Paul Caneiro gets four consecutive life sentences with no parole for Colts Neck family killings
Caneiro was convicted in February of killing his brother, Keith Caneiro, along with his brother’s wife and their two children.
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Paul Caneiro has been sentenced to four consecutive life terms with no parole for the quadruple killing in Colts Neck — one for each family member.
Caneiro was also sentenced for other charges, including 18 years with no early release for aggravated arson.
Caneiro was convicted in February of killing his brother, Keith Caneiro, along with his brother’s wife and their two children.
During court proceedings at the Monmouth County courthouse in Freehold, family members of the victims spoke out.
Jennifer Caneiro’s mother called Paul Caneiro a "killer" and a "monster" and urged the court to remove him from society.
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“That is your identity. That is the identity you will carry for the remainder of your life behind prison walls, confined to a 4 x 7-foot cell until your final breath."
Those were Judge Marc Lemieux's vitriolic words as he sentenced Paul Caneiro to four life sentences – with zero chance of ever walking free again. The family of his brother Keith, Keith's wife Jennifer, and their children Jesse and Sophia also spoke directly to the man who killed their family.
“How their last moments were terrifying, painful and horrific. How each of them looked at their uncle Paul as he killed them. Killing them in front of each other like an animal,” said Bette Karidis, Jennifer’s mother.
“In his violent acts he attempted to erase everything Keith built. As a father, as a husband, as a friend, and as a human being, but Paul will never succeed in that, never ever. Keith’s legacy lives in every life he touched,” said Bonnie Karidis, Jennifer’s sister.
The 2018 killings happened just days before Thanksgiving. Caneiro first carefully and meticulously planned and then carried out what Judge Lemieux called the brutal annihilation of his immediate family, then tried to cover his tracks by setting fire first at his brother's Colts Neck home, and then his own Ocean Township home, all because Keith learned Paul was stealing money.
“They were slaughtered by a family member who they knew and were trusted and welcomed into their home,” said Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago.
Santiago said this may not be the last we hear from Paul Caneiro, but the sentence handed down by Judge Lemieux was the harshest allowed by the state of New Jersey, life without the possibility of parole four times over.
