Brother of Gunned Down CEO Is Charged With Arson

The brother of a technology firm CEO who was shot dead, and his family burnt in a New Jersey mansion fire, faces arson charges, media reports said on Nov. 21.

Paul Caneiro, the brother of Keith, whose body was discovered outside the burning home with a gunshot wound, has been arrested and detained in Monmouth County jail. Caneiro is charged with setting his own home on fire in Ocean Township, New Jersey. The dead brother’s home separately burned down in Colts Neck, New Jersey.

Paul Caneiro, brother of Keith Caneiro, who was found dead outside his burning home with a gunshot wound, has been arrested and detained at Monmouth County jail. (Monmouth County)

Caneiro, 51, is charged with aggravated arson in connection with the fire on Nov. 20.

Although Caneiro is not charged with the fire in Colts Neck, ABC7 reported. According to NJ.com, law enforcement sources claim he tried to set his own home on fire.

Officials suspect the two fires are connected, but have not publicly explained how. No charges are filed in the homicides of Keith Caneiro.

Neighbors told NJ.com that Paul Caneiro appeared distressed, and had “tears in his eyes” when the fire broke out at his house before dawn. He stayed at the scene until midday before leaving

Firefighters arrived at his brother’s $1.5 million mansion at around 12:45 p.m. according to NJ.com reports.

The Caneiro brothers both worked for technology firm Square One, where Keith was CEO.

Earlier Update

“One body, a man, was found outside the home, and the other three were recovered inside the home,” Monmouth County prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni told Patch.com. “Unfortunately, they were burned severely as a result of the fire.”

“That remains to be seen,” Gramiccioni said in The New York Times. “But that is an option or an angle we continue to pursue.”

“It’s important to emphasize that we have no reason to believe that anyone in the community is in any danger at this time,” he added, in The Associated Press, saying a medical examiner is still investigating the causes of death in the case.

Keith Caneiro had operated Square One since 1987, and also had an active real estate license, NJ.com reported. The Daily Mail said that Paul Caneiro was a partner with him in the tech firm.

“They’re wonderful people,” Kevin Harrington, who lives across the street from the Caneiro family in Ocean Township, told the NY Times. “It’s pretty shocking stuff.”

“Very nice, very friendly, anybody that you’d want to be living next door to basically,” one of Keith Caneiro’s neighbors told CBS News.

Joy Gamache, a local, told the Asbury Park Press that “the lady” from the 15 Willow Brook was “so nice and beautiful.” She would regularly bring her kids over to see the horses.

A neighbor told the Daily Mail they saw the couple at their Ocean Township home after the fire broke out.

“‘He said it must have been a gas leak, he had tears in his eyes. Susan was devastated,” the neighbor said. “He said, “I’m in complete shock, I can’t believe this is happening to me. ‘They were here until about noon.'”