Five years after James “Cole” Berger was killed outside his home, a jury convicted Brian Canarelli of second-degree murder with a firearm.
JUPITER, Fla. — What began as an arrangement for a father to pick up his 9-year-old son ended at the gate of a Jupiter Farms home with James “Cole” Berger fatally shot, an encounter that five years later led a Palm Beach County jury to convict Brian Canarelli of second-degree murder with a firearm.
The circumstances that brought the two men together were ordinary compared with what followed. According to a 2021 arrest report described by local news organizations, Berger and his fiancée had been arguing at their home and decided three children at the property should leave. One child was the son of the woman and Canarelli, her estranged husband. The boy wanted to go to his father’s home, and his mother called Canarelli at about 8 p.m. Canarelli agreed to come get him. Investigators said the call appeared calm.
Canarelli arrived in a white Porsche Cayenne and stopped outside the property’s gate on 98th Trail North. Berger, who was engaged to Canarelli’s estranged wife, approached. The men began arguing, according to the arrest report. The disagreement continued while the woman prepared to open the gate so her son could leave. At some point, Berger climbed or jumped over the gate. His fiancée later told investigators she heard a gunshot but did not see a firearm at that moment.
Her account then shifted from the argument to its immediate aftermath. She ran toward the front of the property and found Berger down. She began trying to save him, according to investigators. She told deputies that she heard Canarelli say he had shot Berger. The woman’s account established what she heard and saw from her position, but investigators also had another witness much closer to the confrontation: Berger’s mother, who had arrived at the property to collect children.
Berger’s mother told deputies she saw Canarelli reach behind his back and produce a shiny handgun. According to her account in the arrest report, Berger had a small pebble in his hand but never raised it toward Canarelli. She said Canarelli fired once, Berger fell, and Canarelli moved toward him and fired several more rounds. Authorities later said Berger had been struck multiple times. He was pronounced dead after deputies responded to the property.
The scene investigators encountered supplied evidence beyond the witness statements. Authorities reported finding six spent 9 mm casings near the entrance. Canarelli’s Porsche remained parked outside the property, and investigators said a handgun was visible on the driver’s-side floorboard. Canarelli was taken into custody and booked into jail early June 23, 2021. He was initially charged with first-degree murder with a firearm and held without bond after his first court appearance.
Those details remained at the center of a case that would take more than five years to reach a jury. The State Attorney’s Office said evidence presented during a five-day trial in September 2026 showed that Canarelli fired multiple shots and killed the 37-year-old outside his Jupiter Farms residence. Assistant State Attorneys Bethany Johnson and Courtney Behar prosecuted the case, which had been investigated by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Jurors began the case with a first-degree murder charge before them, but they did not return the verdict prosecutors sought on that count. On Sept. 25, they found Canarelli, now 46, guilty of second-degree murder with a firearm. The difference matters. The jury rejected the first-degree murder option while finding that Canarelli was criminally responsible for Berger’s killing under the lesser homicide offense. Because the verdict included a firearm finding, Canarelli also faces sentencing provisions connected to his use of the gun.
Florida law establishes mandatory prison terms for certain felonies committed with firearms. The statute provides that when a person convicted of a covered felony discharged a firearm and the discharge caused death or great bodily harm, the person must receive a minimum term of at least 25 years, with the statute allowing a mandatory minimum term reaching as high as life. The sentencing judge can impose a longer incarceration term where otherwise authorized by law. The exact punishment in Canarelli’s case has not yet been imposed.
The original arrest report also shows how multiple family relationships converged at the property that night. Canarelli had gone there because his son wanted to leave. Berger’s mother had arrived to pick up children as well. Berger was engaged to Canarelli’s estranged wife, and the two men’s argument began only after Canarelli reached the gate. Investigators did not describe a chance encounter between strangers; the shooting arose from a meeting prompted by a child pickup during an already strained family situation.
The marital breakup preceded the shooting by months. Public court information shows that Brian and Victoria Canarelli married in 2012 and that a petition to dissolve their marriage was filed in August 2020. By June 2021, reporting described the couple as estranged and Berger as Victoria Canarelli’s fiancé. The divorce litigation did not simply disappear after the criminal case began. An appeal in the family-law case reached Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal, which affirmed the lower court without a detailed written discussion in March 2026.
But the murder trial did not ask jurors to resolve the divorce dispute or decide which adult had been right in the arguments that preceded the shooting. The jury’s task was narrower: determine whether prosecutors proved the charged homicide beyond a reasonable doubt and, if not, whether the evidence established another offense available under the instructions. After hearing the evidence, jurors rejected first-degree murder and convicted Canarelli of second-degree murder with a firearm.
The verdict came after years in which the central events were largely preserved through the initial witness accounts and physical evidence. In 2021, Berger’s fiancée told investigators that she did not see the gun before hearing the first shot. Berger’s mother said she did. Their perspectives were different, but both placed the fatal confrontation at the property’s gate, and the mother’s statement described gunfire continuing after Berger fell. The six casings found at the entrance and the handgun reported in Canarelli’s vehicle became part of the evidence authorities collected from the scene.
The timing of the incident has been described slightly differently across later accounts. The State Attorney’s Office referred to the killing as occurring June 22, 2021, while other reports described deputies responding during the early hours of June 23. Contemporary coverage makes clear that the confrontation began late June 22 and Canarelli was booked several hours later on June 23. Treating the episode as unfolding overnight reconciles those accounts without changing the central sequence established in the arrest report.
Berger’s death also left a record beyond police and court documents. An obituary cited in later coverage described him as someone who made friends feel comfortable and welcome and referred to him as a “gentle giant.” He was 37 when he died. In the criminal proceeding, however, prosecutors relied on evidence rather than memorial descriptions to prove their case, and the State Attorney’s Office said the jury reached its verdict after five days of testimony and evidence.
Circuit Judge John Parnofiello did not sentence Canarelli immediately after the verdict. At the defense’s request, the judge ordered a presentencing investigation, which allows the court to gather information relevant to punishment before entering a sentence. Court reporting said no sentencing date was scheduled when the verdict was announced. The State Attorney’s Office later confirmed only that sentencing remained pending.
That leaves the case at a different stage from the one that began at the gate in 2021. Canarelli is no longer awaiting a jury’s decision on whether he committed the killing; he has been convicted of second-degree murder with a firearm. The unresolved question is how long he will spend in prison. Parnofiello will determine the sentence after the presentencing process is completed, subject to the punishment required and authorized by Florida law.
Author note: Last updated November 9, 2026.