Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Caneiro Family Murder
82 Plays5 months ago
A beautiful and sucessful family is murdered by a leach brother masquerading as a business partner.. How far will this killer brother go to keep his lifestyle. The answer is unfathomable.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction: Hosts and Podcast Theme
00:00:02
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Hello listeners, I'm Bridget.
00:00:04
Caroline
And I'm Caroline.
00:00:06
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
You are listening to Hearth Home and Homicide, a family production about family murders. Caroline and I narrate each story and Andy is our producer.
00:00:18
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
As Caroline and I talk about each family murder, we're not only keen on watching justice unfold for the killer, whatever that may look like, but we're also interested in the ripple effect of family murders the ripple effect that affects everyone close to the murder, and we're very sensitive to the families as well as the victims of the murder itself.
00:00:42
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Our podcasts do include violence and trauma.
Case Introduction: Canaro Family Massacre
00:00:46
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Listener discretion is advised. So Caroline, today ah we're going to be talking about a family massacre.
00:00:57
Caroline
Mhmm.
00:00:57
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
A massacre of the Canaro family, or one branch of the tree, Um, by a person who's in that branch of the tree.
00:01:06
Caroline
Yep. Yeah.
00:01:08
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So it's very sad perplexing. It's a lot of things.
00:01:14
Caroline
yeah
00:01:15
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Let's get going. So today's horrifying and perplexing family murder takes place in 15 Willowbrook road in Coles Neck, New Jersey in the pre dawn hours of November 20th, 2018.
00:01:32
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Now, you know, it had to be cold and I shivered to think about what one brother did to his other brother and his family that dark night. And today's case is a wee bit different in that the killer is technically an alleged killer in parentheses, not in my mind, in parentheses. But his court date is currently scheduled for spring of 2025. And we will talk about why it has been so delayed.
00:02:02
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I mean, come on, that's more than six years after the murder.
00:02:06
Caroline
yeah
00:02:06
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And the killer has been in jail since right after the murder.
00:02:10
Caroline
Yeah.
00:02:11
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
The alleged, I hate saying that word, but I'm going to say the alleged killer's name is Keith Canaro, and he allegedly murdered his brother, Paul Canaro.
Background: Canaro Brothers' Relationship
00:02:25
Caroline
Wait, you wait, reverse it.
00:02:25
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Excuse me, excuse me.
00:02:27
Caroline
You got to reverse that bit.
00:02:27
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I've got a reversal of names here. Yes. The killer's name is Paul Canaro, so sorry, so sorry.
00:02:33
Caroline
Yeah.
00:02:34
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And he killed his brother and his brother's family, allegedly.
00:02:38
Caroline
Allegedly. We have to say that we don't really agree with it, but I will.
00:02:41
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yeah, you be my, alleged like just be my allegedly ah monitor, please. So Paul was arrested the very next day, and it sounds simple, doesn't it?
00:02:53
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He he murdered, he got caught, and it is simple. and he is in jail, but at the same time as a mind bender. And that's why we decided to do it.
00:03:02
Caroline
Yeah.
00:03:05
Caroline
Yes.
00:03:05
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And so let's talk about the Canaro brothers. The Canaro family grew up in Staten Island, New York. It was a happy family of three little boys.
00:03:17
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Paul was the oldest and next in line was Keith. They were 18 months apart. The youngest brother is named Corey. From the beginning, Paul and Keith were very tight. They grew up and they went into business with each other. Now, I got to say I can relate to being a mother of two boys who, in my case, were born 15 months apart. And in my case, the oldest was the leader of that pack. And trying to break into his baby brother,
00:03:48
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
crib and get him out of there when he was just a few days old was the first sign that this first born boy would see himself as being in charge.
00:03:59
Caroline
Yeah.
00:04:00
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Now this can have positive effects and it can have negative effects from my real time observation. But I really could find no information about the Canaro brothers other than just for me I have to infer from some of the events to come what their relationship was like.
00:04:18
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Was there a lifelong control issue? A resentment smoldering? I don't know. They started a technology consulting business in the late 1980s. So they were on the leading edge of the boom that I think is kind of still going on. The company really took off in the early 90s when the internet exploded. Now Keith Canaro was the chief executive officer of this company.
00:04:48
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He was always obsessed with technology his whole life. People say that as a teenager and a young adult, he worked for free in stores that carried technology-related inventions so that he could keep up with the latest releases and inventions.
00:05:04
Caroline
this this piece made me fall in love with keys because this is a very um I think particular human trait that when someone is driven or or in they're passionate about something they're really drawn to something there's a calling there which of course to me is spiritual so I always like that when I see people like that and in particular on the technology front in the 80s How forward thinking like you didn't even know, but these people were so dedicated and look at the world that they helped to create that we live in in today.
00:05:32
Caroline
Right.
00:05:33
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yeah, I'm with you 100%.
00:05:34
Caroline
I guess.
00:05:35
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I think that when I was recruiting ah for a living, um there were, I can kind of see two different types. Now there's obviously permutations among everybody who is applying for jobs, but we had some people show up who wanted to learn as much as they could so that they could contribute to the mission of the company.
00:05:47
Caroline
Right.
00:05:56
Caroline
Yeah.
00:06:00
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And this was a company that they were drawn to. to learn and to contribute.
00:06:05
Caroline
Yeah.
00:06:05
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Then you had people who wanted to come in and get promoted as fast as possible and were focused on how fast can I move up the chain of control?
00:06:15
Caroline
Right.
00:06:15
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
How fast can I, I really want a management position, but I'm willing to start as a junior manager if you'll, you know, they don't, they didn't have any attachment to the mission of the company.
00:06:23
Caroline
Get me. you go Yeah.
00:06:26
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
They didn't have any attachment to learning.
00:06:26
Caroline
Oh, yeah.
00:06:29
Caroline
Right. Oh, interesting.
00:06:32
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yes.
00:06:32
Caroline
Yeah, I could see that now.
00:06:32
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So there, I mean, you know, that's just one thing that I noticed looking back on my career as a recruiter. Later on, I worked in human resources, the whole department.
00:06:45
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And um I got to say, you know, the same thing.
00:06:49
Caroline
Yeah.
00:06:51
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Some people are takers.
00:06:51
Caroline
Yeah.
00:06:52
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Some people are givers.
00:06:54
Caroline
Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:55
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
um I see Keith as a giver.
00:06:57
Caroline
I love though that he's, ah well, and it seems like a very entrepreneurial thing to do because it's, yeah I think a lot of people will contend to think of like, what's the return on investment, but short term, they think about that short term.
00:07:02
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yes.
00:07:12
Caroline
What do I get out of this? Okay, I'll go work for two hours. What do I get? Like that's kind of the transactional mentality of God around whatever it is.
00:07:20
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
over
00:07:20
Caroline
versus the entrepreneur or the driven sort of impassioned individual on a mission of their own is really seeing a return on investment towards a bigger picture that people can't understand.
00:07:32
Caroline
I'm going to give you 40 hours this week because I'm going to get what you would have to pay for you know years worth of college tuition to get. I'm going to get hands-on experience and I know
00:07:42
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Plus in college, you're not going to get the real thing.
00:07:45
Caroline
That's what I'm saying. You get this thing. You can't eat this intangible. You can't pay for it. And I just I admire that when I see it in people. And so when I saw this part of Keith, I thought, geez, what a great person, you know, what a.
00:07:57
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He's one of those people who knew his path very early and he stayed with it and and there are a lot of people like that who do very well in this world.
00:07:59
Caroline
Yeah.
00:08:04
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
and
00:08:05
Caroline
Yeah.
00:08:05
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
There are people who go from one thing to another and they do very well in this world. So know thyself and try to provide a service and you'll be fine.
00:08:11
Caroline
Yeah. Yes.
00:08:14
Caroline
Yes. Anyway, a little tangent.
00:08:16
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So he was also a restless kind of a person. He was an adventure seeking kind of a person. He was a go-getter. And as you pointed out, he was very entrepreneurial.
00:08:28
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
The brothers started other businesses together as well. They ran, for example, a pest control business together. They were always diversifying under Keith's leadership. So they may have a very successful technology company, but they're looking at other lines of business in case something happens to that first line of business.
00:08:48
Caroline
Well, it kind of sounds like Keith's in charge and Keith's sort of the younger.
00:08:51
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Oh, Keith is very in charge. He's the chief executive officer.
00:08:52
Caroline
Yeah.
00:08:54
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And, you know, once again, I wonder, hmm, I wonder how that went down for Paul.
00:08:58
Caroline
Right.
00:09:01
Caroline
right
00:09:01
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Maybe good. Maybe Paul wanted to just not have all that responsibility. He just wanted the money.
00:09:08
Caroline
Right. Maybe Paul thought they were 50 50 partners and that that was an inconsequential part of the 50 50 split. I mean, who knows? Yeah, we don't know enough about that
00:09:15
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I don't know.
Conflict: Financial Disputes and Business Tensions
00:09:16
Caroline
dynamic, but
00:09:16
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Well, we're going to find out, you know, about both of them. Both of them married. They they both headed for the suburbs of Monmouth County, which is considered a part of the larger New York City metropolitan area. It was an area for those with money who wanted privacy and a well-manicured lawn encircling a mansion, and that's where they live. Now, this is after the business took off in the nineteen early 90s. Keith married Jennifer Carradis in 2000, and they had children two children, Sophia and Jesse, to fill their mansion in the Colts Neck area. Colts Neck, which I just love that,
00:09:59
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
that image. But Colesnek is a wealthy bedroom community in central New Jersey located again within the New York metropolitan area. Many people choose to move to Colesnek due to its open space and proximity to the Jersey Shore while still being within the commuting distance of New York City. Paul settled in Ocean Township with his wife and two daughters.
00:10:26
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Probably for the same reason as Keith. I mean, Ocean Township is the same type of upscale mansion area, and it's only 13 miles from Colts Neck.
00:10:36
Caroline
Oh, nice.
00:10:37
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So they were pretty close together. That's about the distance between your house and my house.
00:10:41
Caroline
I was going to say, this sounds like a nice little community with New York, not far behind, you know, not far away, Jersey Shore, not far away.
00:10:43
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yeah. Right.
00:10:47
Caroline
Like, it just sounds cool.
00:10:48
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yes, yes.
00:10:49
Caroline
I've never been in these areas. I know the East Coast is different than the West Coast, but, you know, it just sounds cool. Sounds familiar.
00:10:56
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yeah, throughout all the years of owning their joint business, Keith was the CEO and his brother Paul was a bit of a sticky fingered partner.
00:11:06
Caroline
Oh, no.
00:11:06
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He spent the company's money on personal enrichment as well as the money that he was taking legitimately as a salary. Then in November 2012, while driving in Ashbury Park, which is part of Monmouth County, Paul Canaro was involved in a severe car accident.
00:11:27
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
His recovery was horrendous and it left him disabled in some ways. Company money was used to help him, to heal him and support him during his long recovery.
00:11:41
Caroline
Wow.
00:11:41
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So much money was spent after the accident and that little bit of pilfering he did from the till. And in the years following that Paul's share in the tech business was only 10%.
00:11:54
Caroline
Oh wow.
00:11:54
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And his brother Keith was feeling Kind of like he'd had enough of his brother's love of the high life while draining the company's various accounts. It was well known that Keith loved to talk to people. Pardon me. It was well known that Paul loved to talk to people about how much money he made. So this is Paul, the oldest brother. Now he's kind of laid up. He's still taking money from the business.
00:12:23
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And he is talking to everybody how much money he's made, how much money he's worth. By 2018, he had three Porsches parked out in front of his mansion.
00:12:36
Caroline
my gosh.
00:12:36
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
the Yep. I mean, I think this must have made things worse between the brothers.
00:12:39
Caroline
Oh, yeah.
00:12:41
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I don't know. Not to get bogged down though, Keith wanted to move off on his own.
00:12:45
Caroline
Yeah.
00:12:48
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
You know, he's just, I don't know. Can I see Keith muttering to himself? you know this My brother is an albatross around my neck.
00:12:57
Caroline
Well, that's I'm getting the sense that this is where they've started to grow apart in their personalities, their approach to lifestyle. And Keith seems to me like I just the the true entrepreneurial guy.
00:13:11
Caroline
I don't need any flashy lights. I don't even need anyone to know about me. I'm just going to mind my businesses and be successful quietly versus Paul, who's like flashy lights and.
00:13:23
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
la
00:13:24
Caroline
But, you know, he's getting in this accident and like, I don't know. He just seems reckless. Yeah, reckless and a liability. I could see he feels like that.
00:13:33
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Selfish.
00:13:34
Caroline
Yeah. Yeah.
00:13:35
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Selfish and, um you know, he was probably charming, affable, all of the, you know, he, I mean, it the whole picture here to me is, you know, here we're talking about 1981 to 2018.
00:13:55
Caroline
Yeah.
00:13:56
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I mean, that is a long time to ah be in business together and to run all these businesses.
00:14:03
Caroline
Well yeah.
00:14:06
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
and Remember, they had more than one.
00:14:09
Caroline
What a f-
00:14:09
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
The tech business was the one that made them the most money. Anyway, you got Keith going on and on and on about his porches and his money. And if I were Paul is doing that and Keith is just putting up with it, I guess.
00:14:25
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So in 2018, you remember I said that Keith is very adventurous. He's very entrepreneurial.
00:14:32
Caroline
it
00:14:35
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He's very, you know, ah wanting, thirsty for knowledge. And he went back to school went to Columbia University, 2018.
00:14:46
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He's running these companies, his brothers, quote unquote, disabled.
00:14:48
Caroline
Wow.
00:14:51
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He completed both a bachelor's and a master's degree at Columbia.
00:14:53
Caroline
Wow.
00:14:57
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And um he began telling friends he wanted to leave technology as his focus.
00:15:00
Caroline
Oh, how interesting.
00:15:05
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yeah. So that's the Canaro brothers. Tension,
00:15:12
Caroline
Interesting.
00:15:13
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
A lot of tension you got.
00:15:14
Caroline
Yeah, and I have so many I wish we had a better view of their growing up life because you're right about that. That's a long time to be in business together with anybody, let alone family.
00:15:25
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
o
00:15:26
Caroline
So, yeah, it's I just wish I knew more about them coming up, you know, how was their dynamic? What was their interactions with their parents like that kind of stuff?
00:15:35
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Right, i I could not find any backstory.
00:15:40
Caroline
Yeah.
00:15:41
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
ah There's not been any books written about this. This crime did get in a lot of newspapers and I was able to go to those papers and figure it out what their relationship was like as adults.
00:15:56
Caroline
Okay.
00:15:57
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
But my guess is that Keith is Keith.
00:16:02
Caroline
Right.
00:16:02
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He's hungry for knowledge. He's not watching how his brother is A selfish bastard. I mean, I'm sorry.
00:16:11
Caroline
Right.
00:16:11
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Those are my words for Paul Canaro.
00:16:12
Caroline
No, yeah.
00:16:17
Caroline
Yeah, well.
00:16:18
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
ah You know.
00:16:19
Caroline
I know we had talked about this before too, but this dynamic, this dynamic between the two of them, two brothers, the businesses, the difference in personalities, right? Even morality, maybe. um Everything's a little different, but it reminds us of so many other cases we've covered in family dynamics where we do know the history. So it does make your brain go, gosh, were they always competitive? Like, did Paul do this in school? Was he a bit of a hustler when they were in school, where whereas Keith was a bit of a,
00:16:48
Caroline
not a book horn, but a guy out there on a mission to learn things because he's got he's got plans. You know, was that always the case? Is it? um You know, I have to assume it was, but I don't know. And I wish I did.
00:17:01
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Keith, I think is more of an explorer of the mind and he's wanting to know as much as he can about different areas that interest him.
00:17:12
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And he, because of his entrepreneurial spirit, he immediately finds a way to um do it for a living and make a good living.
00:17:24
Caroline
Right as a survey. Yeah.
00:17:27
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
In fact, one little anecdote about Keith that I really love and his wife, Jennifer and their children. Jennifer's family was from Greece and the family had a property that was vacation property, um her family.
00:17:41
Caroline
Oh.
00:17:43
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So on a regular basis, they would go to Greece. ah Here I'm talking about Keith, Jennifer, Sophia, and Jesse.
00:17:55
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
and they would just have the best time.
00:17:58
Caroline
Oh, heck yeah. That's on my bucket list.
00:18:01
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yeah, I didn't hear anything about the adult families of Paul and Keith having really anything in common together other than this business.
00:18:12
Caroline
Okay. These businesses. Okay. Interesting.
00:18:17
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And I don't know, I don't know, that's anecdotal.
00:18:22
Caroline
Yeah.
00:18:22
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
It's not evidence or, you know, a fact, but that's kind of how I see it when I read about Keith, especially because I'm always interested in the victim.
00:18:22
Caroline
Yep. Yeah.
00:18:27
Caroline
yeah
00:18:32
Caroline
Yeah.
00:18:33
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So let's talk about the family massacre. Less than 24 hours before he was murdered, Keith Canaro sent out an email to his younger brother, Corey,
00:18:46
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Now it was a copy of an email that he had sent to two other business associates. So here we see Keith Canaro, something important. He's reaching out to his business partners and two trusted business ah associates, be they advisors or I don't know, but, and then he thinks, I want to send this to my other brother as well.
00:19:16
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So he's in contact with his other brother, Corey. But Corey reminds um remains on the periphery of this story because this email is a pivotal moment in the murder. The email read that money was missing from the business and Paul Canaro's wife would not be paid any anymore until he, Keith, was able to figure out how much money was missing and who took it.
00:19:48
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Keith stated in the email outright, caught quote, because of the arguments with Paul over money, end quote, that is the reason that I'm halting all payments to his wife.
00:20:02
Caroline
Oh, so there were arguments over money that he was having with Paul over obviously more than a day or an hour. That's what I'm gleaning.
00:20:12
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
When I look at this moment in time, I have some
00:20:15
Caroline
Yeah.
00:20:17
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
just what struck me when I was reading about it. First of all, I wonder if Corey was Keith's sounding board in his family of origin.
00:20:25
Caroline
Oh yeah. Right.
00:20:29
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
At first, I thought the check from work going to Paul's wife was because of his disability. I can now actually explain that there was another reason that makes Paul look even worse, and I'll go into that in a second.
00:20:45
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
But just know that Keith had had it at this point of this email going out. Someone is stealing money and he wants to find out who took it.
00:20:55
Caroline
Oh snap.
00:20:56
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Not said, but implied.
Investigation: Crime Timeline and Evidence
00:20:58
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I think it is you, Paul.
00:21:00
Caroline
and Snapity snap. This is tough. This is tough. This is a tough situation.
00:21:05
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yes, and there's no evidence, pro or con, as to whether or not Paul ever saw that email.
00:21:08
Caroline
Okay.
00:21:12
Caroline
Oh, okay. Okay.
00:21:13
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
ah He knows about it now. because it's part of the evidence.
00:21:15
Caroline
Yeah, but I mean, He would probably, so in my mind, a catalyst would have occurred for Keith to feel, because Keith's smart, obviously. He's a calculated smart forward thinker, meaning, you know, 10 steps ahead.
00:21:30
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And he's not rash.
00:21:30
Caroline
kind of He's not brash.
00:21:31
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He's not rash.
00:21:33
Caroline
He's not he's calculated in not a mean way in a smart fiscal way. And so for him to send that email to me and say because of arguments with Paul, like this is obviously an ongoing continuation of a problem that came up long before.
00:21:50
Caroline
Right. Maybe around the accident.
00:21:51
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
right
00:21:51
Caroline
Maybe around. We don't know. But it's obvious that Keith had to have been pushed in a way that created a fiscal risk and he responded and this is how he knew to respond.
00:22:05
Caroline
I mean it all seems very smart to me in terms of just a guy trying to do his business right also while dealing with family.
00:22:08
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yeah. and i And also remember during this time period, he has just graduated ah in a new direction.
00:22:16
Caroline
Yeah.
00:22:19
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And he he's graduated from Columbia. He's got a new bunch of cohorts. He's got a new direction for his life.
00:22:24
Caroline
Right.
00:22:25
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He wants to get out of technology. He's going in to sort of figure out how to sell the business or whatever.
00:22:31
Caroline
Yeah.
00:22:31
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And he's finding that the books are are ah not saying what they should be saying.
00:22:36
Caroline
Uh-oh.
00:22:37
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So Just hours after this email activity that Paul may or may not have known about, Paul Canaro's body, then just his face close up, is detected on the screen of his garage security system. And he is literally seen dismantling his DVR system at 1.29 AM. OK, so what is that?
00:23:07
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Just imagine Paul in the middle of the night. he ah We don't know if he knew about this email, but we do know that once there was an investigation into the murder, we the police were able to see Paul walking to his garage, looking right at the screen to shut it down in his garage.
00:23:15
Caroline
Yeah. Yeah.
00:23:35
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
so
00:23:35
Caroline
Like, so why why would someone ever do that? Truly. Unless you're replacing that system. Why would you ever do that?
00:23:43
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
At 129 a.m. in the morning, I don't think so.
00:23:45
Caroline
I mean, you're not like, oh, you know what?
00:23:47
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
But it's not impossible, though.
00:23:48
Caroline
My power bill was really outrageous. I'm going to go turn off that thing that I think drains it.
00:23:50
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Right.
00:23:52
Caroline
No, this is weird.
00:23:54
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yeah, this was the camera that was inside and outside his house, the system.
00:23:58
Caroline
Yeah.
00:23:59
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So he was obviously trying to skulk off in one of his Porsche SUVs.
00:24:02
Caroline
Yeah.
00:24:07
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He didn't think about the fact that neighbors also had working digital camera systems that would pick him up. And also people, you know, businesses all over town.
00:24:16
Caroline
Right.
00:24:17
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
they're go So, you know, these people who are doing their life, do, do, do, do, do, do, do in my life. I'm, you know, the, I'm working in Sears. I'm, you know, I'm the CEO of whatever.
00:24:28
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I mean, whoever you are.
00:24:29
Caroline
Yeah.
00:24:29
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And then you decide to murder. You don't have the mind of a murderer.
00:24:33
Caroline
No, never. Yeah.
00:24:35
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And this is an example of family murders where people think that they can, they can, um, design a murder and the police will never get it.
00:24:44
Caroline
Right. Like this anonymity. There's.
00:24:47
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
They'll never think that through enough. And here we have a man walking right up to the camera and shutting it down.
00:24:50
Caroline
Yeah.
00:24:56
Caroline
I mean, that's dumb.
00:24:57
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I mean, okay. So at two oh seven a.m. one neighborhood camera records his white SUV headed west toward Glen Grove road.
00:25:06
Caroline
Jesus.
00:25:10
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
the route to his brother Keith's house in Colts Neck.
00:25:15
Caroline
I mean, you guys in this day and age, no one is invisible.
00:25:18
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I mean, Keith Canaro, yes. Keith Canaro's family lived in a $1.5 million dollars mansion on a nine acre property.
00:25:29
Caroline
Wow.
00:25:31
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Neighbors are sort of near, but they all have homes situated similarly, just upscale estates that now, you know, the upscale estates to me sounds a bit redundant.
00:25:43
Caroline
ah Yeah.
00:25:44
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Like you're going to have an estate and it's not going to be upscale.
00:25:47
Caroline
I'll take one of those, um, poor, what would you call that discounted estates? Like, what would you call, what would the, yeah,
00:25:54
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
We would call that the scene of a murder. Yeah. what When they discount the sale,
00:26:01
Caroline
yeah the yeah the, the generic estates. I'll take a generic award.
00:26:05
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yeah, like the way Pete Diddy is trying to sell his properties right now and the real estate agents are going, why are people lining up to buy this property?
00:26:18
Caroline
Got a lot of people out there with sage bundles breaking, trying to the tortilla, but nothing else.
00:26:24
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Lord have mercy. So anyway, um about an hour after the cameras pickup of Paul Canaro's Porsche SUV headed in the direction of his brother,
00:26:35
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Two estate dwelling neighbors heard gunshots.
00:26:39
Caroline
I need more.
00:26:40
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And this is in Colchnick, but no one called police. I mean, maybe they thought it was firecrackers, you know?
00:26:49
Caroline
Well, that's what I'm wondering is like, is this an area where that's something you hear? Because like I know around here locally, we'll hear fireworks during football games, which I'm sure is not exclusive to my state or my neighborhood.
00:26:56
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yeah.
00:27:00
Caroline
But you know, when your team is successful, your fireworks. And so I guess, but at like two, three in the morning, which it's got to be now, it's got to be like two, three in the morning, maybe even four.
00:27:02
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yes.
00:27:10
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Mm hmm.
00:27:11
Caroline
And you're hearing these shots. I mean, I guess maybe they just. You can't fault anybody for that because you hear things when you're sleeping and you're like, whatever.
00:27:16
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
No, they probably thought that they were dreaming or somebody's in their woods hunting or something's going on.
00:27:19
Caroline
Right. Right.
00:27:23
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
But anyway, um nobody called the police. This was in the middle of the night. Nobody called police. It would only be midday the next day that the crime scene was actually discovered.
00:27:34
Caroline
Oh, that's kind of sad.
00:27:36
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And that's where this case is just so weird. and perplexing. By perplexing, I mean, how could this happen? But there it happened. And so anyway, what police found was gruesome when they did find the scene. It was disturbing. It was upsetting. It was unfathomable to responding officers. Keith Canaro was on the front lawn shot five times in the head and back
00:28:06
Caroline
Oh my gosh.
00:28:07
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He's believed to have been lured out by the noise or some noise or something, somehow wound up outside in the dead of night, the first of his family to be slaughtered.
00:28:23
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He was only 52 years old, Caroline.
00:28:27
Caroline
That's very young.
00:28:28
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I know he was getting ready to go do something fun like basket weaving or I don't know, he he had found a new love.
00:28:31
Caroline
Like life 2.0. Yeah, he was going to do that latter half.
00:28:36
Caroline
Yeah, yep.
00:28:37
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
You know, and he was doing everything he could to find a way to contribute. ah you know He had just gotten additional education and was spreading his wings in another direction after starting his technology business with his brother. Now he is accused killer. I have to say accused, even though I think he's a killer. But the killer, named Paul, was not done. Next, Jennifer was killed.
00:29:07
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
She had multiple stab wounds to the torso and a gunshot to her head. Now, this was happening inside the house.
00:29:15
Caroline
yeah this is gruesome well yeah that's what i'm thinking that yeah like it's emotional it's an emotionally charged oh god yeah
00:29:16
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So you're going to shoot somebody and stab them to death? Are you going to stab them to death and then shoot them? So this is like ah overkill, just like the husband, just like Keith.
00:29:31
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Jennifer was only 45 years old, Caroline, this sweet woman who Just, I mean, you know, everybody loved her. This family was loved by everybody who knew them.
00:29:43
Caroline
please They seem like real contributors.
00:29:45
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I'm talking about Keith's family.
00:29:47
Caroline
You know, I mean, even if you don't do a job that's contribution, like being a good person is a huge contribution in the world. That interview is like big.
00:29:53
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Well, yeah, I mean, you know, and people who live in these upscale neighborhoods, they're just like people who live in regular neighborhoods.
00:29:58
Caroline
That's it. That's it.
00:30:00
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
They get together with the neighbors laid the like and they call the neighbor when they need a cat sitter and they, you know, that have you seen my daughter?
00:30:02
Caroline
Yeah.
00:30:06
Caroline
Yeah.
00:30:09
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Is she over there playing on your trampoline?
00:30:09
Caroline
They have parents. They have.
00:30:11
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I mean, you know, it's the same.
00:30:13
Caroline
mrs saying and Yeah.
00:30:13
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
People are the same.
00:30:14
Caroline
Yeah.
00:30:16
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And um Jennifer's body was found on the stairs going from the first floor to the basement. Next came Jesse, only 11 years old.
00:30:27
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He was found on the kitchen floor stabbed multiple, multiple times. A little boy, 11, 11.
00:30:40
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
His eight-year-old sister, Sophia, was on a staircase that ran from the first floor to the second floor. She too had been viciously sliced with a knife and she died, until she died.
00:30:56
Caroline
so English.
00:30:58
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
In other words, the the the scenes that I read about were it was just so obvious overkill. You stab somebody in the neck, their jugular vein is spewing out their blood, but you're going to now turn them over and stab them in the back and turn them over again and stab them in the leg and their heart.
00:31:18
Caroline
It's crazy.
00:31:19
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And I mean, this was just an overkill stabbing. And I can't, I can't say that I can envision ever knowing anybody or ever even imagining anybody who can do that to a child.
00:31:34
Caroline
What?
00:31:35
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I just don't get it.
00:31:36
Caroline
Yeah. or even another person, but you're absolutely right. 11 and eight, those are really like, whoa, those are babies.
00:31:43
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
They're not going to hurt him. They're not going to hurt him.
00:31:46
Caroline
Yeah, they're innocent babies who don't deserve to have that kind of fear. Holy crap.
00:31:50
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Oh, yeah. It looks like to me that all of the family had been awakened and their bodies lay in a sort of pathway from upstairs to downstairs to the basement with the father outside trying to fight for his family. Now that's just my brain. I have no real information about what really happened, but what a horrible scene, an overkill of an entire family, comma, your family.
00:32:20
Caroline
Well yeah, like that's... That's crazy.
00:32:24
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
It is crazy.
00:32:24
Caroline
That's shocking.
00:32:26
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
On top of all this carnage, the killer lit a fire in the basement that smoldered until it exploded into an inferno hours later. Not just a murder, but an annihilation of humans within their sanctuary and burning down their sanctuary.
00:32:46
Caroline
Yeah, I feel like that's that.
00:32:47
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So I can't wait to talk about Paul Canaro and the evidence against him.
00:32:52
Caroline
Well, yes, because I know he's the alleged killer, but so far. Sorry, I mean, cameras, DNA, these things are. Pretty foolproof.
00:33:03
Caroline
you You can talk to me about collection all you want, but.
00:33:04
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Legally, I want to call him an alleged killer because I don't want to ah get sued or murdered.
00:33:13
Caroline
Right, right.
00:33:14
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And then the the these the second thing is that I have a right to my opinion based on what I have seen of legitimate reports from law enforcement in the courts.
00:33:20
Caroline
Yeah.
00:33:28
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I believe he's guilty.
00:33:29
Caroline
Yeah.
00:33:29
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So Paul Canaro and the evidence against him is goes like this. Here's my theory of what part of why. This is, you know, I always want to know why.
00:33:41
Caroline
yeah
00:33:42
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So this is, that's me. I don't know really, I wasn't there, but this is what I say. Paul Canaro obviously was on the serious outs with his brother Keith.
00:33:55
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Paul had stolen money. Keith was fed up. Paul liked money. So now what is he going to do? If he simply kills his brother, The life insurance and the businesses are gonna go to Jennifer and the kids.
00:34:09
Caroline
Mm-hmm.
00:34:11
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Theoretically in Keith's mind, he had to kill the whole family, take the helm of the business and maybe sell it for enough money to keep himself in conditions to which he had come to expect.
00:34:27
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
That's my theory.
00:34:30
Caroline
Yeah.
00:34:30
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Now, the evidence I looked at to get it to that theory The evidence that's against him begins when Paul drives from his brother's house, or from his home to his brother's house, turning off the camera that is recording until the second that it gets turned off.
00:34:44
Caroline
yeah Right.
00:34:48
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Hello, you idiot. So those neighborhood video cameras picked up Paul Canaro's movements again in his Porsche SUV coming home at 4.08 AM.
00:35:01
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And when he arrived home, Paul Canaro, set his own house on fire. His wife and two adult children were in there, but he set it on fire, Caroline.
00:35:16
Caroline
Wow.
00:35:17
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
At 5.01 a.m., officers arrived on scene. His wife and children responded to fire alarms in the house and escaped without harm.
00:35:28
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
They waited with Paul in one of his Porsches while the fire was extinguished. Paul Canaro was arrested on aggravated arson of his own home early on November 21st.
00:35:42
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
That's just the day after, the day after he murdered his brother. And he went home that night. they They immediately knew who did it. This is just that day after he allegedly slaughtered his brother and his brother's family and nobody even knew it yet.
00:35:57
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
They didn't find that they didn't find that murder scene until the next day.
00:35:57
Caroline
wow Yeah.
00:36:04
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
midday. His arrest came quickly on setting his own house on fire because of the evidence at the scene. Arson investigators immediately found evidence of gasoline as an accelerant in two different parts of the house. They found rubber gloves, a gas can, and in the shed they found three more identical gas cans in a row with one gap between two of the gas cans, like a missing tooth.
00:36:33
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So you got four gas cans in a row. And Paul, being the idiot that he is, ah you know he's maniacal, but he's not a genius.
00:36:45
Caroline
yeah but again i'm gonna liken it to the toddler hands over eyes you can't see me mentality i mean really dude yeah i i just
00:36:51
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
You're right. I think it's more like if an idea comes into my head Because I'm the greatest of all time, that must be the greatest of all time idea. I think that's how he operates.
00:37:07
Caroline
I'm kind of just shocked because well, first of all, I got to say I love me some firestorms. Like I don't even understand it that well, but these arson investigators. Oh my God.
00:37:16
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Oh, arson investigators are the best.
00:37:16
Caroline
It's like almost more impressive. Yeah. And like less gruesome than the crime scene investigators.
00:37:22
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Right, yeah.
00:37:22
Caroline
But this this speaks to like, yeah, this this what do they call that? This invisible sort of mentality where it like you didn't think they were going to look on your property for evidence like
00:37:35
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
In his house and car, they found incriminating evidence. Lots of guns and bullets were found on the property, mostly in the basement. They were seized.
00:37:46
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
His passport and guns were found in his Porsche, where his family had taken refuge, some of his guns, the same Porsche seen in the neighborhood videos on the way to his brother's house.
00:37:58
Caroline
Hmm.
00:38:00
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Firefighters also found a plastic container of men's clothes covered in blood. All of this was seized by the fire investigators given to the homicide investigators.
00:38:13
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
It was weird to say the least, but there was no indication of an intruder by any means. I mean, you know, this was not, this was you get in the patrol car.
00:38:21
Caroline
Yeah.
00:38:25
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Speaking of his brother's house in Colts Neck at 15 Willowbrook Road, It was mid-afternoon before a landscaper in the area smelt smoke. Keith Canaro's bullet-riddled body was found on the lawn dead at 12.38 p.m. In the house, firefighters put out the fire that had smoldered and then burst into a rage of flames. The bodies of Jennifer, Jesse, and Sophia were found inside. They had died not by the fire, but by vicious stabbings, or again,
00:39:00
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Jennifer was shot in the head as well. Paul Canaro was already charged and incarcerated for arson of his own house with his wife and adult children inside. Investigators started to put two and two together with respect to the brother and his family, the killings and the arsons. There were the videos of Paul's dead of night trip in direction to Colts Neck. DNA was found belonging to little Sophia Canaro.
00:39:30
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
on the clothes found in the plastic container, as well as the rubber gloves also in the plastic container in Paul Canaro's house. Paul's DNA was also on these bloody items. And in those bloody clothes found in Paul's house, they also found an unspent bullet that matched the bullet casings found in Keith's house and the bullets in his body.
Analysis: Paul's Motives and Personality
00:39:57
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
They also found a quantity of boxed bullets of the same type bullet in the basement stored with Paul's guns. Police believe that Paul Canaro slaughtered his brother and his brother's family, lit a slow burn fire, came home, set his own house on fire on a more direct and fast burning fire to make it look to investigators that some unknown person was trying to destroy both brothers and their families. Plus he wanted to be a hero for saving his family. Armed with a mountain of evidence, authorities charged Paul Canaro with four counts of first degree murder of Keith, Jennifer, Jesse, and Sophia Canaro on November 19th, 2018. I mean, this went from November 20th to November 29th
00:40:54
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
you buddy are in a cell for the rest of your life.
00:40:58
Caroline
Holy cow. Well, he tried to murder his own family. I don't know. I guess that's wrapped up in the arson, but it's crazy.
00:41:04
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I want to go back to what you said about the little baby child who's toddler who gets into the chocolate and they have chocolate in their hair, they've got chocolate on their face, they've got chocolate on their hands, but they are not the ones according to them that got into the chocolate.
00:41:08
Caroline
Yeah.
00:41:16
Caroline
Mm hmm.
00:41:22
Caroline
Yeah.
00:41:24
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
That's what Paul did.
00:41:26
Caroline
Yes.
00:41:27
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He left the most obvious clues on the face of the earth and he thought he was not going to get caught because his ego is so big he cannot imagine any anyone being smarter than him.
00:41:31
Caroline
Yes.
00:41:43
Caroline
Right. Certainly not that system that he turned off. Good thing he thought of that.
00:41:50
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
It has been six years since the murders All this time, Paul Canaro has been in jail awaiting trial. He has planned not guilty. His top-notch lawyers say that it is impossible that Paul Canaro killed his brother and his brother's entire family because Paul loves his family, his brother and his brother's family so much. That's his defense.
00:42:18
Caroline
A lot of people kill out of love. That's usually why you got 27 stab wounds in someone you already shot in the head. I mean, that's not quite the defense you were hoping for.
00:42:28
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I have no idea what will be his assertion at trial next year. I would add that Paul I've read, the Paul I've read about, if I know him, I'm going to judge him. And I'm going to say, you, Paul, love one person. You love only one person. And that is yourself. His brother was w rich because of intellectual drive and interest in the world and how it works. Your brother was rich because of working with his brother and sharing the bounty. In my opinion, Paul has an insatiable appetite for not just money, not just the trappings and image of wealth, but the promise that the money will always be there because of Keith and his entrepreneurial spirit spirit
00:43:27
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
and prowess with investments in businesses. And second to that, if Keith is not going to do that for me, I'm going to kill Keith to get his money, but I have to kill his entire family so they will not have a claim and I'll be the next of kin.
00:43:46
Caroline
Yeah.
00:43:47
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
That's what I believe.
00:43:49
Caroline
Yeah, I think I think you definitely hit it on the head when you said it's not just about it's all the obvious things that I think any human would be susceptible to when it comes to like money and experiencing that kind of a lifestyle.
00:44:02
Caroline
It's not for everybody, though. And oftentimes you find really like a Bill Gates like he strikes me as a Bill Gates kind of personality, like I just like learning. according like a billions of dollars but you know I mean it's just like they're not mean about it they do good things in this world whereas Paul just wanted I want the assurance that I can just sit back breathe in and money will flow to me anytime and every time I want it to it's definitely a taker
00:44:29
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Yeah, I don't want to be crude, but Paul is the name that I'm going to give to this fat tick on the back of the dog's neck. That's how I think about Paul.
00:44:41
Caroline
Yeah, it's a good imagery.
00:44:42
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
I want to remove him from this dog and I want to remove him from this earth. And it's not my job to remove anybody from anything, but those are my darkest thoughts about Paul.
00:44:54
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
You are a blood sucker.
00:44:58
Caroline
Yeah, I mean, obviously incapable of caring. He has his own kids who he put at risk. Like he has his own stuff. And I want to know more definitely about the dynamics between the two families, between these these seeming cousins.
00:45:13
Caroline
You know, I don't know how old the kids are for Paul versus the eight and 11 year old who are brutally murdered.
00:45:15
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Mm-hmm.
00:45:19
Caroline
Like I just I want to know more.
00:45:23
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So why is a trial and conviction taking so damn long? Well, rich people can delay trial for a long, long time, Caroline.
00:45:32
Caroline
Hmm.
00:45:32
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
And there was the pandemic and the great delays and backup dockets in the courts after that. So we will watch this trial in 2025. And I'm very anxious to hear what the jury has to say.
00:45:45
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
about Paul Canaro's guilt or innocence. The judge in this case has put his foot down and demanded of the public defenders, which are now representing Paul, that they get ready for trial with no more delays over DNA experts and other delays, including COVID.
Legal Proceedings and Future Trial
00:46:04
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Now I did promise our listeners that I would tell you why Paul's wife was getting his checks from his co-owned business.
00:46:13
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
Well, in the intervening years that Paul has been in jail for two counts of arson, murder of four people, he has also been charged with stealing at least $75,000 from his brother. And he has also been charged with insurance fraud. Because after the accident that he had in 2012, I think, he claimed that he was disabled long after he was healed.
00:46:44
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He actually worked during all that time, but he had his checks sent to his wife. Aha, so this is why Keith had to say, I'm gonna stop sending checks to his wife.
00:47:00
Caroline
and Well, not only that, it's probably why he wrote it down in a date stamped email, but also Paul's a fraudster. People don't just decide one day to be fraudsters.
00:47:14
Caroline
It's typically a lifestyle choice.
00:47:14
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
No.
00:47:16
Caroline
So I mean...
00:47:17
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He was good at it. This is like the difference between how Paul was good at bragging.
00:47:22
Caroline
Great.
00:47:22
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
He was good at stealing money. He was good at conning people. He was good at all that.
Conclusion and Credits
00:47:29
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
But when it came to murder, he was a doofus, a major doofus.
00:47:32
Caroline
Not even good at arson. Yeah. Yeah.
00:47:35
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So the world, meanwhile, was diminished by the murder of Keith Canaro, Jennifer Canaro, Jesse. Canaro, Sophia Canaro. This was a good family, Caroline.
00:47:46
Caroline
Yeah.
00:47:47
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
They were doing well, and we will never know what we have lost. And I think about it a lot. I do.
00:47:54
Caroline
yeah
00:47:55
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
So listeners, um today's episode is researched, written and narrated by Bridget and Caroline, produced by Andy. Our research is solely based on public domain documents, including legal documents,
00:48:11
Andy, Bridget and Caroline
articles and books about our subject. Episodes are aired every other week. If you like us, please subscribe and give us a five star review. Tell your friends about us in person and by social media. All of these actions really help other listeners find us. Thank you for listening. We really appreciate you and don't forget to live and let live. Well, bye-bye Caroline.
00:48:38
Caroline
Bye-bye.