MAN CONVICTED OF KILLING FAMILY HE ALLEGEDLY STOLE FROM

Grant Amato, a Florida man, was convicted of killing his parents and his brother inside their Chuluota home after he was kicked out and allegedly stole $210,000 from family members to send to a woman he met on an adult website, according to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. A jury found the former nurse guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Deputies found the bodies of Chad Amato, Margaret Ann Amato and their son Cody on January 25, 2019, after a co-worker reported that Cody had not shown up for work. Grant Amato, then 29, was arrested and ordered held without bail on January 28, 2019, NBC News reported.

The money, the rules and the Bulgarian woman

According to an affidavit, Cody’s girlfriend told deputies that Grant had stolen $60,000 and guns from Cody. She said Grant had recently been kicked out of a training program to become a nurse anesthetist, and that he took the money to communicate with a Bulgarian woman he met online.

She also told deputies that Cody had said he was afraid Grant “would kill everyone.”

Another brother, Jason Amato, told investigators that Grant had stolen $150,000 from their father.

In his own interview with investigators, Grant said he had argued with his parents about the woman. They told him he could have no contact with her if he wanted to keep living at their home, he said.

He said he began a 60-day internet- and sex-addiction treatment program in Fort Lauderdale in late December 2018 at his parents’ request, but left after a few weeks.

The affidavit described his view of the household rules. “Grant Amato initially agreed to the rules his father had set, but he didn’t think they were fair because he felt that the Bulgarian female was his girlfriend and they had a relationship,” it said.

After investigators showed him crime-scene photographs, the affidavit said Amato responded that “his family had been blaming him for months for ruining their lives … so he might as well be blamed for this, too.”

Warning signs before the killings

Police had been called about Amato before. In June 2018, Orlando police went to AdventHealth Orlando, where he worked as a nurse, over a report of a suicidal person. Officers said he did not meet the criteria to be held for observation as a danger to himself or others.

He was arrested on a grand-theft charge during that incident over the alleged theft of vials of Propofol, a powerful sedative. Amato told police he took the drug for patients who were not “adequately relaxed by doctor-ordered medication,” according to a police report. Prosecutors later opted not to file charges.

On December 20, 2018, his mother and a brother reported him missing, depressed and possibly suicidal after he lost his job and failed out of school. They also told deputies he had access to guns.

Verdict and sentence

The Orlando Sentinel reported that the jury convicted Amato on all three counts on July 31, 2019.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but jurors did not reach the unanimous decision required for it. They recommended life in prison instead, and the judge sentenced Amato to life without parole on August 12, 2019.

His defense attorneys said he maintained he did not kill his parents and brother, WFTV reported. His lawyer told FOX 35 Orlando, “We think we have some valid viable appellate issues in this case.”

Amato is appealing his conviction and is being held at Tomoka Correctional Institution in Daytona Beach, A&E reported.