From: jcs
In mid-2018, 29-year-old Grant was unemployed, living rent-free in his parents’ guest house in Chuliota, Florida [00:00:00]. He had never lived on his own and had recently been expelled from anesthesiology school due to poor attendance and fired from a nursing job for stealing medication [00:00:07]. Around this time, Grant began exploring online cam sites, which differ from regular porn sites by allowing users to solicit live performances from models in exchange for money [00:00:19].
Escalating Financial Ruin
Using his brother’s credit card, Grant started spending an average of 20 minutes on each cam model [00:00:36]. On June 5th, he connected with a performer known as Sylvie [00:00:43]. Over the next six months, Grant spent over 60,000 from his brother’s credit card and took out a $65,000 loan on the house [00:01:02].
When his family discovered the financial devastation, they chose not to contact the police but instead sent Grant to a behavioral rehabilitation facility for online porn addiction [00:01:09]. This facility, Cornerstone in Fort Lauderdale, was attended by Grant from December 22nd to January 4th [00:13:40]. His brother Cody paid the $15,000 cost for the treatment [00:17:46]. Grant later stated that the therapists and psychiatrists there diagnosed his situation as an isolated event related to being out of work and experiencing PTSD from a previous arrest, rather than a need for medication [00:17:21].
Fractured Family Relationships
Upon Grant’s return from rehab on January 4th, his father presented him with a two-page list of rules for continued residency, including an immediate cessation of communication with Sylvie [00:01:27]. However, within three weeks, the family discovered Grant had broken the agreement and re-established contact with the model via Twitter [00:01:39].
Grant described his father as “angry,” “violent,” and “overbearing,” recalling instances of being belittled as a child [00:11:57]. He mentioned that his father would try to make him feel guilty to motivate him to get a job [00:10:59]. His father’s primary concern revolved around money, allowing Grant to spend money using his credit card but then making it “a huge problem” [00:14:26]. Grant admitted to deceiving his family about the purpose of his expenditures, claiming the money was for Twitch streaming and advertising [00:16:47].
In contrast, Grant’s mother and brother, Cody, were consistently supportive. Grant described his mother as someone he could always talk to, who would “help him out through anything” [00:11:32]. He noted that he and his mother rarely argued [00:11:26]. He and Cody were exceptionally close, deciding to attend nursing school and nurse anesthesia school together, with Cody always being there to “take care of everything” and “support” Grant [00:09:16]. Despite this closeness, Grant noted that Cody would have moments of extreme upset during the six months leading up to the incident, once pushing a cabinet and denting the wall [00:09:47].
The parent-child dynamics were particularly strained between Grant and his father. Grant described his father as “overbearing,” coming home from work and discussing “the same exact thing over and over and over and over again” regarding Grant’s lack of positive action [00:18:09].
The Final Confrontation
On January 24th, Chad Amato, Grant’s father, returned home from work and confronted Grant about breaking the rule regarding communication with Sylvie [00:01:47]. This confrontation led to a heated argument that almost became a physical altercation [00:01:52]. During his interrogation, Grant recounted his father pulling him off the couch, yelling at him to “pack [his] sh** up and just get out of the house,” and stating that he “was the one who had to be the hammer” [00:20:24].
Following this argument, Grant was kicked out of the house [00:01:57]. This marked the first time in his life he was on his own [00:01:59]. He left the house around 9 or 9:30 PM [00:20:47]. Grant claimed he met up with his brother Cody on the side of the road, where Cody was “brought up to speed” on the situation by their mother and promised to “take care of it” [00:20:54].
Aftermath and Trial
The next morning, police found Chad, Margaret, and Cody Amato dead from gunshot wounds to the head [00:02:21]. Grant became the immediate prime suspect [00:02:28]. Evidence presented at trial indicated that Grant shot his mother, Margaret, in the back of the head while she was on the computer [00:21:34]. He then waited for his father, Chad, and shot him twice in the head upon his entry into the kitchen [00:21:39]. Cody then received a text from his father’s number, asking him to come home urgently; forensics believed he was likely pleading for his life before being found with a gunshot wound to the face in the fetal position [00:21:45].
Grant’s trial began on August 12, 2019 [00:51:33]. The prosecution highlighted Grant’s actions after the murders, including using his dead brother’s USAA checking account to pay $599.99 to access Sylvie’s website via Publix Wi-Fi at 2:53 AM [00:51:45]. The case was framed around Grant’s “blind obsession with this woman” and his “absolute contempt for those that he held responsible” for the “end of the world as he believed it to be” [00:52:30]. Grant Amato was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole [00:52:55]. This outcome reflects the severe impact of the murder on the families involved and the trial outcome.