Grant Amato /// True Crime Garage /// Episode 370 | Forensic Files

Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] >> Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever
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>> I thought you were talking about nursing students. That would have been weird.
All right, everybody gather around. Grab a chair. Grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime.
[music] [music] >> [music] >> We have all heard the cautionary tales to parents in this internet age. Don't
let your kids spend too much time online. Know who your kids are talking to online. Be sure your kids don't give
out any personal information. Make sure your kids aren't engaging in inappropriate behavior with people
online. And explain to your children and help them to understand the difference between virtual relationships and real
human connections. But what happens when your child is an adult? What happens when these cautionary tales are applied
to a grown man who spends too much time online who is talking online with a stranger who does not have his best
interest at heart. Then one day the online stranger once more. This virtual friend requests just
a little personal information. And how about some private information? And the two are exchanging inappropriate
materials. Adult internet voyering has become its own form of addiction as several
websites stream live amateur and professional webcam girls, guys, and couples generally showing nude
performances and sexual acts. This has also established a new line of sex work accessible to anyone with a computer.
So what happens when someone confuses a virtual relationship for a real relationship and then it grows into an
obsession? An obsession he would kill for. This is true crime garage. [music] [music]
Grant Amato was the youngest of three sons, sons of Margaret and Chad Amato. He and his brother Cody still lived at
home with their parents, but their older brother Jason had moved into his own place. Jason was still close with his
family and spoke with his mother about once a week. Where our story really takes off is when these three brothers
are all grown adults, two still living at home with mom and dad. But let's back up for just a minute. Margaret and Chad
provided a nice life for their three boys. They lived in an expansive home and had all the trappings of affluence,
cars, video games, and horses. Yes, Margaret was a horse person. As everyone knows, the garage loves horse people.
Yeah, centaurs. >> She adopted and rehabilitated a retired racehorse named Lady. And even after
Lady died, she still went to the stables daily to work with other horses. Margaret worked as a client operations
manager at a healthcare company. Chadamato was a clinical pharmacist who worked for CVS and who also had a second
job. He was a self-professed computer guru. One of his co-workers said that Chad was very proud of his sons. But
there are rumors in this case and some references to it by two people close to the case that Chad Amato, the father,
was a quite difficult man. >> Yeah, most computer people are. >> A side note, Jason, the oldest of the
three boys, was not Chad's biological son. He adopted him when he married Margaret. This was way back when Jason
was just three years old. It doesn't seem that Jason was as close to his brothers as they were to each
other. According to Jason, they were known as the football family because they went to every Florida Gator home
game together. But Jason no longer lived at home and he had moved on with his own
life. >> So the true brothers, not the half brothers, Grant and Cody, they they seem
to be inseparable. Cody is just one year older than Grant and they did everything together. They
were on the weightlifting team together at Timber Creek High School and planned on buying matching BMWs and living in
the family home well after their parents retired to their other house, which was
located in Tennessee. One of their favorite activities involved shooting airsoft rifles and real guns as well.
And you can see on Grant Amato's Facebook profile picture that he is trying to look like a militant badass
with a big rifle. Cody and Grant were on a competitive airsoft team called Remedy. The brothers even went on to
enroll in nursing school together. This after Grant graduated from the University of Central Florida. Even
early on, it seems that Cody was somewhat of a caretaker for Grant. He had it all together while Grant was
more scattered. In June of 2018, Grant was caught stealing medication from his job at
Advent Health, which is located in Orlando, Florida. >> Do we do we know what kind of medication
he's stole? >> I'm going to get into that right now. The hospital staff noticed eight empty
vials of propall in two rooms where Grant was working. He had taken vials. They were worth together a combined
amount of $2,67. These were taken from a storage machine that required a thumbrint to access the
machine. He was captured on surveillance video which was reviewed by the hospital
after the propall was discovered missing. He was seen accessing the machine and putting the vials in his
pocket. This amounted to grand theft. Hospital officials confronted Grant, who told them, according to the police
report, that quote, he had administered the drugs to patients who were not being
adequately relaxed by doctorordered medicine. In other words, he thought patients needed more drugs than what
they were being given. >> So, he wasn't stealing the drugs for himself to use, but to use on patients.
>> That's his statement. That's his story, and he's sticking to it. We don't know
for for certain. Administrators believe that this was not the first incident of this kind, that he
probably had stolen these items before. While being questioned a couple days after he was caught stealing, Grant
apparently said he was suicidal. So, the police were called. This was on June 21st. Grant was arrested, but they
determined that there was not grounds to hold him under Florida's Baker Act, which allows an involuntary hold of
people deemed to be dangerous to themselves. And for reasons that have never been
disclosed, the grand theft charges for stealing propall were eventually dropped. But needless to say, Grant was
out of a job. He was fired. And as a consequence of this event, he was expelled from anesthesiology school as
well. And his dad, who was funding legal representation for his son, well, he was
out of a lot of money. This was money that was set up for Grant's lawyers. >> Yeah. But let let's break this down a
little bit because a lot of times if if there is a conflict at work, even if it is stealing, they normally won't
prosecute. As long as they get the material back, we got the material back. We didn't lose any money, and we're
going to then sever our ties with this individual by firing them. >> Yeah. I mean, he he's he's fired 100%. I
don't know what their reasons were for dropping the charges. If you want me to speculate, my guess is they probably
didn't want his defense of, oh, I was giving them to your patients, >> right, >> to be in the newspapers. Whether that's
what he was doing with them or not, we we just don't know. >> Yeah. Stay away from the bad publicity.
>> So, Grant is unemployed and living with his parents. So, what did Grant do all
day now that he was unemployed? Of course, he did what any hard-working, ablebodied 20some American male would
do. And of course, I'm being sarcastic. He spent his days gaming and watching porn. This on a site called Cam Girls.
Grant soon met a webcam model named Sylvia from Bulgaria. >> Wait, hold on. Can you spell that
website for me? Grant began what he felt was an intimate relationship with this woman, the
virtual kind. Grant led Sylvia to believe that he was a successful, ambitious, young professional gamer who
had his own apartment and drove a BMW. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Grant spent about 4 hours every night online
watching Sylvia dance and model, euphemisms for one-on-one virtual pornographic activity. And of course,
this cost money. In fact, the woman's attentions to Grant seemed to depend on how much money he paid her. Grant
admitted that her shows cost 90, that's 90, tokens per minute to view, which he purchased 5,000 tokens at a time for
$600. He and Sylvia would video chat as well. Grant seemed to think that the woman was
his girlfriend. Eventually, he began sending her clothes and sex toys, which Sylvia would model for him, often in
pornographic videos. How was Grant paying for all of this? Well, we'll get into that in a minute. First, hang on.
Let me get out my porno calculator real quick. >> Yeah. >> So, that's 5,400 tokens an hour.
And times that by 4 hours a day or a night, that's 21,600 tokens a night. >> Hold on. My calculations say that's a
lot of poor. Now, >> that's 2,000. That's $2,592 a day or a night, however you want to
swing that hammer. It would be cheaper to be addicted to meth, but remember kids, don't do math. Then in December of
2018, I I apologize, Captain, but when I was reviewing this information and putting together all the math, I don't
know why, but it popped in my head out of all the things that you could be addicted to, this is a very expensive
addiction. >> Yeah. Well, I guess we'll know why our our show won't continue. Um, the Colonel
got addicted to meth. >> Don't do meth. Then in December of 2018, Cody Grant and their friend Jericho,
they went on a trip to Japan. Cody was very nice. He paid $10,000 for this trip. So Cody is paying for the both of
them, for him and Grant. But when the boys returned home, this is around December 15th, Grant found that his
father was very disgruntled that Grant still had not landed a job by this point.
It's not clear exactly when the Amados found out that their son was involved in a virtual relationship with a webcam
girl. Some news reports state that Margaret noticed mail showing up for Grant from Bulgaria.
>> Yeah. >> And then was horrified that her son had given their home address to a
to somebody in the porn business, let's say, >> right? Uh, we can only imagine what that
conversation was like. Unfortunately for Grant though, it seems that his parents
also discovered something else. At some point toward the end of 2018, Chad Amato discovered that some money
was missing. And actually, this was a lot of money. Grant was stealing money from his own family. Grant told his
parents that he spent this money to promote himself on Twitch. I Captain, I'm sure you could inform us
what Twitch is. >> Oh, because I'm such a loser that I have all this time to do.
>> Well, I don't know exactly what it is. So, I thought maybe you might. >> Well, I don't know much about it. I've
never been on it. I think people can be very profitable on it. There's many millionaires from it. And I guess what
it is is that you you're a gamer and then people can watch you game. >> Okay. and then they could pay for like a
a subscription. >> So, um, so there there are people that are doing very well. It's it's but it's
kind of the video game world to me. I haven't been into it since Super Mario Brothers,
so I don't really know much about it, but it's it's huge. I mean, you can uh so when he's saying I'm promoted myself
or I'm >> this could turn into a profession, >> not just a profession, but if if it
takes off, he could become like a multi-millionaire, like basically like becoming a YouTube star or something,
>> right? I was going to say for dummies like me, the the simplest form, it's kind of a social media Instagram meets
YouTube kind of thing. >> Yeah. For gaming primarily. Yeah. So, the truth be told though, that's not
where the money went. He actually blew it all on his very expensive hobby or what I would call obsession with Sylvia.
>> Yeah. But even if it went to promoting himself on this platform, it's a it's a big risk cuz to become a
YouTube star or become a Twitch star, it it's very difficult. >> So, now thus begins the family meltdown.
Okay. On December 19th, 2018, the Amados called 911. This was to report Grant was
missing. He had walked out of the house after an argument with Chad. And his mother was concerned because he seemed
very depressed at this time and she says possibly suicidal. In fact, Margaret told the sheriff's office, she told the
deputies that she got a text from Grant saying that he was quote really tired of
everything end quote and was quote just going to handle it his own way. That's as much of the text that I have. But
regardless, believing that he had been unsuccessful looking for work and had shown some instability in connection
with the propall incident, >> right? and he's out of school and now he's spending his days like you said
playing video games >> and watching pornography and if the family just knows that he's just up in
his room playing video games all day maybe not knowing too much about the pornography but when somebody says I'm
tired of it all and that's all they're doing >> I think that's a bad sign >> well and you know she has his mother has
other texts and other information other conversations that were had that we're not privy to. So, calling the police
seems like a very smart motherly move here in this this spot. In December of 2018, Cody confided in his girlfriend
Sloan that he was concerned about his brother. He was concerned that Grant was going to kill everyone is what he said.
When Grant left the home that day, he took refuge at the home of his aunt. This is Donna Amato with whom he was
very close. She later said that he was looking lost and depressed. At her house, Grant slept during the day and
stayed up all night. She and her husband hid all of their guns while Grant was with them, having been warned by the
Amados that he was possibly suicidal. While Grant was staying with her, Donna's bank account was hacked and
strange charges started showing up. At least that's what she thought, >> right? >> She came to find out that the nephew she
had taken in stole her credit card information. And she wasn't the only one. According to the Orlando Sentinel,
pictures of credit cards belonging to Grant Amato's grandmother, uncle, and one of his cousins were found on his
computer. Upset and betrayed, Donna called her husband's brother, Grant's father, Chad
Amato. Totally out of character, Chad broke down on the phone. He told Donna that he had been forced to reorggage the
family's home to cover $150,000 worth of debt. racked up by Grant. Donna says, quote, "He told me on the phone,
"Yeah, I'm going to have to work a few more years than I thought I'd have to, but it's okay. I'll do it for Grant. I
don't want him to go to jail." Furthermore, other family members called Donna, urging her not to press charges.
In fact, it was Cody who promised to pay back any of his brother's fraudulent expenses. So, how much debt did Grant
Amato rack up? He stole $150,000 from his parents. He stole or spent $60,000 of Cody's money and then stole
and sold Cody's guns. He stole an unknown amount from three other relatives. In three months, Grant Amato
spent over $200,000 to interact virtually with Sylvia, who was thousands of miles away. So, the
Amados had a family meeting while they decided what to do about Grant. While they made up their minds, family members
took shifts outside of Donna's home to be sure that Grant stayed on the premises. Then on December 22nd, the
Amados whlaid Grant in Donna's driveway around 3:00 am, a intervention of sorts,
and Chad, Margaret, and Cody drove him to a voluntary rehabilitation clinic in South Florida. His commitment form
reflects that his entry there was voluntary. Grant's family agreed to pay the $15,000 for him to obtain a 60-day
treatment. While Grant was at rehab, Cody and Chad hacked into Grant's computer to see exactly what he had been
doing online. They discovered his carefully curated online identity as a successful professional gamer. Chad
contacted all of Grant's online friends and told them in no uncertain terms that
it was all a lie, that Grant was a poser, a fraud, and a fake. He actually lived at home and he had no job. And in
what was likely considered the ultimate betrayal by Grant, they conveyed this information to Sylvia as well. They told
Sylvia, the webcam girl, who thought Grant was a sugar daddy, that in fact Grant was a fired nurse who lived with
his mom and dad and stole their money to pay for his new obsession. Grant only made it about two weeks in
rehab. He left the facility and came home on January 5th. When he returned home, there was a new set of rules. Chad
sat Grant down at a California pizza kitchen in Waterford Lakes and showed him a two-page list of rules.
Grant would have to agree to them if he wanted to remain in the home. His other options were, according to Chad, to move
out or to join the military. >> Yeah. I mean, it wasn't like, you know, yeah, get to working and stop your
jerking. Well, this laying down of the rules, this kind of thing that a parent does, you typically see this for a
rebellious 16-year-old, not a 29year-old man. Now, among these rules, Grant had to get a job during the day and stop
spending his entire night online. He was not permitted on the internet after midnight. He had to come up with a
written personal recovery plan and submit it to his father. >> Uhhuh. His phone service was cut off. He
was forbidden from watching porn and was required to go to therapy. He was on his
own financially and had to repay the $200,000 he had taken and issue apologies to his family.
>> Yeah, this is just a mess. It's very sticky situation. A cover note on the rules page said, quote, "This is
critical as Grant through his past transgressions has relied on the knowledge the family would not report
him and would cover him. Family relationship abuse beyond tolerance. This is a promise. You better heed the
warning. It's real." But the rules contained one final rule that Grant no doubt considered a deal breaker. He had
to end things with Sylvia. He could not contact her again. If he did, he would be kicked out of the house. The last
line reading, quote, "You chose a stranger physically non-existent over family."
>> And he also put his family in almost like financial jeopardy. >> Grant agreed to the rules and the family
returned to normal. It seems that things improved for a bit. Jason says Grant seemed better when he got home and
Margaret had told him that Grant was acting like part of the family again. But sometime in January, Margaret
confessed to a friend at the stables about the difficulties at home. She said that her son Grant had stolen quite a
bit of money from the family. Margaret clearly had a soft spot for her youngest son, almost certainly, unbeknownst to
Chad, she allowed Grant to continue to message with Sylvia via Twitter using Margaret's phone. Now, it's possible
that Grant used her phone without her permission, but told her it was for legitimate purposes. It's not known
whether Margaret knew that she was helping Grant break the rules. And it's not known whether Sylvia was receptive
to Grant's continued contact with her, considering he couldn't pay her. But either way, on January 24th, Chad
somehow found out what was going on. Chad tells Grant, "You've ruined my retirement." And he ordered Grant to
leave the house. Then Chad left for work. Grant started packing up his stuff. Meanwhile, Cody was at work and
his girlfriend Sloan said he had to leave after conversations with people at home around 9:15 p.m. But before he
left, Cody told Sloan he had to go home to deal with quote stupid [ __ ] [ __ ] In other words, family stuff.
[music] [music] All right, we're back. Cheers, mates. >> Cheers to you, Captain. On Friday,
January 25th, 2019, the Simol County, Florida Sheriff's Office received a call from a Chris Cisco. Chris is an employee
at Advent Hospital in East Orlando. Chris told the dispatcher that he was concerned because his friend and
coworker, Cody Amato, did not show up for work and was not responding to his calls and text. According to Chris, who
worked for years with Cody at the center, he says Cody never so much as came in late to work, much less not show
up at all. >> Yeah. Well, he had a lot of bills that he had to pay for. >> Well, and Cody was always he always had
his phone with him, too. So, this is even more concern. >> Yeah. >> The two were actually supposed to meet
for coffee that morning, but as said, Cody never showed up. Chris also worked with Cody's girlfriend, Sloan, and she
was equally concerned. Deputies obtained the address of the home Cody shared with
his parents, Margaret and Chad, and headed over to 2112 Sultan Circle to perform a welfare
check. This was at 9:17 a.m. Upon arrival, deputies announced themselves as they patrolled the perimeter of the
large three-story home. The home sits on multiple acres, and this looks to be a pretty nice neighborhood with big houses
and far stretching property lines. So, police are knocking on doors and announcing themselves, and no one is
responding. this in spite of a car in the driveway and they could see two vehicles sitting inside the garage
including the car that was registered to Cody Amato. The deputies tried calling the cell phones of the residents having
obtained the phone numbers from Chris and Sloan. Of course, these calls are going unanswered.
The five doors to the home were all locked. And disturbingly, the windows on the first story of the home were covered
on the inside by paper. This fact, plus the cars being there and the unexpected absence of Cody from work, as well as
the sheriff's office history with the home, was sufficient grounds for concern. Deputies even resorted to using
an air horn. You know the burp? Yeah, >> that's not a good air horn. Yeah, that was really bad.
>> All right, Nick, you're fired. >> All right, well, see you guys next week. >> Well, I won't see you again. Um, they
>> Well, I mean, you never know. You could get better at your air horn. >> Start my own show. Um,
they were using an air horn outside of the home in case people inside just they weren't hearing them.
>> U, but again, this is still just met with silence and stillness. Finally, after receiving permission from
higherups, Deputy Todd Motor used a knife to pry open the lock on an exterior door to the master bedroom.
>> Uhhuh. >> And a deputy outfitted in tactical gear proceeded inside, followed by the
deputy. One of the first things that they saw was the body of a man, and he appeared
to be older. He's lying on his back on the kitchen floor. As a later affidavit in the case would
state, there was much blood around the man's body that it was quote inconsistent with life. The crime scene
photos show a lot of pulled, dried blood in two separate areas of the kitchen, as
well as drag or claw marks through the smeared blood between the two pools. >> Okay. Later, it would be determined that
this man had been shot twice in the head. Lying partially in the blood was an open insulated lunch bag with a fork
tucked into the netting on the lid. There was damage from a bullet in one of the cherry kitchen cabinets. Two chicken
cutlets were defrosting on the counter as if someone was preparing a meal. two bottles of water and a cup are sitting
on the kitchen table. So from that picture, we paint that picture to show you what was going on or potentially
going on. This man, this person was killed in this location of the home and it appears that somebody was just going
about their normal everyday business of maybe preparing a meal or putting together a lunch.
>> It's a lot of blood. >> Yes. >> Yeah. The deputies proceeded further into the home and discovered two more
corpses. One was a woman sitting at a desk in the home office. She was slumped over her computer, clearly shot in the
back of the head, and the other was a younger man dressed in scrubs, curled in a fetal position, lying on the floor at
the entrance to the garage from the home gym, which is off of the kitchen at this
house. >> Yeah. He also had been shot once. This time he was shot in the face. A backpack
was on the floor near the body. Deputies noted right away that there were weapons
in plain sight that could have been used in these shootings. In fact, one weapon,
a Glock, was strapped and a holster on the right hip of the older man on the kitchen floor. and a second gun, a 9mm
Smith and Wesson M&MP handgun was lying five feet from the younger man. >> Yeah, I believe they find four bullet
casings and so there's two by the older man and then one by each individual other than him.
>> Yeah. Each of the other victims. So, they appeared consistent with the handgun that was found on the floor near
the younger man's body. And it looked very much like this was the weapon that had killed all three people according to
the deputies, including the younger man near the garage who was the closest to the gun.
>> Mhm. >> This kind of appears to be a classic murder suicide situation where we have
the son of the dead couple and had some kind of confrontation with his parents, killed them, and then shot himself.
>> Right. Indeed, it was quickly confirmed that the deceased were 30-year-old Cody
Amato and his parents, 61-year-old Margaret and 59-year-old Chad Amato. Except, Captain deputies perusing the
crime scene, were very observant and had reason to be skeptical of what appeared
to be a simple and openandshot murder suicide case. >> Yeah. Well, the other question here too
is we have three of the individuals that live in the house and we know that there's four individuals that live in
the house. >> This was not the first time that the sheriff's office was at this home. So
they they know that four people most of the time reside at this home, >> right? >> And so things look hanky to them.
Furthermore, where is this other person? Right? Why? If if there's four that live in the
home, why is this other person not a victim? And if he's not a victim, then where is he? So,
the very smart sheriff's office, they by late Friday afternoon, they put out a bolo, a be on the lookout for a person
of interest in the killings. This was for 5' 10 in, 120 lb, 29-year-old Grant Amato, son of Margaret and Chad and
brother to Cody. Yeah, >> he was not on the premises, although he was known to reside in the home and his
phone had been disconnected. He was thought to be driving a white 1996 Honda Accord DX with the license
plate number L1GH7. And he was to be considered armed and dangerous. It's not clear how detectives
knew this, but news reports from January 25th state that detectives believed that
weapons were missing from the Amato home. >> Mhm. >> Saying, quote, "It looks like this
wasn't a random act of violence. It looks like the person responsible for these murders was known to the family
and we're going to do everything we can to get this person in custody very, very
soon." End quote. That was from Sheriff Dennis Lima. It didn't take long for cops to catch up with Granamato. In
fact, by Saturday, just the next day, they had subpoenaed his easy pass records, right,
>> to narrow down the location of his vehicle. They patrolled the area and his car was spotted parked at a Double Tree
Motel in Orange County. This is brilliant. And we don't have a lot of tolls here in in Ohio. Actually, I I
can't really even think of ever going through a toll in Ohio, but if you have one of these easy passes, it it kind of
records your movements, you know, what tolls you've gone through and how recently you've gone through them.
>> Yeah. >> So, what they can do is basically look at a map and go, "Okay, well, he has to
be somewhere in this general area. This could be a fairly big area that we're talking about, but we have reason to
believe that this vehicle, this Honda Accord that we're looking for is somewhere in this general area. So, you
you tell everybody, all of your patrolman, everybody in squad cars, go out there and while you're out there
protecting and serving, let us know if you see a 1996 Honda Accord DX with this license plate because we're looking for
this dude. And I cannot stress enough the the how important and how correct the term armed and dangerous is in this
situation. If you believe that the person of interest is the fourth member of the home who is not found at the home
when all three of the others are found killed inside of the house. And it appears two of the victims were armed
themselves. Right. Not only did this perpetrator were they able to kill three individuals, they were able to do it in
a potential uh it could have been a potential gunfight. >> Yeah. Well, we know that this individual
practices in a virtual world. >> The police, they spot this vehicle, his his vehicle, and find it at a Double
Tree Motel in Orange County. Sure enough, Grant was in a hotel room there. He was taken in for questioning but was
not handcuffed or placed under arrest at that time. Deputies had put it together
pretty quickly that they had been at the Amato home before, actually recently. Simol County Sheriff Lima said in a
statement on Friday the 25th, quote, "We had a call that I am aware of back in December of an individual suffering from
depression." >> So, this brings us to Saturday, January 26th. >> Yeah. Now we have Grant Amato sitting in
a room at the Simol County Sheriff's Office and he's talking with investigators. Now mind you, he's not
under arrest, just investigative detention at this point, >> right? >> And he said he was fine with talking to
the investigators. In the 7 hours of interviews, he pretended to be forthcoming about what had been going on
in his life during the past 3 months. He told investigators about the missing money. He admitted that his father gave
him an ultimatum and required him to go to rehab. He told investigators about the rules that he had agreed to to
continue living in the home. But he says on the night of the 24th, Chad confronted him about his continued
contact with Sylvia and told him he had to leave the home. Grant told detectives
that Cody had been there when he left, when Grant left the house that night and that Cody had promised Grant that he
would try to smooth things over. So Grant's story to the detectives at this point kind of sounds like, hey, I left
last night and when I left all three of them were there and they were fine, >> right? but and also setting up a
confrontation because he his brother is saying, "Hey, I'm going to talk to mom and dad and try to smooth this over."
>> Yeah, he's going to let them kind of maybe take the bait and run with it for a little bit. But the problem here is
they're not going to take the bait because 3 hours in to this sitdown meeting, >> right? And any investigator would find
this to be very suspicious. By 3 hours in, Grant had never asked why he was there or what had happened to his
family. It kind of seems like he already knows why he is there, >> right? He >> and he already knows what happened to
his family. >> So what what you're saying is he he tried to be slick and say, "Hey, I left
the house last night." Yeah. They told me I had to leave. >> Mhm. I left. My my brother was going to talk to my
parents and and and maybe that's when there was a confrontation, but he doesn't know what happened to the
parents or shouldn't know what happened to his family. And like you said, he never brings it up.
>> Yeah. He says that he saw on the news that something did happen to his family,
but he hadn't tried to find out what. >> Okay. So, here's how some of the interrogation proceedings from there
went on. And this is according to the Orlando Sentinel. You can see the and I know you've watched it, Captain, but you
can see this what I would call interrogation video online. Now, we have a detective here that opens a folder.
>> Well, hold on. I'm surprised on how small he is. >> Yeah. >> You know, he's almost 300 pounds. Yeah.
I mean, he's very small. So, in in one scene that you could see online, a detective opens up a folder
with crime scene photos. So, she the detective placed a picture of Cody's body in front of Grant
>> and asked, "Did you leave the house with your brother Cody looking like that?" To
which Grant covered his face. The detective then pulls out two more photos and she asks, "Or did you leave the
house with your father looking like that?" "Or your mother, is that how you left your family?"
>> Yeah. >> "No," Grant says. But his voice is breaking. You can clearly hear his voice
breaking during this. She goes on to ask, "Who did this to your family?" And then Grant looked at the photo of his
mother at the top of the stack and then covered part of his face. He says, "No, I didn't do any of this." Investigators
asked Grant if he had any remorse. According to the arrest affidavit, his response was, quote, "His family had
been blaming him for months for ruining their lives, stealing, and not following
the rules of the home, so he might as well be blamed for this, too." End quote. He had originally told detectives it
took a few hours for him to pack up his things and that he had left the house around 9:30 p.m. His family was just
fine at that point, he said. In fact, he said he met up with Cody outside the neighborhood to tell him what had
happened, but he changed his story when pressed, saying that he left closer to midnight and his brother was home at
that time. He claimed he spent the night in a parking lot of a nearby Publix before driving to a morning job
interview off of Lee Vista Road. The detectives told him Cody and Chad Amato could not have shot each other. Crime
scene investigators had come to this conclusion after making some observations about the crime scene. They
asked who else could have killed his family. I don't know, Grant said. I've been
getting blamed for the last half of a year for everything and I've been trying to move forward in a positive direction
and then every day I am reminded of all the trouble that I had caused and then I
keep being told the same thing over and over again that there's nothing I can do
to change it. Grant continued to deny that he was responsible for the murders, but acknowledged that he was the only
one with a motive and with the opportunity to commit them. Yeah. So Grant Well, and this is this is a smart thing
here too. Grant is allowed a private meeting with his sole surviving brother Jason. And I think a lot of people maybe
the name Grant Amato doesn't ring any bells when you see the title or you see the show notes.
>> Yeah. You say tomato, I say amato. >> But when you hear this portion of the story, this is when you're going to go,
"Okay, I I know this case or I remember seeing this case in the news." Grant was
allowed a private meeting with his soul surviving brother, Jason. Video and audio footage of this meeting is
available online and has probably been seen by most of our listeners. While Jason embraces Grant when he first
enters the room, it is clear that he is fairly certain that his brother killed the rest of their family. Jason tries to
talk to Grant about, you know, what what happened. >> Yeah. >> And Grant tells him, "Dad kicked me out
because I broke the rules. I didn't stop talking to that woman. But he reiterates
that he left Cody, Chad, and Margaret alive, leaving the house around 12:30 a.m. By this point, notice his time
keeps on changing as we get further along. >> Right after loading his stuff into the
car, this is when he left. Jason isn't buying it. He says to Grant, "If anyone was going after someone in the family,
it would be you who would be the target." Meaning, these other three wouldn't be dead. you would be the one
that would be dead if somebody went after our family or someone in our family. >> Well, and just think what you were
saying before. I mean, he goes into the room and he embraces and this is his technically his halfb brotherther. He
pretty much believes that and cops believe at this point that Grant is responsible for his whole family being
murdered. But at the same time, you've you've seen the depression, you've seen the addiction, you've seen um possibly
this kid that once was good, and I I call him a kid because it seems like he at this point, even though he's
approaching 30, he hasn't grown up any. So to be able to embrace him on one side
to say why I love you and care about you and I know you're hurting but hey our family is gone and you're responsible. I
think I'd have a very difficult time um embracing that individual. >> You know Jason's not buying any of this
jazz that Grant's trying to sell him. And he says he says this before getting up and walking out of the door. He says,
"I'm going to pray for you, brother, because I can't pray for mom, dad, or Cody anymore."
>> Right >> now, Grant was released on the 26th. The detectives are going to have to
build their case in a different manner because he didn't confess to anything. >> Mhm.
>> So, now they're out talking. They're going to continue to talk with Jason, with his brother Jason. They're going to
talk to Cody's girlfriend, Sloan, and anybody else that they can speak with. Jason and and Sloan, they both told
investigators about Grant stealing the money from his family. They tell them about the whole Sylvia thing, and they
explain all of the problems with Grant over the past few months. And Sloan told detectives that Cody told her that he
was afraid that Grant would kill everyone. Now, eventually Grant is in fact arrested and the arrest affidavit filed
in Grant's case provides a glimpse into what exactly crime scene investigators found to be suspicious about the murder
suicide theory that was going around and led them to believe that the tableau at
the Amato home was in fact just staged. >> Right. For one thing, they found Cody's body
next to the closed internal door to the garage, but there was no blood on the door jam and frame, indicating that it
had been open when Cody was shot in the face. [snorts] The affidavit states, quote, "Based on the gunshot Cody
received, he would not have been able to close the door after he had been shot."
>> Right. >> Cody had clearly been moved as well. The pool of blood that had come from his
head wound was actually found at his feet and there was almost none on the floor where his head was positioned. The
autopsy findings on Cody sealed the deal. According to the affidavit, there was quote no possibility that Cody's
injuries were self-inflicted. Further, they observed from the blood spatter, blood smears, and bullet marks
on the cabinets in the kitchen and on the tile floor that Chad had been shot first while standing near the cabinets.
He had crawled to the other side of the center island and then been shot a second time in the back of the head,
execution style, while he was lying face down on the floor. Wow. The bullet had entered the tile floor, but Chad was
found three feet away on the kitchen floor on his back, clearly having been moved as well. Margaret was at the desk,
shot once in the back of the head, and had not been moved at all. So, if Chad was shot in the kitchen by someone who
later moved him and Margaret and Cody did not shoot themselves, the obvious conclusion is that the shooter was a
fourth person, someone who had >> accessed the home without breaking and entering. Well, and like you said too, I
mean these these crime scene photos are are pretty bad and and a lot of times when you see a a murder take place in a
tiled area, you can see, you know, the blood smeared everywhere and but you can see the tile underneath or it's very
transparent and there's sections that you can't see the the tile at all. It's just
>> this very dense puddle of blood. So Grant is arrested and charged with three counts of premeditated murder. Now when
he's arrested in his possession, uh they find a pair of leather gloves and credit
and debit cards belonging to his father and brother Cody. Right. >> He also had with him a his passport,
leading investigators to speculate that he was planning on trying to leave possibly to meet Sylvia in person. In
Grant's car, they found a handwritten note that appeared to have been written from Cody Amato's perspective, which
said, "Grant, I'll take care of all of your problems. I just need you back. I can't live without you, brother. I said
I'd take care of all of your problems at the house, and I have. No one will bother you again regarding this. Just
please come home. I can't do this again. If you think I'm part of the problem here, then I've really lost you and I
can't take that loss after everything. When detectives pushed Grant about this strange letter, he admitted that he
himself wrote the letter from quote unquote from Cody, >> right? >> But he wasn't able to provide a
satisfactory explanation as to why he would write this letter. It seems that this might have been a
further way to push this this whole scheme to frame Cody for the murder suicide theory.
>> Well, it sucks because they were so close and his brother seemed to go to bat for him time and time again and to
not only commit these murders, but then to try to put the blame on the brother that helped you so many times. Now, the
trial, the murder trial would start in July of last year, and we really learned a lot about the state's case against
Grant Amato during the trial proceedings. So, their case was Grant Amato killed his father, mother, and
brother in a pre-meditated murder spree so he could take all of their money. They state Margaret died first, shot in
the head from behind as she sat at her desk. Cody and Chad were not home when the first murder occurred. Grant shot
his father in the kitchen after he got home from work and was possibly cleaning out his lunchbox. Grant shot Cody in the
eye as he entered the home. They say Grant spent several hours at the home with the bodies as he staged the scene
to look like Cody had been responsible for a murder suicide. I don't I'm not going to get too much
into the defense side of things because I really found it kind of blah. You know, it just really wasn't they did
they didn't try to claim that he was insane or temporarily insane. They didn't really push that he was abused or
drug addicted or mentally unstable or anything like that as their defense, >> right? Or their narrative. Yeah.
>> Right. So, I'd really like to know what the conversation between him and and this um virtual
girlfriend was and if in any way she was pushing him in this direction at all. >> I I wouldn't think so. I mean, it would
seem extreme. I think what we have here, Captain, is it it was more one-sided. It was on his
end. If I can't log on each day and talk to this person, now I have a huge problem. I don't think she cares one way
or the other. As long as he's buying these tokens, right, >> and spending money day after day. He's
not Well, I I don't know this to be certain, but I I feel very strongly about this.
>> He's not her only customer, let's say. >> Yeah. But he has a BMW. >> Okay. which in his case would stand for
>> Well, the thing is the the thing here is um I think that the defense was fine
with floating out the murder suicide theory and and letting that be a possibility, right? Because if you can't
get past that possibility, then you probably shouldn't convict this guy beyond a reasonable doubt.
>> Be meat whacker is what it stands for. >> So during the testimonial phase of the
trial, some interesting information came out. the the the four bullets that were
used to kill Chad, Margaret, and Cody. >> Yeah. >> Did not come from any of the handguns
that were found at the house. The four shell casings found at the scene did not come from the gun found near Cody. They
came from a an unknown weapon that was never found. >> So, we think that Grant moved that that
weapon somewhere or disposed of it somewhere. Well, that in itself really pokes a big giant hole in the murder
suicide theory. >> The the murder weapon was not found at the home. Yeah. >> Right. So,
>> it disappeared. >> Now, what the state is saying is that Grant planted the bullet casings to make
it appear that Cody shot his parents and then shot himself. >> Right. >> Also, I mean, this is all good science
stuff here. There was no blood found on the gun near Cody's body. Also, the holster that was on Chad's right hip,
they found a a gun holster on Chad's Chad's right hip. They could prove that it was placed
there after his death because there was a spot of blood found on his pants under
the holster, which would have been impossible had the holster been in place the entire time.
>> Yeah. >> You know, when he was shot. >> So, he wasn't even wearing the holster
is what you're saying. Correct. And a after he was murdered, violently murdered, then the individual, which we
believe is Grant, put the holster back on him. >> Yeah. Forensic investigators testified
that there was no activity on Margaret Amato's computer after 4:45 p.m. So on this on Thursday, January 24th. So,
since she was found dead at her computer, prosecutors asserted that she had been killed first while she was
working on the computer and she and Grant were in fact home alone. They believe that next Chad was killed when
he got home from work this around 5:30 p.m. Finally, Cody was shot in the face when he arrived home from work sometime
around 9:30 p.m. Prosecutors introduced evidence showing that Chadamato logged into his USAA banking app on his iPhone
using the fingerprint reader at 12:08 a.m. on the night he died. While prosecutors weren't able to establish
Chad's exact time of death, the implication was that Grant had used his dead father's finger to unlock his phone
in order to access the banking information. The sheriff's office crime scene manager, uh, this is Christine
Snyder, testified that Chad's right index finger had been cleaned of blood, presumably to use the fingerprint
scanner. Crime scene tech testimony at the trial stated that when Grant Amato was arrested, remember they found that
pair of leather gloves, those gloves tested positive for gunpowder residue, GSR.
>> Were they able to test those gloves to pull DNA from them? >> Um I know where what you're getting at.
Um >> yeah, it's called DNA, right? Right. >> Getting at DNA. Do we have DNA evidence
here? Well, thi this is interesting and this shows the level of what I've been referring to as
addiction or obsession, right? So, according to the prosecutors, Grant used Cody's credit card to pay
Sylvia more money. this just within hours after his family was murdered. He sent her $600 while sitting in his
car in the public's parking lot in the middle of the night as his family's bodies lie cooling in the home.
>> See, that's why I just think there had to be some kind of conversation with her
about at least about the conflict between him and his family. >> Grant's defense. I mean, yeah, they
worked hard to try to establish some kind of reasonable doubt, but it only took the jury eight hours to convict
Grant Amato of the first degree premeditated murder of all three of his family members.
>> Right. >> Grant stood emotionless as the verdicts were read aloud. In the end, the jury
decided against the death penalty, handing down a sentence of life without parole.
>> [music] >> If you would like to listen to some more True Crime Garage, >> I would
>> check us out on the Stitcher app and also check out our bonus show called Off
the Record. And until next week, >> be good, be kind, and don't litter. Heat. Heat. [music]
[music]

Grant Amato /// True Crime Garage /// Episode 370

Grant Amato ////// 370

Part 1 of 1

www.TrueCrimeGarage.com

What happens when someone confuses a virtual relationship for a real relationship, and it then grows into an obsession? An obsession he would kill for?

Grant Amato: Obsession, Deception, and Murder

Grant Amato appeared to have every opportunity for a successful future, but behind the scenes he was spiraling into an obsession that would devastate his family. What began as an online relationship with a webcam model soon escalated into financial ruin, deception, and mounting conflict inside the Amato household.

In January 2019, Grant's parents and brother were found murdered in their Florida home, launching an investigation that uncovered a trail of lies, digital evidence, and unanswered questions. Prosecutors argued that Grant's desperation to fund his online obsession led to one of the most shocking family homicide cases in recent memory.

Join Nic and the Captain as they examine the timeline, the investigation, the evidence presented at trial, and the disturbing psychology behind a case where addiction, fantasy, and reality collided with tragic consequences.

Brief Summary

Grant Amato murdered his family after becoming obsessed with a webcam model, leading to a shocking trial and conviction.

Key points

Welcome to True Crime Garage. Hosts Nick and the Velvet Bulldozer introduce the show and thank listeners.
The Rise of Grant Amato. Grant's life spirals as he becomes addicted to a virtual relationship.
Family Meltdown. The Amato family confronts Grant about his troubling behavior and financial theft.
Family Ultimatum. Grant must choose between his family and his relationship with Sylvia.
Welfare Check. Concerned friends call police when Cody Amato goes missing.
Grim Discovery. Deputies find three bodies in the Amato home, raising alarms about a murder-suicide.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's good to be seen. It's good to see you.

Nick introducing himself

0:53WatchJul 16, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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