convicted of killing his brother<\/a>\u00a0and his brother\u2019s family in their upscale Colts Neck mansion in 2018 was sentenced to die in prison Tuesday \u2014 as the judge slammed him as a \u201cheartless, brutal killer.\u201d<\/p>\nMonmouth County Judge Marc Lemieux sentenced Paul Caneiro, 59, to the mandatory penalty of four life sentences without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this case, there was an avalanche of evidence pointing to the defendant being a callous, heartless, brutal killer,\u201d Lemieux said at the Tuesday sentencing.<\/p>\nPaul Caneiro appears in court at his sentencing on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. Court TV<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPaul Caneiro was convicted of killing his brother and his entire family. Caneiro was sentenced on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. Court TV<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cThis was an annihilation of an entire family, a mass murder carried out by a person who should have protected them the most \u2026 because the defendant constructed lies that were collapsing down around him,\u201d the judge added.<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\n\u201cHe was and continues to be a manipulative, cold-blooded killer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caneiro was convicted by a jury in February of shooting his business partner brother, Keith Caneiro, 50, outside the sibling\u2019s mansion before going inside and shooting and stabbing Keith\u2019s 45-year-old wife, Jennifer, on Nov. 20, 2018.<\/p>\n
Paul then stabbed his niece and nephew, Sophia, 8, and Jesse, 11, before setting the home on fire and returning to his own Ocean Township house, lighting a blaze there too to make it appear as though he was also being targeted. Paul\u2019s wife and two daughters were unscathed.<\/p>\nPaul Caneiro\u2019s mugshot from when he was arrested in November 2018. AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nJennifer\u2019s mother, Bette Karidis, told the judge ahead of sentencing that \u201ca thousand years would not be enough\u201d of a punishment for Paul, whom she slammed as a \u201cmonster\u201d and \u201cpure evil.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an act of pure evil, he took the life of four innocent people,\u201d Karidis said. \u201cHis own flesh and blood out of\u00a0greed\u00a0and selfishness. He disgusts us.<\/p>\nDetective Sgt. Christopher Clayton, a NJSP ballistics expert, holds up the alleged gun used in the shooting. Doug Hood\/Asbury Park Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cHe stole the source of joy and happiness in our lives and replaced it with bottomless sadness, sorrow and grief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jennifer\u2019s sister, Bonnie Karidis, called for the harshest sentence possible, saying Paul \u201cmust be removed from society.\u201d<\/p>\nPaul Caneiro was sentenced for killing his brother and his brother\u2019s family. Tanya Breen\/Asbury Park Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cThe sheer malice and betrayal is unbearable,\u201d Bonnie said. \u201cThey were executed and tortured by someone who was family \u2026 they welcomed him into their space and he took their lives for material wealth.<\/p>\nPaul Caneiro in the courtroom on Feb. 11, 2026. Doug Hood\/Asbury Park Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cThe satin in this room stole decades of laughter, holidays, graduations and weddings from all of us for temporary material wealth,\u201d Bonnie said.<\/p>\n
Paul looked on somberly, wearing yellow jail clothes. He did not speak in court but his lawyer Monika Mastellone said he \u201cmaintains his innocence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of loss and devastation is truly immeasurable,\u201d Mastellone said. \u201cThere is nothing I can say to mitigate that tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n