Colts Neck murders: Will the Caneiro murder case extend to New Zealand? Judge to decide

FREEHOLD Cutting-edge technology purports to link Paul Caneiro to four murders - that of his brother, sister-in-law and their two young children - yet the state has asked that a key witness be allowed to testify about the scientific reliability of that technology from 9,000 miles away.

Caneiro's attorney on Tuesday objected to the prospect of allowing the state's expert to testify virtually from his home in New Zealand, saying Caneiro has a constitutional right to confront the witness, face-to-face, in court.

Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley will decide Thursday whether to allow that expert to testify virtually at an upcoming pretrial hearing that he said will have statewide implications for the future of a computer program designed to analyze small quantities and complicated mixtures of DNA evidence.

A hearing on the reliability of the technology, known as STRmix, is the only thing standing in the way of a trial for Caneiro in the murders almost five years ago of his brother, Keith Caneiro, 50, sister-in law Jennifer, 45, niece, Sophia, 8, and nephew, Jesse, 11.

Prosecutors allege Paul Caneiro, 56, committed the murders and set fire to his brother’s Colts Neck mansion after Keith, his business partner, discovered he was stealing money from the companies they co-owned.

Authorities allege Paul Caneiro, after committing the murders, returned to Ocean Township and set fire to his own home, to throw off investigators by making it look it like his family was being targeted by violent criminals.

The victim's bodies were discovered later on Nov. 21, 2018, by emergency personnel responding to the long-smoldering mansion fire in Colts Neck.

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Keith Caneiro had been shot four times in the head and once in the back. His wife and children were stabbed repeatedly and badly burned. Jennifer Caneiro also had been shot in the head.

The state employed the STRmix technology to analyze 13 DNA samples collected from the two crime scenes. The analysis concluded eight of those DNA samples were mixtures to which Paul Caneiro contributed.

Christopher Decker, assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, told the judge Tuesday he wants John Buckleton, the creator of the STRmix computer software, to testify about the reliability of the technology at the upcoming pretrial hearing. But, Decker said, Buckleton is not comfortable taking a 16-hour or longer flight from New Zealand to New Jersey because of a medical condition he suffers from, for fear he could have an episode aboard the flight with no medical assistance available.

For that reason, Decker asked Oxley to allow Buckleton to testify virtually at the upcoming pretrial hearing, via ZOOM, Teams or a similar online platform.

Caneiro's attorney, Michael Wicke, argued that the issue of the technology's scientific reliability is critical to his client, and Buckleton should be sitting in the courtroom when he testifies about it.

"The state is trying to have your honor admit evidence of a DNA match that would lead someone to believe that Mr. Caneiro is responsible for the murders of four people,'' Wicke said.

"That DNA analysis was done on the basis of STRmix software. Someone from STRmix should be sitting in that chair, your honor, answering questions as to the reliability of that software.''

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Wicke said Caneiro has a constitutional right to confront "witnesses that have been called against him in a case where the state has levied charges that could result in four consecutive, mandatory life sentences.''

The defense attorney also said there have been no medical reports submitted saying Buckleton is not able to travel, only that the prosecution says their witness feels uncomfortable with traveling.

Decker argued that in exceptional circumstances such as this, online platforms such as Teams and ZOOM are reliable alternatives to a courtroom appearance. The platforms would allow for the witness to be cross-examined and for the judge to make observations about the demeanor of the witness.

"It may not be perfect, but it can be done and done very well,'' Decker said.

When Oxley questioned whether there is another witness who could be called to testify about the technology, Decker conceded there is, but he prefers to call Buckleton to testify about it.

"This is his technology,'' Decker said of Buckleton. "It's his baby. It's his life's work.''

Evidence generated by the STRmix technology has been introduced at about a dozen trials in the state, although a New Jersey court has never ruled on its reliability because it never before has been challenged by the defense.

Oxley said his ruling in this case could generate appeals in those other cases and will have an impact on the use of STRmix throughout the state going forward.

The state Public Defender's Office, in a motion filed on Caneiro's behalf last year, contends that probabilistic genotyping is "a far cry from traditional, 'gold standard' DNA testing,'' and the STRmix software "pushes the bounds of DNA testing far past what scientists ‘generally accept.’”

Traditional DNA analysis produces a statistical result on the probability that someone else chosen at random in the population would have the same DNA profile as the contributor of the forensic evidence, the defense motion said.

By contrast, probabilistic genotyping programs run thousands of computer simulations to predict individual profiles of people in a DNA mixture to compare with profiles of a known suspect or victim, the defense motion said.

With probabilistic genotyping, "the hypotheses are chosen by people - they represent subjective choices made by the investigators as to what scenarios they think are likely and should be tested,'' the defense motion said.

Aside from the evidence derived from the STRmix program, other evidence against Caneiro includes a pair of jeans and a latex glove with Sophia's blood on them, according to a police affidavit. Both items were recovered from a container in Paul Caneiro's home, where police also found an unspent 9mm round of ammunition, the affidavit said.

Caneiro is charged with four counts of murder, two counts of arson and theft of more than $75,000 from his brother's family. He also is charged with insurance fraud, accused of collecting disability benefits and continuing to work while having his paycheck issued to his wife following a car accident.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: State seeks testimony from New Zealand in Caneiro murder case