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Earlier this month, TMZ broke a story about an absolutely wild murder-for-hire plot. Victoria Goodwin, wife of Ghost Adventurers star Aaron Goodwin, was arrested in Nevada. She was charged with “solicitation to commit murder” and “conspiracy to commit murder.” Police allege that Victoria paid convicted murder Grant Amato to kill her husband so she could get out of their marriage. She even wanted it to happen while he was filming on set. Since Victoria’s arrest, Aaron has been laying low. He also, wisely, filed for divorce. This past weekend, however, Aaron returned to Instagram to thank his fans for their support during this “emotionally trying time.”
Ghost Adventures star Aaron Goodwin is thanking fans for standing by his side following his estranged wife Victoria Goodwin’s arrest for an alleged murder-for-hire attempt.
In an Instagram post shared on Saturday, March 22, Aaron, 48, wrote, “Thank you everyone for all the love and support through this emotionally trying time. It has really helped a lot and I appreciate you all.”
Victoria, 32, was arrested and charged on March 6 with soliciting to commit murder and conspiring to commit murder, according to inmate records in Clark County, Nevada, which were previously obtained by PEOPLE.
According to a police report obtained by TMZ, investigators found messages from Victoria to an inmate in a Florida prison, convicted murderer Grant Amato, about murdering Aaron. Victoria is alleged to have provided the location and filming times of Aaron’s show. She also allegedly set aside more than $11,500 to pay the inmate in October 2024. Victoria and Amato also allegedly exchanged messages about a $2,500 upfront payment, per the outlet.
“Am I a bad person? Because I chose to end his existence. Not divorce,” one of the alleged texts read, TMZ reported.
Victoria allegedly communicated with Amato several times after that about the scheme, including one message that read, per the outlet, “He’s asleep right now in the hotel room … I need to know what’s going on. Can I get an update? Was it done?”
Victoria was held on a $100,000 bail and was scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Tuesday, March 11, records said.
She has denied plotting to have Aaron killed and wanting him dead, police told TMZ. She also claimed that she had no recollection of sending messages to the Florida inmate, and claimed that she thought the money promised to be exchanged was for cell phones.
However, she did concede that she and Aaron had been having marital issues, police told TMZ.
After learning of the alleged plot, Aaron filed for divorce. In his filing, attorneys for the TV host stated that “the views, tastes, likes and dislikes” of Aaron and estranged wife Victoria have become “incompatible to the extent that it has become impossible for them to live together as husband and wife in marital harmony.”
“There is no possibility of reconciliation between husband and wife,” the complaint states.
The couple had been together since at least 2018. They got engaged the following year and had to postpone their wedding several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Police told TMZ they became aware of the alleged murder plot and messages between Victoria and Amato after corrections officers found and seized the smuggled phone that the Florida inmate was using.
This whole thing is pretty serious, but this quoted line from the divorce petition made me chuckle: “There is no possibility of reconciliation between husband and wife.” Ya think? Honestly, I can’t even imagine the emotional roller coaster that Aaron’s probably been on over the past couple of weeks. I read through a bunch of the 7,600+ comments and it’s nice how supportive people are. That’s the beauty of shows like Ghost Adventurers that have been on for decades. They have a fiercely loyal fan base. I hope Aaron has a strong support system IRL, too.
I still can’t figure out what on earth Victoria was thinking logistically here. We know she reached out to Amato after watching the Paramount+ docu series based on his crime, Ctrl+Alt+Desire, which also means she knows that he’s in jail. Was she paying him to contract it back out to another killer for hire? Why not eliminate the middleman and just hire someone who lives in the area where Aaron was going to be filming? Was this all an excuse to “meet” Amato because she’s a fan? It makes no sense! I truly cannot wait for more information to come out if/when this ever goes to trial.
I do not understand why she didn’t just file for divorce? Was there to be a bigger payday to have him killed? A large insurance policy perhaps to be gotten?
She didn’t just file for divorce because she is a nightmare garbage person.
But to answer what you are really asking, yeah, if he died there would likely be life insurance for her, but also as his wife, she’d get everything else of his too: savings, retirement, property. (unless he had kids from a previous relationship but even then, widow status would bring her more money than a divorce world. )
I cannot imagine the level of depravity this would take. “I don’t want to only get HALF, I want it all, let me have him murdered”
I’m in the divorce process now and my soon to be ex has been and continues to be pretty awful. But wishing him dead is just a step too far, even on my most upset or enraged days. Nevermind actualy arranging for his death. We need to normalize leaving a relationship ethically when it’s no longer suiting us.
I would think if she had an affair, it would have come out by now, but my first thought was she was cheating. Spouses just love to kill their better half as a way of paving their way to moving on with their affair partner.
Also, the little bits I have read, which admittedly aren’t much, seem to say he had no idea things were going south. So not only was he suddenly being told “hey, your wife tried to have you killed” but that news was lilkely the way he found out his marriage was over. Poor guy must be reeling.
This whole story is so bizarre. It’s a classic case of truth is stranger than fiction.
Grant Amato, the guy she asked to murder her husband Aaron, is a stone cold killer! He bludgeoned his parents to death to steal their money so he could keep paying for his online fake girlfriend (think onlyfans). He would probably be desperate enough for female attention to kill a potential lover’s husband.
When police arrived at Grant’s house for a wellness check, they found his mother’s severed head simmering in a stew pot on the stovetop. Grant is a true psychopath.
“Am I a bad person? “
— Yes. Yes, you are a bad person.