A Florida man accused of killing three of his family members allegedly stole $200,000 from them before killing them, using the money to pay for an online relationship with a Bulgarian call girl.
Authorities arrested Grant Amato, 29, and charged him with three counts of first-degree murder after deputies found his parents — Chad Amato, 59, and Margaret Amato, 61— and his older brother Cody Amato, 31, all dead in their Chuluota, Florida, home on Friday from gunshot wounds.
Deputies say Grant Amato had wired the $200,000 in stolen money over the past three months to a woman in Bulgaria, whom he had been corresponding with through an adult website called Cam Girls.
The two had been in contact since June 2018.
Grant Amato’s surviving brother told authorities that his brother had been transferring large sums of money to the Bulgarian woman, who knew where they lived.
The brother added that the relationship worried his mother.
Grant Amato told investigators his parents told him to go to a sex and internet addiction rehab facility for 60 days or leave home.
The suspect initially checked into a Fort Lauderdale facility on December 22 and checked out on January 4, according to an arrest warrant.
The parents, who reported their son missing two days before he checked into the facility, told Seminole County Sheriff’s Office deputies that their son was at risk of hurting himself or others because he suffered from depression and could access firearms.
When Grant returned home from the facility, his parents laid down some ground rules for staying at the family home. If he broke any rules, he would be asked to leave home.
One of the rules the father, Chad Amato, decided to set for his son was to cut off all communication with the Bulgarian woman. Grant Amato told investigators he disagreed with this rule because the woman was his girlfriend and they continued to talk online.
Chad Amato confronted his son about the relationship on January 24, ultimately telling him to leave the house, an arrest report stated.
Authorities discovered the three victims dead in their home the following morning from “execution style” gunshot wounds, according to crime scene analysts. Officials say they found the bodies in the garage, the kitchen, and a home office, as well as several weapons in the home.
Police arrested Grant Amato on Monday at 1 a.m. and transported him to the John E. Polk Correctional Facility, where he is currently being held without bond.
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