GUILTY FL – Chad, 59, Margaret, 61, & son, Cody Amato, 31, fatally shot by other son, Chuluota, 25 Jan 2019

[SeesSeas]

Inmate Population Information Search
Inmate Population Information Detail
Corrections Offender Network
Inmate Population Information Detail
(This information was current as of 8/13/2019)

DC Number: I60540
Name: AMATO, GRANT T
Race: WHITE
Sex: MALE
Birth Date: 05/20/1989
Initial Receipt Date: 08/13/2019
Current Facility: CFRC-MAIN
Current Custody: PENDING
Current Release Date: SENTENCED TO LIFE

 

[SeesSeas]

Grant Amato appeals murder convictions, life sentence for killings of parents, brother
AUG 15, 2019 | 11:47 AM
Grant Amato, the Chuluota man recently found guilty of murder in the killings of his parents and brother, is appealing his convictions and life sentence, according to court documents filed Thursday.
[...]
In a two-page notice filed Thursday, Seminole-Brevard Chief Assistant Public Defender Michael Mario Pirolo listed 10 decisions by Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler before and during the trial that will be the basis for Amato’s appeal.

Among those rulings were:

• Recksielder’s denial of defense motions seeking to suppress evidence. Amato’s lawyers had sought to prevent jurors from seeing his interrogation by Seminole County detectives and evidence found inside the family’s home, among other elements of the case.
• The judge allowing testimony about an IWI Jericho 941 handgun that a friend of Grant and Cody, Blake Turpin, said went missing from his home prior to the killings. Prosecutors argued Grant Amato took the gun, which has not been found, and used it to kill his family.
• That a forensic investigator who testified that Cody Amato’s iPhone was plugged into Grant Amato’s computer on the night of the killings was allowed to speculate that whoever connected the device to the computer was likely trying to erase its data.

Amato’s appeal will be considered by the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach.

 

[SeesSeas]

Snippets of jailhouse phone conversation included in video at link:
Man found guilty of murdering parents, brother started working on appeal before sentencing
Updated: Aug 19, 2019 - 8:04 PM
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. - For the first time since he was convicted of murdering his parents and brother in their Seminole County home, we are hearing from the killer.

The new jailhouse conversation comes as Grant Amato's appeal continues.

The phone call took place inside the Seminole County Jail after a jury found Amato guilty of the murders but before the sentencing phase started.

In the call, Amato -- who is talking to a man filming a documentary about the murders -- was already thinking about the appeals process.

Just five days after Amato was convicted of murdering his mother Margaret, father Chad and brother Cody in their Chuluota home in January, his first phone call was to a New York man making a documentary about his case.

Colin Archdeacon: "I feel bad about, uh, the state you are living in right now."

Amato: "Oh no, no worry about it. I mean, I'm just doing my thing you know, it's all good."

There was little emotion from Amato and nothing said about his family. There was also no concern over whether he could be sentenced to death for the crimes he was convicted of committing.

Archdeacon: "How are you feeling? Do you think you are kind of adjusting to the verdict still?"

Amato: "Yeah, still adjusting to it. Uh, you know it's not so much the uh, the verdict that came back. It's just you know, coming to terms with you know, the time I'm going to have to wait."
[...]

 

[SeesSeas]

1. Michelle Meredith‏Verified account @MichelleWESH 3h3 hours ago
   Grant Amato said he will take the stand for his appeal hearing if he needs to because he can’t be cross examined
   
2. Michelle Meredith‏Verified account @MichelleWESH 3h3 hours ago
   Prosecutors says Amato killed family after they put him in rehab: obsessed with “Silvie” adult website girlfriend
   
3. Michelle Meredith‏Verified account @MichelleWESH 3h3 hours ago
   Grant Amato sized up his fellow inmates saying some are “terrible people” and others like him are “innocent”
   
4. Michelle Meredith‏Verified account @MichelleWESH 3h3 hours ago
   Amato said he is calm because he doesn’t know what he’s up against: never been to prison before
   
5. Michelle Meredith‏Verified account @MichelleWESH 3h3 hours ago
   Producer was “flabbergasted” by how calm Amato sounded: facing life in prison or even death sentence
   
6. Michelle Meredith‏Verified account @MichelleWESH 3h3 hours ago
   Armani said he was less concerned about the guilty verdict and more about time he will have to wait in jail on appeal
   
7. Michelle Meredith‏Verified account @MichelleWESH 3h3 hours ago
   In jailhouse interview done by producer doing doc on case: Amato said he hopes to get out of jail in a year
   
8. Michelle Meredith‏Verified account @MichelleWESH 3h3 hours ago
   Amato was convicted of killing parents & brother after stealing around 200k to spend on adult website girlfriend
   
9. Michelle Meredith‏Verified account @MichelleWESH 4h4 hours ago
   In the interview Grant Amato: who was given a life sentence for the triple murder: says his appeal is “solid”
   
10. Michelle Meredith‏Verified account @MichelleWESH 4h4 hours ago
    A recent jailhouse phone interview gives insight into mind of Seminole Co. man convicted of killing most his family

 

[Gardenista]

COURT TV
2h ·
TONIGHT: #GrantAmato was convicted of killing his parents and brother over his obsession with a Bulgarian webcam model. Now, his legal team is appealing the conviction.

Plus, #TheKillerClown case finally goes to trial 30 years after the murder of 40-year-old Marlene Warren.

Watch #CourtTV LIVE tonight at 8/7c. court.tv/live

 

[Niner]

@Gardenista - are you going to watch this CourtTV re Grant Amato? If so, can you give us a synopsis on what happened? I'm interested in the date of this appeal. TIA!

 

[Niner]

I just found my notes on his first appeal back on 8/16/19:


8/16/19 Update: Grant Amato is appealing his convictions & life sentence, according to court documents filed Thursday, 8/16/19. among those rulings were: *Recksielder’s denial of defense motions seeking to suppress evidence. Amato’s lawyers had sought to prevent jurors from seeing his interrogation by Seminole County detectives and evidence found inside the family’s home, among other elements of the case.
*The judge allowing testimony about an IWI Jericho 941 handgun that a friend of Grant & Cody, Blake Turpin, said went missing from his home prior to the killings. Prosecutors argued Grant Amato took the gun, which has not been found, and used it to kill his family.
*That a forensic investigator who testified that Cody Amato’s iPhone was plugged into Grant Amato’s computer on the night of the killings was allowed to speculate that whoever connected the device to the computer was likely trying to erase its data. Amato’s appeal will be considered by the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach.

Just wondering if the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach ever came back with a resolution. I'm guessing they denied it - if he is appealing again?

 

[Alice253]

I just found my notes on his first appeal back on 8/16/19:


8/16/19 Update: Grant Amato is appealing his convictions & life sentence, according to court documents filed Thursday, 8/16/19. among those rulings were: *Recksielder’s denial of defense motions seeking to suppress evidence. Amato’s lawyers had sought to prevent jurors from seeing his interrogation by Seminole County detectives and evidence found inside the family’s home, among other elements of the case.
*The judge allowing testimony about an IWI Jericho 941 handgun that a friend of Grant & Cody, Blake Turpin, said went missing from his home prior to the killings. Prosecutors argued Grant Amato took the gun, which has not been found, and used it to kill his family.
*That a forensic investigator who testified that Cody Amato’s iPhone was plugged into Grant Amato’s computer on the night of the killings was allowed to speculate that whoever connected the device to the computer was likely trying to erase its data. Amato’s appeal will be considered by the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach.

Just wondering if the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach ever came back with a resolution. I'm guessing they denied it - if he is appealing again?

Niner, do we have a case number for the COA? I can access the site, and the decisions are posted and just 239 pages for the past year! If I had a case # it would be so much easier LOL! Otherwise it will take me a while to go through all of them but I will if necessary!

 

[Niner]

@Alice253 - sorry I don't have the COA case # - I do have the murder case #
*Seminole County #2019CF000337A Don't know if that would help you?

 

[Le Singe]

COURT TV
2h ·
TONIGHT: #GrantAmato was convicted of killing his parents and brother over his obsession with a Bulgarian webcam model. Now, his legal team is appealing the conviction.

Plus, #TheKillerClown case finally goes to trial 30 years after the murder of 40-year-old Marlene Warren.

Watch #CourtTV LIVE tonight at 8/7c. court.tv/live

I know there is a lot of information out there for this case are the full unedited copies of the phone calls available or a transcript of them?

 

[SeesSeas]

Man Murders Family Over Obsession with Cam Girl (Court Junkie)
Sep 29, 2022
Law&Crime Network
This episode of “Court Junkie” dives into the true crime story of Grant Amato, the man found guilty of murdering both of his parents and brother and trying to stage it as a murder-suicide. Amato’s obsession with a Bulgarian model and cam girl, Silviya Ventsislavova, led to him sending about $200,000 of his family’s money to the model, causing financial turmoil in the family. Amato and his father had an argument over the issue shortly before the murder occurred.

 

[Niner]

Interesting - this thread shows post #310 and then the next one is #314 - ??

 

[SeesSeas]

Interesting - this thread shows post #310 and then the next one is #314 - ??

That is interesting! And odd! Perhaps three posts were swept away by Hurricane Ian.

 

[RickshawFan]

I missed the photos of the camgirl. Couldn't find them anywhere. I've never heard of a camgirl, but now I'm eager to get familiar.

I am just now poking into this case, after watching a similar case (Halderson), and I see that there's a new one in the last couple of days (Metzig). They are both parricides committed (either by conviction or by charge) by young men from middle-class families. There are probably others, but the trend interests me.

Jason is such a profound, articulate, acute, and "on it" man, I feel like it's an honor to listen to him. From the beginning, a day and a half after his parents were killed, he understood who was responsible and addressed the facts as he saw them. Not a doubt in his mind; no denial. Pragmatic, realistic, and heartfelt. I was surprised to find he's a mortgage broker, and not in social services.

In this case here, and the other two, although the murders seem to come out of the blue, there had to have been warning signals, in a long history of lies, theft, lack of accountability. I don't believe it's possible for this degree of violence to come at full-speed from zero: stealing stuff deftly requires practice, webs of lies, too.

 

[RickshawFan]

Why was GA in scrubs when he was interrogated? He hadn't been employed for months, least of all in a health care setting. There was 0 reason to be wearing scrubs.

However, wearing scrubs could be related to the murders: he may have been in scrubs mode either because all the regular clothes he had with him were covered in blood or he did the murders while in scrubs (perhaps more than one layer). As a nurse, he was used to preventing blood from getting on his clothes. No doubt there were professional strategies. He might have had over layers, even. He could even have been wearing Cody's scrubs for the murder? This would be consistent with framing Cody.

Also, GA didn't leave footprints in blood. a) as a nurse, he would have had practice not stepping in blood; and b) he could have got hold of surgical booties. Headnet too, for that matter: no blood on that bald scalp.

 

[Jets4Life]

Why was GA in scrubs when he was interrogated? He hadn't been employed for months, least of all in a health care setting. There was 0 reason to be wearing scrubs.

Amaro had a job interview a day after the murders for a nursing position (or so he claims). I doubt he would be sitting in his hotel room in scrubs over 24 hours after the murders. He had stolen his dead brothers credit card to buy more time to talk with the Bulgarian cam girl he was obsessed with.

 

[Jets4Life]

I missed the photos of the camgirl. Couldn't find them anywhere. I've never heard of a camgirl, but now I'm eager to get familiar.

Sylvia Ventsislavova is her name. She used the notoriety to raise her prices, and is now one of the most popular cam girls in Eastern Europe. She also knew about the fact that Grant was stealing from his parents, as they reached out to her, and asked her to stop accepting money from him. She continued to do so after the family was murdered. I guarantee the prosecution would have wanted her to testify in the case, if it were possible, but America has no jurisdiction over Bulgaria.

I am just now poking into this case, after watching a similar case (Halderson), and I see that there's a new one in the last couple of days (Metzig). They are both parricides committed (either by conviction or by charge) by young men from middle-class families. There are probably others, but the trend interests me.

Jason is such a profound, articulate, acute, and "on it" man, I feel like it's an honor to listen to him. From the beginning, a day and a half after his parents were killed, he understood who was responsible and addressed the facts as he saw them. Not a doubt in his mind; no denial. Pragmatic, realistic, and heartfelt. I was surprised to find he's a mortgage broker, and not in social services.

In this case here, and the other two, although the murders seem to come out of the blue, there had to have been warning signals, in a long history of lies, theft, lack of accountability. I don't believe it's possible for this degree of violence to come at full-speed from zero: stealing stuff deftly requires practice, webs of lies, too.

What I cannot believe, is the fact he was arrested and fired from his hospital job in June 2018, seven months before the murders when it was found he was injecting his patients with a powerful anaesthetic so they would be unconscious as he went to chat on the internet. For the life of me, I cannot believe the charges were dropped against him.

Injecting patients with drugs they don't even need is a very serious crime. I know his brother hired a high priced lawyer to get him off. The DA really should have pursued the case, as that is deeply disturbing. It should also be noted that his dad came home with a concealed firearm, something he barely ever did since he anticipated problems with his son. His late brother Cody also confided that he was somewhat scared of what Grant was capable of doing.

If the DA had not dropped the charges that the Hospital filed against him, his family would still be alive.