MONSTER MYSTERY
Anguish over family in N.J. mansion slay as vic’s brother cuffed for torching own home
A tight-knit New Jersey town stunned by the deaths of a well-liked couple and their children gathered Wednesday night to grieve and find comfort amid a deepening mystery about a motive for the savage slayings.
“I’d be lying if I stood here and told you this was easy,” Colts Neck Mayor J.P. Bartolomeo said at a vigil for Keith Caneiro, his wife Jennifer, 45, and their children Jesse, 11, and Sophia, 8 — killed before their mansion in the upscale community was set ablaze Tuesday.
“We lost four really nice people from our community who I happen to be friends with, my boys were friends with, a lot of you were friends with. Even if you didn’t know them, I guarantee you passed them. especially in sports. If not, at one of our local shops.
“A lot of people are asking for answers. There’s no answers,” the mayor told a gathering of about 200 friends and neighbors of the family. “It was a sad day yesterday… possibly one of the most heinous crimes in the county.”
Distraught mourners looked to one another for a way to get through the tragedy.
“I just want a hug,” said one woman who did not give her name. “I’m going to hug people I don’t even know.”
Colts Neck mom Lenka Greicius said she had to tell her 8-year-old daughter Sasha that her friend and classmate, Sophia — who she just saw on Friday — is dead.
“She was nice. I would have a play date with her. She was my bestest friend,” Sasha said in a quiet voice.
Authorities have arrested Paul Caneiro, 51 — Keith Caneiro’s brother — but haven’t connected him to the “homicidal violence” at the family’s mansion, a prosecutor said.
He’s being held at the Monmouth County jail, charged with aggravated arson in connection with a blaze at his own home in Ocean Township, where he used gasoline to ignite a fire while his own wife and two daughters were still inside, authorities said.
That blaze erupted nearly seven hours before authorities responded to the fire at his brother’s mansion 10 miles away — and later found that the entire family had been wiped out.
Keith Caneiro’s body was found on the front lawn with a reported gunshot wound at the back of the head, which didn’t appear to be self-inflicted, and multiple other gun wounds.
The bodies of his wife and kids were discovered inside the mansion. NBC News reported all three had been stabbed. A medical examiner’s investigation is underway.
The family was killed before the fire at their mansion was set, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.
“I do believe this was a targeted situation with the Caneiro family,” Gramiccioni said earlier Wednesday. “This is one of the most heinous cases we’ve ever seen. All were victims of a homicide.”
The prosecutor said investigators haven’t even had a chance to examine Paul Caneiro’s home because it’s still unsafe to go inside.
According to authorities, the Caneiro brothers were partners in Square One, a New Jersey consulting firm.
The township of Colts Neck is 50 miles south of New York City, and is home to a number of celebrities, including Bruce Springsteen. Queen Latifah sold her mansion there in 2015.