Naman Shrestha
Robert Cantor appeared to have lost his life in an unfortunate fire accident at first. But soon, his autopsy revealed that there was more to his death than just fire as the reports suggested that he was murdered. ‘Dateline: The Room Downstairs’ documents the horrific tale of the New Jersey resident’s killing and how jealousy can cause one to take extreme measures. The insightful episode delves deep into the investigations that followed the tragedy and covers interviews with the suspects, the victim’s family members, and other individuals involved in the case.
How Did Robert Cantor Die?
Born in the early 1950s, Robert “Rob” Cantor grew up to be a software engineer at Verizon Wireless. A well-known and liked personality, Robert resided alone in a house on Elm Avenue in New Jersey, which he used to share with his ex-wife, Susan, with whom he recently ended his marriage. However, before parting ways, during their marriage, the couple brought two lovely daughters, Ally and Emily Sant Amour, into the world. Besides being a devoted parent, Robert was also known for his hobbies, which included skiing, cooking, and tennis.
It was just another night on Elm Avenue on March 7, 2011, until a few neighbors of Robert noticed smoke coming out of his basement. Wasting no time at all, they reported it to the authorities, who arrived at the scene promptly. When the firefighters extinguished the fire and reached the source of the fire — Robert’s basement bedroom — they found the burned body of the homeowner, which was identified through dental records.
When an autopsy was performed, it was discovered that he died from a gunshot in the back of his head with a .380 caliber handgun. Further investigation led the authorities to find a shell casing from the crime scene and it was revealed that the fire was set intentionally with the help of grain alcohol. The investigators taped the crime scene and began searching for pieces of evidence that might lead them to the one behind the murder of Robert Cantor.
Who Killed Robert Cantor?
After scouring through the crime scene and collecting evidence, the police began interrogating Robert’s neighbors and loved ones, before digging deep into the victim’s personal life. Connecting all the dots, they got to know about his divorce and a woman he had been dating at the time — Sophie Menuet. Although he was divorced, Sophie was still married to Sui Kam “Tony” Tung, with whom she shared an estranged relationship. In early March 2011, just a few days before Robert’s murder, Sophie had served Tony with divorce papers.
Feeling suspicious of his wife, Tony reportedly installed spyware on her computer to get access to her emails. For months, he read the email conversations between Sophie and Robert, which turned his suspicion into confirmation. Although he denied any involvement whatsoever in the murder of Robert, he admitted the fact that he had paid three visits to her wife’s lover’s house in 2010 and told him to do the right thing and stop seeing his wife. He even insisted on taking a look at the basement bedroom where Robert and Sophie used to have sex. Even though Tony had all the motives to commit the crime, there was a lack of physical evidence that linked him to the murder case of Robert directly.
Tony even admitted to owning a handgun several years ago, which he had surrendered to the police, and borrowing another one for a short while. But he claimed that he did not have any kind of weapon at the time of Robert’s murder. However, it was proven in the court of law that upon learning about the affair between Robert and his estranged wife, he began keeping tabs on both of them and came up with a plan to kill the former. So, on the night of March 6, 2011, three days after Sophie served him divorce papers, Tony went to confront Robert at his Elm Avenue home and shot him in the back of his head.
After placing him on the bed in the basement room, he set the room on fire and returned to his New York City house to get rid of digital evidence that might incriminate him. It was right before midnight when the neighbors noticed flames coming out of the house. Thanks to all the crumbs of evidence against Tony, the case went to trial in December 2015. Soon, he was found guilty of various offenses, such as murder, aggravated arson, stalking, unlawful possession of a weapon, tampering with evidence, and desecration of human remains. Despite the lack of any physical evidence against Tony, his estranged wife testified that the defendant wiped his computer’s memory to cover up his gruesome deeds.
In February 2016, the 56-year-old Manhattan resident was sentenced to life in prison for the slaying of Robert Cantor. An additional 10 years was added to his original sentence for setting fire to destroy the victim’s property. After an appellate court vacated the 2016 conviction, Tony stood trial for Robert’s murder case for the second time and got sentenced to life in prison in November 2023. Currently, he is serving his life sentence in New Jersey State Prison at 600 Cass Street in Trenton.
