Amato appeals murder convictions, life sentence

Grant Amato, the Chuluota man recently found guilty of murder in the killings of his parents and brother, is appealing his convictions and life sentence, according to court documents filed Thursday.

A jury found Amato, 30, guilty of three counts of first-degree murder July 31. He was sentenced to life in prison Monday, after the same jurors opted against recommending a death sentence.

Prosecutors said Amato executed his parents, Margaret and Chad Amato, and brother, Cody Amato, inside the family’s home on Sultan Circle Jan. 24. The killings were motivated by his family members’ efforts to derail Grant Amato’s obsessive relationship with a Bulgarian webcam model, Silvie, for whom he had stolen more than $200,000 from his relatives, the state argued.

Amato has consistently maintained his innocence. His defense team argued no physical evidence tied him to the killings and that sheriff’s detectives failed to explore the possibility of other suspects.

In a two-page notice filed Thursday, Seminole-Brevard Chief Assistant Public Defender Michael Mario Pirolo listed 10 decisions by Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler before and during the trial that will be the basis for Amato’s appeal.

Among those rulings were:

■ Recksielder’s denial of defense motions seeking to suppress evidence. Amato’s lawyers had sought to prevent jurors from seeing his interrogation by Seminole County detectives and evidence found inside the family’s home, among other elements of the case.

■ The judge allowing testimony about an IWI Jericho 941 handgun that a friend of Grant and Cody, Blake Turpin, said went missing from his home prior to the killings. Prosecutors argued Grant Amato took the gun, which has not been found, and used it to kill his family.

■ That a forensic investigator who testified that Cody Amato’s iPhone was plugged into Grant Amato’s computer on the night of the killings was allowed to speculate that whoever connected the device to the computer was likely trying to erase its data.

Amato’s appeal will be considered by the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach.

RICARDO RAMIREZ BUXEDA/ORLANDO SENTINEL Grant Amato looks on during his trial before Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, on July 31. Amato is appealing his convictions for murder and his life sentence.