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Keep the goumad on the downlow!
New Jersey tech boss Paul Caneiro scored a big win before his quadruple murder trial even began when a judge ruled to keep secret that the female pal he allegedly lavished gifts upon with stolen money was his mistress, court documents reveal.
Yisel Restrepo, 51, was introduced to jurors as a close friend when she testified Tuesday about the posh vacations and a luxury car the alleged killer showered on her — because Judge Marc Lemieux ruled that their affair was “prejudicial,” according to a court order filed in August.
Lawyers for Caneiro, 59, had argued their romance could “mislead the jury into a moral judgment” — and insisted it was “irrelevant” because his wife “was aware” of the cheating and continued to live with him anyway, according to the order obtained by The Post.
Caneiro had allegedly been swiping money from his brother, Keith Caneiro, to pay for his lover’s Audi Q5 SUV lease in 2018 when his business partner brother accused him of stealing, prosecutors said.
Caneiro also paid for Restrepo to travel with him twice to her home country of Colombia and for their jaunts to Las Vegas, North Carolina, Boston and New York, Restrepo testified.
Caneiro searched for real estate listings in Florida and New Jersey for Restrepo and her daughter with the intent of eventually living with them, the court papers state. He sometimes took her to gun shooting ranges and frequently texted her in the days and weeks before the killings.
Caneiro is accused of slaughtering his brother Keith and his sibling’s family at their Colts Neck mansion in November 2018.
Restrepo testified on Tuesday that she and Caneiro met at a restaurant in Asbury Park and became best friends as she laid out his financial support of her. The jurors were barred from hearing that Caneiro and Restrepo were having sex.
Caneiro paid nearly $10,000 for Restrepo to lease the Audi according to testimony given by detective Det. Debra Bassinder during the trial last week.
He also paid $2,673 in 2017 for Restrepo to rent an apartment with a balcony at the Woodshire complex on leafy block of Ocean Township, NJ, according to Bassinder and prosecutors. She testified, however, that she paid him back for the one time he covered her rent.
Although prosecutors did not cite funding his alleged affair with Restrepo as a motive for murder as the trial kicked off last week, they said he was driven to kill by “greed and desperation.”
Paul is accused of first gunning down Keith, 50, outside the family’s $1.5 million Colt’s Neck mansion in November 2018 after cutting power to the home.
He allegedly then fatally shot Keith’s wife, Jennifer, 45, before stabbing to death his young niece and nephew, Sophia and Jesse, and setting fire to their home.
Caneiro was allegedly shelling out at least $85,000 on high end cars, including leases on three Porsches and a Jeep Wrangler while his tech business, Square One, was tanking, prosecutors said.
He allegedly swiped $78,000 from his younger brother, who angrily confronted his sibling about the missing cash hours before he was murdered.
On Wednesday, the jury heard that Caneiro set a second fire at his own home in Ocean Township to make it look like he was also being targeted.
Ocean Police Department Officer David Marino Jr. testified about seeing signs the blaze had been intentionally started at Caneiro’s home.
He saw “a red gas can that was on its side and there was also burn marks on the door trim of the garage door area and there was burn marks and gas on a portion of the [Porsche] Macan and there was smoke damage as well on it,” Marino said.
Caneiro faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted on the top charges, which include murder, aggravated arson, weapons possession and theft.
He’s pleaded not guilty and has been jailed without bail since his arrest on Nov. 21, 2018.
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