Colts Neck Holds Vigil For The Caneiro Family Wednesday Night

COLTS NECK, NJ — The Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time for going out with friends, or staying at home, relaxing with family. Instead, the community of Colts Neck will gather at the town hall Wednesday evening to mourn a local family who was shockingly murdered in this town on Tuesday.

There will be a candlelit vigil at 5 p.m. Wednesday night, Nov. 21 at Colts Neck Town Hall, 124 Cedar Drive. On Tuesday of this week, the Caneiro family, Keith, Jennifer, and their children, Jesse, 11, and Sophia, 8, were found murdered in their modern, palatial home on Willow Brook Road. The father, Keith, had been shot and his body was lying in the front yard. Jennifer and her children were found inside the home, their bodies "severely burned" in a fire that had been set after they were murdered.

Keith's older brother, Paul Caneiro, was arrested Wednesday and charged with trying to set his own home in Ocean Twp. on fire, while his own wife and kids were inside. Nobody was injured in that incident. The two brothers were in business together. The prosecutor has refused to say whether he is a suspect in the murder of his brother's family, but he will remain in jail through the holiday weekend. His bail hearing has not been set until next Wednesday, Nov. 28.

Colts Neck, a community that prides itself on its wealth, as well as its quiet serenity, is reeling.

"To the members of the Colts Neck community: We in law enforcement know Colts Neck to be a quiet, safe and tight-knit community," said the county prosecutor, Chris Gramiccioni. "I am sure you are feeling the reverberations and the traumatic emotional effects of the loss of the Caneiro family. Our hearts in law enforcement go out to you. In our hearts, we want to give justice to the Caneiro family. We really mean it."

"I can speak for the entire Monmouth County law enforcement community that this is one the most heinous cases that we have ever investigated," he added. He said detectives will work on Thanksgiving Day and through the weekend to solve this case. "Many of them will not be able to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with their families. They take the dedication to their jobs so seriously."

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