A Florida man allegedly shot and killed his mother, father and brother after wiring a Bulgarian cam girl $200,000 that he stole from them.
The family members of Grant Amato, 29, were found dead in their home in Chuluota, Florida, on Friday after a co-worker reported Amato’s brother, Cody Amato, didn’t show up for work that day, ClickOrlando reported.
Cody Amato’s girlfriend told the police that there had been problems in the family with Grant Amato in the months leading up to the killings, according to the arrest report. She said her boyfriend had even told her that he believed his brother might kill him.
Additionally, the report notes that after the parents, Chad and Margaret Amato, found out Grant Amato wired exorbitant sums of money to a woman on a Bulgarian adult website called Cam Girls, they made him check into a 60-day internet and sex addiction program, according to ClickOrlando. The arrest report indicates that he had been in contact with the woman since June 2018 and had given her $200,000 that he stole from his family. He checked into a rehabilitation facility in Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 22 and checked out on Jan. 4.
His parents found out he was still in contact with the Bulgarian woman and kicked him out of the home on Jan. 24. The next day, his family members were found dead with “execution style” wounds, according to Seminole County Sheriff’s Office crime scene analysts.
Grant Amato was detained for questioning on Saturday, was released the next day, then was arrested early Monday, ClickOrlando reports.
Amato later told authorities different stories, one of which involved a “heated argument” with his father on Thursday night about the cam girl. In another, he said he saw police cars and a news van in the neighborhood and instead of going home went to a local Panera Bread to check his phone to see if his parents came up in “top news stories.” Investigators asked him why he didn’t go home “to check on his family,” to which he said, “I just didn’t want to know,” BuzzFeed reports.
According to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, Amato is being held without bond on three counts of first-degree murder and had a court appearance on Monday.