasurable,” Mastellone mentioned. “There is nothing I can say to mitigate that tragedy.”
He stood — his face stoic, and unchanging — with his fingers cuffed in entrance of him and his wrists linked to a leather-based belt round his waist because the decide learn his prolonged choice.
“His address will forever be the Department of Corrections,” Lemieux concluded.
“You are no longer Paul Caneiro… you are a quadruple murderer, who slaughtered innocent children. That is your identity,” the decide mentioned, including he might be “confined to a 4-foot by 7-foot cell until your final breath.”
Lemieux emphasised the horror of Paul’s acts, in specific those he unleashed on his younger niece and nephew, as he “hunted them with a knife” in their very own residence.
The children tried to struggle off their 230-pound uncle however did not stand an opportunity — Sophia weighing a slight 45 kilos and Jesse weighing 90 kilos, the decide mentioned.
And after visibly repeatedly stabbing them, the children had been discovered with smoke inhalation accidents throughout their post-mortem, indicating they had been nonetheless alive and respiratory because the slow-burning fireplace consumed the home, the decide mentioned.
A lady may very well be heard saying, “Oh Jesus” as Lemieux described how Paul stabbed Sophia in the nasal cavity and chest inflicting her lung to collapse.
Lemieux additionally famous repeatedly that Paul confirmed no regret.
Paul was pushed to the grisly slayings in a bid to silence Keith after the youthful brother confronted Paul about stealing $80,000 from Keith’s trust meant to fund his life insurance coverage coverage, prosecutors alleged at trial.
Paul — who owned a tech firm and an extermination firm with Keith — was struggling financially, paying for 4 luxurious vehicles and bankrolling trips with his gal pal Yisel Restrepoprosecutors claimed.
Meanwhile, Paul’s lawyer, Monika Mastellone, argued at trial {that a} third Caneiro brother, Corey, could have truly been accountable for the murders and framed Paul.
Paul would forfeit his share of Keith’s $3 million belief if convicted of homicide, leaving Corey as the only real heir, Mastellone argued.
And Paul cherished Keith and his family an excessive amount of to ever be able to murdering them, the protection lawyer argued.
Paul cried when Mastellone described how shut he was to the victims.
Paul additionally wasn’t truly overextended like prosecutors contended, since he was amassing $200,000 in incapacity funds and the extermination firm was doubtlessly going to be offered for a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars}, Mastellone argued.
The jury discovered Paul responsible of all fees, together with homicide, aggravated arson, weapons possession and hindering apprehension.
