Former Prosecutor is defending accused arsonist

Paul Caneiro

Former Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Robert Honecker told CNN that he is defending Paul Caneiro, the Ocean Township man accused of setting his home on fire on Tuesday morning while his wife and two adult daughters were in the house.

Honecker said that his client is innocent of the Aggravated Arson charges filed against him and any other charges yet to be filed.

“My client maintains his innocence on this charge and any other potential charges,” Caneiro’s attorney Robert Honecker told CNN. “His family fully support his defense of this charge. No evidence has been produced that suggests a reason why he would engage in such conduct. He fully expects to be vindicated when this case finally resolves.”

There have no been no arrests or charges filed for the murders of Caneiro’s brother Keith, Keith’s wife Jennifer and their children Jesse, 11 and and Sophia, 9. Nor has there been any arrests or charges filed for the arson of Keith and Jennifer’s Colts Neck home.

At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said that the Keith Caneiro family died as a result of “homicidal violence.” Keith’s body was found outside the burning home at 15 Willow Brook Road, Colts Neck, with two gunshots, Gramiccionie confirmed. The bodies of Jennifer and the children were found, “severely burned,” inside the home. Gramiccioni did not confirm the method of violence that killed Jennifer and the children, pending the investigation of the Middlesex County Medical Examiner.

Sources told MMM on Wednesday morning that Jennifer was shot and that the children were brutally stabbed. Other publications have reported that Jennifer and the children were stabbed.

Paul Caneiro is in the custody of the Monmouth County Correctional Institution pending his first court appearance which is scheduled for November 28.