Amato trial: Friend says accused may have stolen gun weeks before family’s slaying
Jericho Fine noticed something strange as he ate at a restaurant in Japan during a trip he took with his two best friends, Grant and Cody Amato, in December.
His Discover credit card had been frozen, he testified in court Thursday. When he looked at his charge history, he noticed more than $600 had been used on an adult webcam site and to buy lingerie.
“I was talking with both of them and I said, ‘Hey, someone’s hit my account for lingerie,’ ” Fine testified, during Grant Amato’s trial in the killings of Cody and his parents, Chad and Margaret Amato, whose bodies were found inside the family’s Chuluota home Jan. 25. “And they were both very disturbed.”
Prosecutors allege Grant Amato stole the card, using it to fund his online infatuation with Silvie, a Bulgarian webcam model. They also say his family’s attempt to end his relationship with the model was the motive for the killings.
Amato’s obsession with the model, prosecutors claim, led him to steal about $200,000 from his father and brother to spend on the relationship, also stealing credit cards from his aunt, grandmother and cousins.
Fine and another friend of Grant and Cody’s, Blake Turpin, took the stand outside the presence of the jury Thursday morning as Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler considered whether to let the jury hear allegations of theft made by Fine and Turpin. After lunch, she ruled the evidence admissible.
Shortly after Fine and the Amatos returned from Japan, they went to Turpin’s home to play video games and watch TV. Turpin testified that Grant Amato excused himself to use the restroom. The bathroom was inside Turpin’s room, and somebody would have to walk by his closet, which he kept open, to use the restroom.
Inside the closet was a case with an IWI Jericho 941 handgun Turpin bought from Fine years prior. Turpin said that gun wasn’t there when he cleaned out his closet in June. He also said six rounds were missing from a bag of 100 he kept in the closet.
The killings happened about two weeks after the Amato brothers spent time at Turpin’s house.
Turpin said he thinks Amato stole the gun: “That was my suspicion, is that that’s where it went, based on his history of stealing,” he testified.
Authorities have not found the gun used in the killings, but Assistant State Attorney Domenick Leo said an FDLE expert will testify that markings found on the bullets that killed the family are similar to the handgun’s rifling.
Two crime-scene analysts took the stand Wednesday, describing and showing graphic crimescene pictures taken from the scene. Amato’s defense team grilled the analysts, asking why they didn’t process more evidence at the scene or consider alternate suspects.
Much of the discussion Wednesday centered on Chad Amato’s iPhone. Authorities said Amato used his dead father’s finger to unlock his phone and transfer money to his account. Chad Amato’s right index finger looked significantly cleaner and more free of blood than his other digits, Seminole sheriff’s Crime Scene Manager Christine Snyder testified.
Phones were a topic of discussion again today, as FBI Special Agent George Rienerth testified about cell phone triangulation. Rienerth said data from Cody Amato’s phone indicated he placed a 23-minute phone call to the landline at his house around the time he left for work, just before he was killed.
Rienerth said Cody’s phone pinged cell phone towers multiple times after 10:45 p.m.
The last activity from Cody’s phone was at 2:05 a.m. — after investigators said he died.
The jurors also saw an hours-long video of the interview Amato conducted with Sheriff’s Office investigators Daniel Anderson and EvaMarie Multari on Jan. 26.
Amato admitted to telling two lies during the interview — he said he left the home with his parents alive about 9:30 p.m. Jan. 24, and met his brother outside of his neighborhood.
He later admitted to leaving closer to midnight and said his brother was at home. But Amato insisted his family was still alive when he left the house.
Amato’s lawyer, Jeff Dowdy, then confronted Anderson about several false statements Anderson made to Amato during the interview, including that video surveillance shows Amato leaving the home and that Anderson had tracked his cellphone.
Anderson said he was using law-enforcement techniques to “elicit a response” from Amato.
While questioning Anderson, prosecutor Stewart Stone asked, “It’s obvious a critical part of this case is to determine how late Grant Amato is in this house, is that a fair statement?”
“It is,” Anderson
“He lied to you about that, didn’t he?” asked Stone.
“He did,” the investigator answered.
Testimony continues 8:30 Friday morning. responded.