The scandalous trial of New Jersey tech boss, Paul Caneiro, who is accused of slaughtering his brother and his brother’s family, will wrap up Thursday — as prosecutors blasted his “far-fetched” defense theory that a third brother framed him.
The defense attorney for Caneiro, 59, suggested to jurors during closing arguments in Monmouth County court that began Wednesday that Paul and Keith’s other brother, Corey Caneiro, may have actually killed Keith, his wife and their kids on Nov. 20, 2018.
And if Paul was convicted of the alleged frame job, then Corey, 52, would become the sole inheritor of Keith’s $3 million family trust, defense attorney Monika Mastellone told the jury at the end of the month-long trial.
But prosecutor Chris Decker told the panelists in his own closing arguments — that began Wednesday afternoon and continued into Thursday morning — that “there was nothing there that made Corey Caneiro look like a suspect.”
In fact, Corey didn’t even know he and Paul were “contingent beneficiaries” — or the ones who stood to inherit if Keith, 50, and his whole family died.
Paul, who was put in charge of Keith’s trust set up in 1999, would forfeit his inheritance if convicted of murder, Decker argued.
“It’s a far-fetched argument that we should have accused Corey Caneiro of murder because he stood to gain $1.5 million that he didn’t even know about,” the prosecutor told the jury Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Paul stole from Keith “19 times in 2018,” which Keith confronted Paul about the night before he was found shot in the head outside his burned-down home with his family slaughtered inside, Decker said.
“Did you hear any evidence that Corey Caneiro stole from his brother?” Decker said.
Paul disabled the security cameras at his home in Ocean Township, N.J., right before setting his own house on fire in a bid to make it appear like he was also being targeted, prosecutors claimed.
“He would have to be the unluckiest man in the world,” Decker said. “Shut off his cameras. Get framed but then not be able to prove he got framed because he shut off his cameras.”
During four hours of closings by Mastellone that concluded Wednesday, she claimed there was reasonable doubt written all over the case, with investigators allegedly failing to look into critical evidence, failing to consider an alternate suspect, and generally falling prey to “tunnel vision” and “confirmation bias.”
Mastellone attempted to dismantle what prosecutors say motivated Paul’s crimes — crushing money problems, in part thanks to bankrolling vacations with his a gal pal and paying for her new Audi sports car.
Paul was living within his means and even though he took money from his brother’s trust, he was in the process of paying it back — just like he always had, Mastellone argued.
She also claimed Paul was so close to Keith and his family that he could never carry out such callous killings.
Paul wiped his eyes with a cloth as Mastellone described his close-knit relationship with Keith’s family.
Paul allegedly went to Keith’s home hours after Keith yelled at him, demanding answers about the missing money, according to prosecutors.
He cut the power, turned off the generator and waited for Keith to come outside before shooting him in the head five times, prosecutors claim.
Paul then went inside, where he shot and stabbed his sister-in-law, Jennifer, 45, and then stabbed his 11-year-old nephew, Jesse, and his 8-year-old niece, Sophia, prosecutors allege.
Paul lit a slow-burning fire at the home and returned to his house and torched that one too — but ensured his own wife and daughters made it out alive, prosecutors argued.
He’s pleaded not guilty and has been in jail since his arrest.
Decker is expected to wrap up his closing arguments Thursday morning and jurors will likely begin deliberating later Thursday.
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