Uncle Pleads Not Guilty in New Jersey Family's Fiery Mansion Murders

A New Jersey businessman accused of killing his young niece and nephew, along with their parents, has pleaded not guilty to felony murder and other charges.

A public defender for Paul Caneiro entered the pleas Monday during a hearing in Freehold. Caneiro had previously been represented by private attorneys who maintained his innocence, but they have withdrawn from the case due to conflicts of interest.

A 16-count indictment unsealed last month charges Caneiro with murder, felony murder, aggravated arson and a weapons offense. He also faces counts of theft, misapplication of entrusted property and hindering his own apprehension.

The charges stem from the deaths of Keith Caneiro; his wife, Jennifer, and their two young children, aged 8 and 10. Their bodies were found after a fire broke out at their Colts Neck home on Nov. 20. 

According to the indictment unsealed last month, police recovered bloody clothing, including jeans and a latex glove in Paul Caneiro's basement. The blood matches the DNA of the 8-year-old, court documents say.

Caneiro had previously been represented by private attorneys Robert Honecker Jr. and Mitchell Ansell, who maintained his innocence. However, they said they determined they could no longer represent him because a review of materials recently released by prosecutors found "at least two separate and clear" conflicts of interest.

The attorneys' statement did not specify those conflicts, and they declined to elaborate on the matter after the hearing. They said their decision to withdraw came "after great debate and discussion within our firm," and noted that prosecutors and the trial judge had agreed with their assessment that "our continued representation of Mr. Caniero would be impossible at this time."

The two attorneys have said Paul Caneiro loved his family, had no reason to harm them and had been "wrongly accused."

Authorities allege Paul Caneiro shot his brother, shot and stabbed his sister-in-law and stabbed the children before dawn that day, then set the mansion on fire and returned home in Ocean Township to set fire to his own home as his wife and two adult daughters slept upstairs. 

After his arrest in that fire, his then-lawyers said his family believed he had rescued them. Authorities don't believe he meant to harm his immediate family.

Officials have said the motive for the murders appears to be money. The Caneiro brothers had started a computer consulting business in Brooklyn that had grown to have 26 employees by 2001, with clients including Citibank. They had renamed it Square One, and moved to the quieter New Jersey suburbs. They married and started families — with each brother standing up for the other at their weddings — and added a pest control company along the way.

Paul Caneiro was about to be cut off from their technology company after money allegedly went missing from the firm, according to court filings.