A New Jersey man received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the 2018 murders of his brother, his sister-in-law, and their two children, according to NBC News.
Paul Caneiro, 59, was sentenced Tuesday by Monmouth County Judge Marc Lemieux, who described the killings as deliberate and merciless. "You are a quadruple murderer who slaughtered innocent children. That is your identity," Judge Lemieux said, according to CBS News. In addition to the four life terms, Caneiro received eight years each on arson and theft charges, to run concurrently.
A jury convicted Caneiro in February on all 15 counts, including the murders of his brother Keith Caneiro, 50; Keith's wife Jennifer Caneiro, 45; and the couple's children, Jesse, 11, and Sophia, 8. Deliberations lasted about four hours, according to CBS News.
Responding to a report of a house fire, authorities found Keith Caneiro's body in his front yard in Colts Neck, New Jersey; court documents showed he had sustained a single gunshot to the back and four more to the head. Inside the home, Jennifer Caneiro was found to have been both shot and stabbed. Prosecutors told the court that the children, Jesse and Sophia, had been stabbed seven and 40 times respectively and were still alive at the point Paul Caneiro ignited the house, according to CBS News.
Prosecutors said the motive was financial. According to prosecutors, Keith Caneiro called his brother the day before the murders demanding repayment of money Paul had taken from their shared trust, setting a deadline for the funds to be returned. At stake financially were a $1.5 million insurance policy and theft charges alleging Paul Caneiro had taken a minimum of $75,000 from the trust, according to NBC News.
To make it look as though multiple households had been attacked rather than just his brother's, Caneiro set his own residence ablaze as well, according to NBC News. His family members were inside at the time but escaped without injury.
Mastellone maintained before the court that her client is innocent. At trial, her strategy included pointing to a third brother who stood to collect the same $1.5 million insurance payout and whom police never investigated or charged, according to CBS News. Prosecutors said DNA evidence, ballistics, and surveillance footage placed Caneiro at the scene.
Throughout the sentencing, Caneiro showed no visible emotion. Given the opportunity by Judge Lemieux to address the court before his sentence was handed down, he declined with a simple "No, Your Honor," according to NBC News. Caneiro has 45 days to appeal the sentence.
Speaking before the court, Bette Karidis, the mother of Jennifer Caneiro, delivered a victim impact statement in which she said Paul Caneiro had taken away everything that had brought her family joy, leaving only grief in its place, according to NBC News.