Episode 1 | Father Wants Us Dead, season 2: UNCLE PAUL | A true crime podcast series

This podcast contains descriptions of violence to children. Listener discretion is advised. This was the moment Carmelo LaMarca had been training for. The slim 26-year-old firefighter was sweating under 50 pounds of firefighting gear. Even though it was a chilly November day, the small crew of volunteer firefighters were striding up a gravel driveway toward a burning mansion in Colts Neck, New Jersey. There was confirmed entrapment. There were possibly four family members. The firefighters pulled on their air tanks and masks as they approached the modernist white mansion. When they opened the door, thick gray smoke poured out around them. You know, there's that brief moment where there's a little light and a little smoke clears, but then the door gets closed behind you and black, where you can't see anything. They immediately dropped to the floor and started crawling. They did a left-hand search, which means they turned left and kept a hand on the wall to orient themselves. They reached a set of stairs. Once we got to a landing in the stairs, that's where we came in contact with the first victim. In the blackness, Carmelo LaMarca felt a child's legs. I knew right away that it was a young victim. It was a small body. It was a small person. I turned to the next guy behind me on the stairs, and I said, all right, grab the arms, we're going to take them out. In your mind, you know, you're hoping that you're going to be able to save this person's life. Carmelo and his partner carried the tiny body to the front door. They stepped out onto the porch and into the bright midday sun. I looked up at everybody, kind of looking for some sort of direction, where, you know, where can I lay her down, where's EMS? But I do vividly recall just the look on everyone's face. They all had the same, they all had the same reaction. You know, it was almost like everything stopped once they saw us holding her by the front door. Everyone could see in an instant that the little girl in his arms could not be helped. Carmelo and the other firefighter lowered her body to the ground. I mean, I briefly glanced down. It was... I couldn't, I could hardly get myself to look. You could also see some wounds that weren't consistent with just being in a fire. That was when everything changed. She was covered in stab wounds underneath the soot that blackened everything. They could see the slashes ripping through her blue pajamas all over her face and arms and legs. Sophia Canero was small for an eight-year-old, just 45 pounds. In the blink of an eye, this home in one of the most bucolic towns in New Jersey had turned into a horrifying tableau. Police already suspected this was no normal fire. A 911 caller had reported shortly after noon that smoke was pouring from the mansion. And that neighbor told the dispatcher there was a man's body on the lawn. And there's a person laying down. Where are they laying down? On this property. Can you get over to them? In front of the house. Oh my god, there's blood here. It's a corpse. Somebody is dead here. But he wasn't a victim of the fire. He'd been shot in the back of his head. It was Keith Canero, a 50-year-old businessman and father who embodied the American dream, hustling since high school to give his family the good life, in a place like Colts Neck, home to millionaires like Bruce Springsteen. This is where he and his wife, Jennifer, raised their kids, Sophia and Jesse. But now, it was the site of a staggering crime. They told us just to go back in, continue your search, but don't remove anybody else. At this beautiful home, where a family of four had lived, eaten dinner, splashed in the pool, snuggled together on the couch, spoiled the family dog with treats. In the driveway, Carmelo turned away from the little girl. He and his partner stepped back into the fiery black hell inside the house in Colts Neck. This is Father Wants Us Dead Season 2, Uncle Paul, the story of the Canero family and the unthinkable betrayal that erased them from this quiet town. I'm Rebecca Everett. I'm an investigative reporter and podcaster for NJ.com and The Star-Ledger. Our first season was about the crimes of John List, who decided he'd send his whole family to heaven to hide his own failings. I feel like with John List, we answered the big question, the why. But this season, with the familicide of the Canero family, I'm still struggling to make sense of it, especially the horrifying cruelty to these children. I've followed this case since day one. I followed it as it took one strange turn after another over the ensuing seven years. And the one thing I can tell you, the one thing familicide experts kept telling me, there's never been a case like this. He could have just got in his car and left, just leave. But he chose murder over and over again. As he killed them, killing them in front of each other like an animal. This killer slipped on some nitrile gloves, selected a gun from his arsenal, and executed his plan. He annihilated a family and tried to burn away all traces of evidence. And as the mystery unravels, it becomes clear the murderer is someone they trusted. One of their own. What could possibly motivate anyone to do this? Just such a beautiful family. Keith Canero was generous and driven, a CEO since he was barely out of high school. He lifted everyone around him. His wife, Jennifer, was easygoing and a great mom. Here's her sister, Bonnie, in court. She made people feel loved. Their son, Jesse, was smart and curious. He was just 11. He took his role as Sophia's older brother seriously. And Sophia, their spunky, outgoing, fearless daughter. She brought happiness wherever she went. And the killer? He knew them all, for most of their two short lives. For Jesse and Sophia, for the time that they were here with us, they were kind. It feels like a Shakespearean tragedy, a nightmare that didn't have to happen, but for one man's fatal flaw. But we're not there yet. Because the horrific fire scene Carmelo LaMarca found in Colts Neck isn't actually where this tragic day starts. Before dawn, in a town 10 miles away, near the Jersey Shore, another family was waking up to alarms and panic. You have a structure fire at 27 Tilton Drive in Ocean Township. You have a call on the line. She evacuated. Hi. What's on fire? I have no idea. Our alarm just went off in my whole house. It's filled with smoke. The person calling 911 there is Katie. Katie Canaro. That's right. Hours before anyone discovered the bodies at the Colts Neck home, another Canaro family had a house fire. This time, it's at the home of Keith Canaro's older brother, Paul. He lived in Ocean Township, a nice suburb, if not quite Colts Neck nice, with his wife, Susan, and daughters, Marissa and Katie. Here's Katie describing the fire when she took the stand years later. The first thing I remember was my dad, he was like shaking me awake and he was saying that the house was on fire and we needed to get out. She flicked the lights on and saw the ceiling was covered in black smoke. She grabbed her inhaler and headed for the stairs, calling for their two dogs. I turned around to make sure that my parents were following me, and I saw my dad turn towards the garage. He pulled one of the family's three Porsches out of the garage and onto the street. It was a cold November morning, so the family piled into the SUV with their dogs. They waited for the first responders to arrive. The first officers to arrive circled the home. Their body cams show an inferno climbing up the back of the house. And they quickly realized the blaze seemed to have started right next to the gas meter. Fire trucks raced onto the street. One of the firefighters looked familiar. He'd gone to high school with Katie Canero. Hey, how you doing? Katie's pet turtle would ultimately be saved. But around the Canaro family, the emergency response was only ramping up. The fire marshal was being called, and the prosecutor's office. Someone had set this fire, while the family slept inside. Someone had wanted Paul Canero's house to burn. A pillar of fire was consuming the back of the house. But a good distance away, at the mouth of the garage, a cop saw another, much smaller fire burning at the base of the open garage door. He hit it with a fire extinguisher. But then he noticed a sports car parked just outside had burn marks on the hood. Like someone had poured gasoline on it and lit it. And by his feet was a gas can with a melted nozzle. I got some footage of my body camera just to preserve it. But see that burn right there? Yeah. See that gas can? The nozzle's burned. Look at the hood of that car. Why is there fire over here? But detectives knew exactly where to start this investigation. Paul Canero was a techie guy, just like his brother. And this house was covered in security cameras. There might very well be footage of the person who struck the match. Paul was standing outside the car with his daughter Katie when the officer walked up. He seemed a little out of it, like he was still processing everything that was happening. Katie had to chime in to answer some of the cops' questions about the security system. Where is all the DVD stuff for the cameras and everything in the house? All right. It's in the garage. It's in the garage? Yeah. Where in the garage at? You walk in the garage and it's all the way up top to the left. Up top to the left? Do you have them running right now? It's been having. I've been having problems with stuff in the garage. You've been having problems with stuff in the garage? Yeah. The Canaro's neighbor, just across the street, Jonathan Harrington, came to check on them. Because he was parked here. Facing that way, when I was talking to him. And he was, you could visibly upset. I mean, he was shaking. Jonathan could see that Paul had tears in his eyes. He invited him to come inside to use the bathroom or just warm up. Are you okay? How's everything? You know, are your girls and Susan okay? And his remark to me was that he could have lost his wife, you know, and kids. Everyone was shaken, but there was something else, something strange going on. Katie was trying to reach their closest family, her Uncle Keith and Aunt Jen. I called my Aunt Jen's cell phone. I called my Uncle Keith's cell phone. I called the house phone. She called them. She sent text messages. She even tried calling Jesse's iPad. Keith and Jen had always been there for her when she needed them. But this time, when she called the house phone. It didn't even ring. My dad was a volunteer firefighter. He always kept his turnout gear by the door. You'd hear the tones go off on his fire radio, and he'd be gone in seconds. As a kid, it just seemed exciting. As a kid, I never thought about the kinds of things he might have had to see on those calls. I talked about this with Mike Burke, a retired Colts Neck firefighter. You know, you never get used to it. It affects you emotionally. It definitely does. It affected me. Now, Mike's basically done it all in his 38-year career. He's been a paramedic, a detective, a firefighter, search and rescue. But ultimately, because of everything that he saw, a therapist convinced him he had to retire, or the weight of it all would kill him. You can put it in the back of your mind and move on to the next incident, but it's always still there. It doesn't go away. And that goes especially for what happened on November 20th, 2018. He was in charge of the firefighters that afternoon. Jennifer Canero was found badly burned on the stairs to the basement. She'd been shot in the head and stabbed. Jesse was found stabbed to death in the corner of the kitchen. When Jennifer and Jesse were ultimately carried out of the house, Mike said a tent was set up around the bodies in the driveway. So that no one had to see what was left of this brutalized family. You know, it's a tragedy to lose children, and unfortunately, to lose them in the way that this happened is unspeakable. Meanwhile, word was spreading from investigator to investigator. This wasn't an isolated incident. There were two fires at two homes. Two brothers, their wives and kids. But one family survived, and the other did not. What could possibly be going on here? One of the officials on scene trying to figure that out was Chris Decker. Yeah, I mean, I'd be lying if we didn't all think that was suspicious or just at least interesting at the time. He was the assistant prosecutor in charge of major crimes. And he'd be the one to prosecute this case many years later with the help of assistant prosecutor Nicole Wallace. You're going to hear from both of them a lot in this podcast. Obviously, there was a lot put out that, you know, or at least maybe we anticipated the idea that, you know, the two brothers could have been targeted by someone. But the answers would have to wait. Investigators couldn't even get inside the still smoldering house until the next day. When they did finally get inside, they saw ash and debris everywhere and signs of unimaginable violence. Including blood smears on the kitchen cabinets and walls at the height of a small child. One where bloody fingers had apparently swiped along the wall from a child fleeing. There was a whole handprint on the kitchen island near where Jesse had died. Mike Burke was there that morning as an arson investigator. In the charred basement, he saw something that suggested the killer had really thought this out. I noticed that the fiber optic line coming into the Verizon box was cut, which basically would have terminated everything for internet, telephone, burglar alarm, fire alarm. So it would have cut off all communications. Out of the house, other than cell phones, which would still be in service there. Later, they'd established that the killer cut the alarm at 3.42 a.m. This murder spree had taken place in the middle of the night, and it would have unfolded in pitch darkness, because his plan also involved shutting off all power to the house. Here's Nicole Wallace, the assistant prosecutor in court. What investigators found when they arrived on scene was that the generator had been switched to the off position and that the electrical meter had been physically removed and was lying on the ground. It even seemed possible the fire had been intentionally set to burn slowly in a basement closet where it wouldn't get much oxygen. Maybe he was trying to give himself time to get away and establish an alibi. The fire was set down in the lower level at probably three or four in the morning, if I remember correctly, and it smoldered for a long period of time until just about noontime, I believe, is when the call came in. Like I said, it had been burning a long time. It was probably in all the walls as it was just creeping around. But as detectives cleared debris, they uncovered more evidence. And a different picture was emerging, spent shell casings on the floor and a live round on the back patio. A chef's knife found on the foyer floor blackened and damaged so it looked almost like an ancient artifact found at an archaeological site. The blade had apparently been pulled from a knife block on the kitchen counter. It seemed this was a killer who targeted this family specifically and had worked out a methodical plan, but at some point that plan was abandoned. Instead, the scene inside that house must have been one of bedlam, terror, cruelty. I asked Nicole Wallace about it in our interview. He potentially could have run out of bullets, unfortunately, and used their kitchen knife. I mean, I don't think we ever thought he was going there planning, obviously, on using, you know, their kitchen knife. So that's kind of one of the theories that we talked about. The house they were examining and photographing bore the scars of the fire and the violence, but parts of it were also eerily frozen in time. On the kitchen counter was Jennifer's purse and the kids' framed school photos. A forgotten mug of coffee and a tray of cookies were by the sink. Upstairs, Sophia's bedroom was filled with stuffed animals, books, and clothes. She slept in a playhouse loft bed from Pottery Barn. To me it looks like every little girl's dream bed. A blanket hung down from the top bunk over the ladder, which made me wonder if she might have been tangled in it as she jumped out of bed. No matter where you look, there's simply no way to avoid imagining what this family's final terrified moments must have been like. Here's Chris Decker. Because I don't think there's any way to explain why someone would kill two kids. That was the feeling as the news leaked out later that day. Rumors were all most people had about this catastrophic scene in affluent horse country. Loved ones stood across the road waiting for information. A panicked neighbor dialed the school to ask if the kids were there. And my coworker at the time, Alex Napoliello, got a phone call. And I got a call from my best law enforcement source at the time. And he said, stop what you're doing and get down to Colts Neck. Alex called one of our news photographers, who went up in a small plane to get aerial photos of the burning mansion. Keith Canero had designed the house himself, and it was radically modern, asymmetrical, with Escher-like stepped walls. A neighbor nicknamed it the dumpster for its gray curved roof. It definitely stood out compared to the country mansions around it. Alex waited for news that day, along with other reporters, at the end of Willowbrook Road. Then he saw one of the county's top detectives leave the crime scene, jump in a car, and just speed off, which seemed odd. I just got that gut feeling that, like, he was going somewhere else important. He was, because that's the moment detectives were learning about the earlier fire at Paul Canero's house. And pretty soon, Alex was also putting two and two together. When then-prosecutor Chris Grimiccioni held a press conference that evening, he confirmed four people were dead. But Alex pressed him about that second fire in Ocean Township. Grimiccioni admitted both were being investigated as arson. And I'm aware that both of those homes that we're talking about, they're owned by, under public records by common family members. I would just encourage the media and the public to not get carried away until there's reason to believe whether that might be linked or not. There was so little to go on, but clearly this couldn't be a coincidence. It was just so surreal. I thought, well, maybe it was a mob hit. That's what they were kind of alluding. This is Elizabeth Hoffman, who lived around the corner on Conover Road. These two, you know, wealthy business owner brothers were possibly being. targeted by the mob or some type of evil entity. Right, it's New Jersey, so you're like, oh, maybe. Yeah, maybe somebody was mad at them. They owed some money to someone or, you know. Elizabeth actually heard the gunshots that killed Keith around 3.30 a.m., but her mind never went to murder. Whose mind would in such an idyllic town? Until that is the next day. And again the news kind of came out in dribs and drabs so each new event that you heard about was more unbelievable than the last because it was such such an unbelievable crime. Here's Mark Antiochia who had coached Jesse and Sophia in a sport called Ninja Warrior. And I just couldn't process it. But when the truth came out about who really did this, it wasn't some stranger. It was so much worse. Is this, is this a real, this is real from a family member of all things? Like, my goodness, it was, it's just unspeakable. Four years before the murders, on a hot day in the summer of 2014, Paul Canero's pool and backyard were full of people. His daughters, Katie and Marissa, had friends over. And of course, his brother's family was there. Keith, Jen, Jesse, and Sophia. This was just a random barbecue that we had. It wasn't like a holiday or anything. That's Paul's daughter Katie describing a photo of this cookout. Sophia is in the pool, maybe three or four years old. She's wearing a pink bathing suit and pigtails. And she's getting a piggyback ride from her uncle Paul. We used to always like to swim on my dad like that. So we would hold his shoulders and he would go under and either we'd go under with him or I don't know if Sophia would have at that time, but she would have floated at the top with him. Katie said this is basically how it always was. The families didn't need any special reason to hang out or have a barbecue. Yeah, I looked at my Aunt Jenna and my Uncle Keith as like second parents. Growing up, we did everything together, and it wasn't really like an extended family. It was one big family, I guess you would say. And the reason this family was so close for their whole lives all grew from Keith and Paul. They were best friends, business partners, but almost like partners in life. They did everything together, even their family vacations. Jen's father, Velasos, was from Greece, and her family had a place in Aegina, an island near Athens. I've seen the photos, and it looked gorgeous. Everyone together in this paradise. They just were totally enmeshed, did everything together, meals, vacations. I want to introduce you to my colleague, Kevin Shea. Kevin is an old school reporter. He got his start at the Baltimore Sun in 1992 as a photojournalist. My job was basically to process the film, film, not digital, film. And he got drawn into crime reporting. And yes, Kevin crossed paths with David Simon there before Simon went on to create a little TV show called The Wire. I famously joked to people that I think I bumped into David Simon in the bathroom one time. You're going to hear from Kevin a lot. He did some of the reporting for this podcast, and he covered the trial, which we'll get to. And he spent many hours in the car with me. We knocked on a lot of doors. We especially wanted to interview the surviving family members for this project, but we struck out. But ultimately, we did find some people willing to tell us about this family. So we're going to paint that picture for you now, from those interviews and from memories shared in court or online. So let's start with Keith. He was 50. He was a stocky guy, but in good shape. Yeah, he really liked going to the gym. He either was bald or he had a shaved head and just kind of a really a doting dad and provider. He'd spend hours on the phone with the people in his life. I think he was just an intense, giving guy. He started a wildly successful computer consulting company. And of course, he brought on his older brother, Paul. And then, when they moved to New Jersey, they bought a pest control company. So it had always been the two of them, their whole lives. Keith was really the more gregarious of the two. Like at his gym, yeah, he was that guy. Most of the time he'd be there for three and a half hours, even if his workout was only supposed to be an hour, because he'd be there talking to people and hanging out and doing whatever. This is Brian Bott, who owns Aspire Fitness and became friends with Keith and Jen. He said one time they had a big kickoff event for a weight loss challenge. And Keith couldn't resist a little prank. So we were in the middle of the presentation, and the pizza delivery guy came to the door. And it was like eight pizzas from Danino's. That was his pizza spot. It wasn't funny to me at the time, but in hindsight, it was pretty funny. One day, Brian took a sweet video of Sophia at the gym with her dad. She climbed on his back while he did push-ups. Here's me showing that video to Kevin. Come on. That's it. That was 12. Sophia. That was 12. Sophia, how many was that? One. How many? One. One? That's not true. Wow. I haven't seen this. Good. Eventually, they became good friends and they'd go out to dinner. Keith and Jen were big foodies. And this was kind of the vibe I got from everyone I talked to. That Keith and Jen were so warm, so welcoming. They would always be inviting new acquaintances out to dinner. And you'd share a Danino's pizza, or spend hours at Trauma's Trattoria in Long Branch, one of Keith's favorite spots to get veal parm. And that would be it. You'd be part of their circle. Jen was 45, statuesque and beautiful, with dark hair and a huge smile. For her niece Katie, she was the quintessential cool aunt. She would remember her aunt doing backflips off the diving board. And that she would always give Katie her old designer clothes, which if you're a teenage girl is heaven. Yes, I do remember that. I told Kevin, this summer I finally got to learn a little more about Jen because I met the Burgess family. The kids, Asher and Ripley, were best friends with Jesse and Sophia. Here's their mom, Courtney Burgess. She met Keith and Jen at a soccer game. I was like, oh. It's a couple that comes together. They actually seem to like each other. But I thought they had such a good rapport and relationship because I called her like a no-drama mama. She said Jen was just into her family and happy to help with anything. When they volunteered together in the school library, she remembered Jen saying bye to her kids, yelling I love you to them no matter who could hear. My son looks at me and looks like mortified, like don't you dare do that to me. This summer, I met up with Courtney and her kids at a memorial bench for the Caneros in Holmdel Park. Ripley is now 16. Your locket is a picture of you two, right? Do you mind if I see you again? Yeah. In the photo, they're little girls eating huge slices of watermelon. And Sophia's face is scrunched up as she dives in for a big bite. She was very, like, fun, nice, but she was also sassy and, like, got her point across. She was really friendly. If she ever saw, like, anyone, like, by themselves or, like, just standing alone, then she would go and, like, invite them to join. Sophia had light brown hair and her dad's smile. She loved singing and dancing and doing cartwheels and putting on makeup. She and Ripley would play the floor is lava or goof around in Sophia's playhouse bed. She had a big beanbag to the side. We'd always jump off the bunk bed onto the beanbag. Jesse, meanwhile, would always be with Asher. He was more reserved around adults. But within his friend group, he was like the energy. He would be, I'd say, like mischievous and try to cause trouble. And it was always really fun to be with him. I'd say he was like the funny person in the group. Yeah, the prankster. Jesse had dark brown hair and was lanky like boys are at 11. In a video of a class recital, Asher and Jesse are side by side in the front row, half-heartedly singing some of the words. Asher said he was in awe of the Canaro's big house. And now Jesse's room was full of hundreds of toys. Jesse, though, would always rather play video games or talk about history. In his room, he had a lot of history posters about World War I, World War II. He was very interested in the topic, and he often would teach me about it. Courtney told me this story that pretty much sums these kids up. During a sleepover at the Canaros, she stopped by to check on them. From Jessie's room, she heard the boys singing. And they were doing history. It was like a YouTube video. It was like World War II in 20 minutes or whatever. And then Ripley and Sophia were like underneath the dining room table, had built a fort. We're trying to like call people, but they were very giggly. It was a very different dynamic between the boys and the girls. Today, Jessie should be a freshman in college. And Sophia should be getting her driver's permit. Maybe they'd be learning to do backflips off the diving board with mom, or going dancing on a Greek island with their cousins, Katie and Marissa. But that will never happen, because of the tragedy that cleaved in half these two clans of the Canero family. On the afternoon of the fires, November 20th, 2018, Katie, Marissa, and their parents, Paul and Susan, were all in the lobby of the Ocean Township Police Department. They'd been told they had to come give a statement about the fire at their house. It was about 1:10ish, and I was getting impatient, so I went up to the receptionist, and I was like, how much longer is this going to take? And at that time, my dad started screaming and crying that my uncle's house was on fire. Paul had gotten a text about the fire. They didn't know what was going on. But later, in a conference room, police finally told them there were no survivors. Here's Marissa describing that moment in court. My dad was really upset and crying. He fell to the floor, and I was sitting across from him at that point. So I got up, and I was on the floor with him, just holding him. He was crying a lot, and my shoulder was wet. And while this scene was going on downstairs, in the detective bureau upstairs... Investigators were sitting down to watch the surveillance footage they'd pulled from Paul Canero's garage that morning. One of them was Brian Weisbrot. He's now a captain at the prosecutor's office. At first, the footage just showed the inside of the dark garage, where the DVR security system was. But then, at 1.29 a.m., someone turns on the light. Here's Captain Weisbrot. We see Paul Canero walk into the garage. And walks over to where the DVR is. It's a shirtless Paul Canero with messy hair reaching up toward the bottom of the frame. And then the tape abruptly ends. The moment that we saw Paul Canero walk into his garage, that was a game changer. The camera was turned off just an hour before a killer would arrive in Colts Neck to murder his brother Keith and his entire family. You know, why is he walking into his garage at 1.30 in the morning and shutting down his camera system? Whatever was about to happen, what he was about to do next, Paul Canero did not want anyone to see. And the screen essentially went black. Coming up this season on Uncle Paul. It's like Cain and Abel's the first story. It's literally the oldest story ever. Paul's the older brother, but always, Keith could put him in his place in front of other people, and he'd say, Paul, you fucked that up. I need to see it now, Paul. I need to see it. I need to see it now. Right, the fact that Mr. Canero has a paramour has nothing to do with whether or not he loves his wife and his children. What kind of a man? What kind of a family man? What kind of a brother? Lies in wait for his brother to come outside in the dark. Father Wants Us Dead is a production of NJ.com. You can visit fatherwantsusdead.com for photos, surveillance and body cam videos, and other extras. You can email any questions and comments to inbox at fatherwantsusdead.com. This series is reported and written by me, Rebecca Everett, with additional reporting by Kevin Shea. Our executive producers are Chris Kelly, Jess Mazzola, Jeff Roberts, and Jessica Beam. The podcast is recorded and mixed by Alex Graves at Sound on Sound Studios in Montclair, New Jersey. James Shapiro is our associate audio engineer. Music is by Jacob Stone. Sound effects are from Triple Scoop Music. Video used with permission from Brian Bott and Courtney Burgess. Your support makes this kind of in-depth local reporting possible. Consider subscribing to NJ.com or your local news site. Follow Father Wants Us Dead wherever you get podcasts. And if you're enjoying our latest season, Uncle Paul, please rate and review it and help us spread the word.