A New Jersey judge denied accused quadruple murderer Paul Caneiro’s request to be released from jail on Friday, claiming his rights were violated by his imprisonment for more than six years without trial.
Caneiro, 58, was scheduled to go on trial Monday for killing his business partner brother and the sibling’s family in Colt’s Neck in 2018, but the case was postponed last week for an appeal.
During a hearing Friday before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Marc Lemieux, Caneiro’s lawyers argued that because prosecutors had a deadline of Sept. 14 to try him under his speedy trial rights, he should be legally released.
“It is simply not just to hold someone in jail for seven years without having the opportunity to have their case tried,” Caneiro’s defense attorney, Monika Mastellone, argued.
Just days before jury selection was set to begin on September 8, the New Jersey Supreme Court — the state’s highest court — agreed to hear prosecutors’ appeal that DVR video evidence be shown to jurors.
Prosecutor Christopher Decker argued that the trial clock should be paused while his office works to get the evidence in.
Decker stated that his office was fully prepared to go to trial in the shocking Colt’s Neck killings but was unaware that the appeals court would agree to hear the case last week, so it is now out of his hands.
“The state is here to say we are trial ready,” Decker stated. “The court no longer has jurisdiction.
Is this the state’s fault because we filed the motion, which was granted?”
Lemieux repeatedly sought to define what it legally means to be “trial ready” — a requirement prosecutors must meet in order to extend the expedited trial clock.
“There is no doubt that both sides were ready to proceed to trial,” Lemieux told the jury. “You were prepared to proceed last Wednesday. My question is: are you still ready?”
On November 20, 2018, Caneiro is accused of shooting his brother Keith, 50, and stabbing his sister-in-law Jennifer, 50, as well as stabbing their children Jesse, 11, and Sophia, 8. Prosecutors allege that Caneiro then set fire to their $1.5 million Colt’s Neck mansion to conceal the crimes.
Caneiro has pleaded not guilty and will be tried beginning with jury selection on January 5, 2026.
