Accused Colts Neck Killer Pleads Not Guilty; Lawyers Quit

COLTS NECK, NJ — The defense lawyers who were hired to represent accused Colts Neck quadruple-murder suspect Paul Caneiro abruptly quit the case, they announced Monday, March 18.

Caneiro also had his arraignment on Monday, where he pleaded not guilty to all 16 charges against him. He is now represented by a public defender, Michael Wicke, Esq., of Freehold.

Caneiro's former defense lawyers at Ansell, Grimm and Aaron said they resigned from the case, citing a "conflict of interest," which they refused to explain.

"After having thoroughly reviewed the discovery recently released by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and material compiled through our own investigation into the events of November 20, 2018, it became clear that there existed at least two separate and clear conflicts of interest for this firm’s continued representation of Paul J. Caneiro," said a statement released Monday morning by Ansell & Grimm, as they are known. Ansell & Grimm is a well-regarded defense law firm based in Ocean Township.

Ansell, Grimm and Aaron is a high-priced private law firm often hired to defend New Jerseyites accused of the most serious of crimes, including murder and white-collar crimes. They're the same lawyers who were hired to represent the founder of a tech company when he was involved in a standoff with police and the county SWAT team at his Colts Neck home two years ago.

Wicke, the public defender, is the same lawyer who represented Andreas Erazo, the 19-year-old man who raped and murdered an 11-year-old girl from Keansburg. The girl, AbbieGail Smith, was killed two summers ago, but Erazo was just found guilty this March; he pleaded guilty to all the charges.

Caneiro retained Ansell & Grimm right away when he was first accused of brutally killing not only his brother, Keith Caneiro, but his brother's wife and their two children in the days just before Thanksgiving 2018. He is then accused of burning their Colts Neck home down, while the bodies of the wife and children were inside. His brother was shot to death multiple times on the front lawn.

The two brothers operated a tech business and a pest control business together, but they had recently been fighting. For months, his lawyers steadfastly maintained Caneiro's innocence even as the evidence against him steadily mounted. The most damning blow came when the Monmouth County Prosecutor's office unsealed the 20-page affidavit last month. In it, detectives unearthed scores of compelling evidence against Caneiro, including that Paul had allegedly stolen $78,000 from his brother before the murders; that Keith had written an email saying he was cutting Paul off from his salary until he discovered where the missing money was; that Paul's Porsche had gasoline stains on it and burn marks on it; that bullet shell casings found at the murder scene matched bullets Paul kept in his home gun safe and finally, that clothing Paul stashed in his basement had blood on it that matched the blood type of his murdered 8-year-old niece, Sophia.

His defense lawyers did not explain what the two conflict of interest are. They only said they are off the case. They had to be approved by a judge to end his representation.

"Today, based on our motion to the Court, Ansell Grimm & Aaron, PC sought and was granted relief as counsel for Paul J. Caneiro," said the law firm. "We did so after great debate and discussion within our firm and after having reviewed the rules governing the representation of clients contained in the Rules of Professional Conduct."

"After having thoroughly reviewed the discovery recently released by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and material compiled through our own investigation into the events of November 20, 2018, it became clear that there existed at least two separate and clear conflicts of interest for this firm’s continued representation of Paul J. Caneiro."

"We brought our concerns to the attention of both the Prosecutor’s Office and the Trial Judge assigned to this case. Both agree with this firm’s assessment that in accordance with the Rules of Professional Conduct contained in R.P.C. 1.7 and R.P.C. 1.9, our continued representation of Mr. Caniero would be impossible at this time."

"We take this action regrettably and firmly believe that Paul J. Caneiro is entitled to his day in court. We have discussed this matter thoroughly with our client and he understands and is in agreement with this decision. We unfortunately cannot answer any questions concerning the conflict(s) that have recently been exposed as we do not wish to jeopardize the fair administration of this case."

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