A Florida man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his parents and brother because, according to prosecutors, he was angry they cut off his relationship with a model he met on a dating website. On Monday, the 12 jurors were unable to unanimously decide whether to sentence Grant Amato to death, which means he will instead receive an automatic life sentence.
Amato was previously found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in the January slayings by the same panel. According to Seminole County deputies, Amato stole $60,000 and guns from his brother in order to talk to a Bulgarian woman online. On Wednesday, Grant Amato, 30, was convicted of three counts of murder.
Moreover, Grant is accused of stealing $150,000 from his father, including a loan on his parents’ home. Approximately $200,000 was sent to the woman by Amato over a three-month period. After spending time in a sex addiction rehabilitation clinic and receiving instructions to get a job to pay relatives back, Grant killed his parents, Margaret and Chad Amato, along with his brother Cody one-by-one as they returned home to their Seminole County home.
After the verdict was announced earlier this month, Jason Amato cried and hugged his loved ones. On January 25, two weeks after leaving a sex rehab program, Grant shot his brother Cody, 31, and his parents to death. He came to realize that he wasn’t as financially successful as he claimed since last July after his father and brother revealed to a webcam girl he was obsessed with, Sylvia Ventsislavova.
In June of last year, Grant was arrested for stealing propofol from his nursing job, before contacting Sylvia Ventsislavova on an adult website in July. The exchange would involve him sending her lingerie in exchange for her wearing or using the items. A handgun owned by Grant Turpin’s best friend Blake Turpin and his brother Cody’s best friend was used on January 25. Grant was convicted after two friends testified against him following the discovery of a note he claimed he had written, but which appeared to be written from the point of view of his brother, Cody.
Grant’s car contained a letter that appeared to be pleading for help. A photo shows the survivor’s brother Jason hugging his attorney after the verdict was delivered earlier this month. It is believed that the slayings took place at their Seminole County home, but the defense criticized the timing of the events
At the conclusion of Augus, images of Sylvia appeared on a screen in court and Assistant State Attorney Domenick Leo addressed the jury: “I know you looked at him at that moment.”. In my opinion, you saw the same thing I did.
It was impossible for him not to be transfixed by that woman. Leo referred to his infatuation with Sylvia during his closing arguments as follows: “Grant fell in love with a woman named Silvie.”
This love led him to become obsessed with her, so much so that she became all that mattered to him.
According to the prosecution, Grant presented himself as financially successful in order to regain Silvie’s love after his family exposed his lies during his rehabilitation between December 22 and January 4. There is evidence that Grant fell in love with a woman named Silvie, according to the prosecution. She was not only the object of his love, but he also became obsessed with her. A total of $200 000 was stolen from Grant’s family in order to purchase sex toys and lingerie for Sylvia.
It has been alleged by the prosecution that Grant used an IWI Jericho 941 handgun owned by his and his brother Cody’s best friend Blake Turpin, who was in the courtroom during the trial. There is blood on Chad Amato’s lunchbox in the kitchen of his family, just a few feet from where his body was discovered.
His family reported him missing two days later and expressed concern that he was depressed and attempting to harm himself. He checked himself into the Fort Lauderdale facility two days after they reported him missing. Apparently, Grant used his dead father’s fingerprint to gain access to a USAA banking application on his brother’s phone and add his own PNC bank account.
A lawyer for Amato, Jeff Dowdy, argued Grant had no blood on him when he was found, although the scene was bloody, but prosecutors contended his job at AdventHealth Orlando helped him cover up and stage the murder-suicide. There was concern among Grant’s parents that he was depressed and had a tendency to harm himself. Grant claims to have written the following note, but it appears to have been written from Cody’s point of view.
On a trip to Japan in December, Grant Amato posed with his brother Cody. In Grant’s view, his father and brother were obstacles, while his mother was simply a tool he used while carrying out the murders. Despite being cut off from the WiFi connection by the family, Grant used the Publix login to communicate with Sylvia when “his parents’ and brother’s bodies were not even cold,” according to Leo.
According to prosecutors, the webcam woman invited him to Bulgaria after he was found carrying his passport by authorities. Authorities believe Grant had intended to flee to Bulgaria when he was found with his passport. Before the murders, his family was concerned that he was depressed and that he was contemplating harming himself
