Background: Victoria Goodwin appears in court for her sentencing (Law&Crime). Inset: Aaron Goodwin after reading his statement (Law&Crime).
The former wife of “Ghost Adventures” star Aaron Goodwin found out her sentence after pleading guilty to trying to have him killed.
Victoria Goodwin, 32, was overcome with emotion during her appearance in court on Thursday, awaiting her sentencing by Judge Nadia Krall at the Eighth Judicial District Court in Las Vegas, Nevada. Back in April, Victoria Goodwin admitted to conspiracy to commit murder, having been discovered planning with convicted murderer Grant Amato to kill Aaron Goodwin, 49.
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Amidst a challenging period in her marriage in 2024, Victoria Goodwin was involved in an emotional affair with Amato, who is serving a life sentence in Florida for the 2019 murders of his parents and brother. This connection began after Victoria watched a documentary on his case, leading her to reach out to the incarcerated Amato.
Authorities discovered the murder plot and correspondence between Victoria Goodwin and Amato after prison staff confiscated a cellphone from Amato.
During a text exchange, Victoria Goodwin asked Amato, “Am I a bad person? Because I chose to end his existence. Not divorce.”
Amato, who was not charged with any crimes related to the murder plot, reportedly had someone on the outside who was to carry out the execution of Aaron Goodwin. Victoria Goodwin was the one who provided Amato with “payment plans, location, anticipation, and nothing done to stop the plan once in motion,” according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.
Aaron Goodwin filed for divorce after learning about the plot in March.
Law&Crime was in the courtroom as both Victoria and Aaron Goodwin spoke out before Krall handed down her sentence. Clark County Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner had made the argument for a stiff punishment, pointing out that despite Victoria Goodwin’s lack of a criminal history before her conviction, she had every intention to follow through with her plan to kill her husband.
“At no point does Ms. Goodwin try to claw it back,” Hamner told the court.
Speaking on behalf of Victoria Goodwin, defense attorney David Brown asked for probation. “There is, to me, a clear line where Ms. Goodwin had abandoned the conspiracy.”
He stated, “It’s clear that as of November, she had completely distanced herself from the group. She had moved on from it. There was very limited contact.” He also pointed out that her coconspirators were never charged with a crime in connection to the murder for hire.
Brown further stated that his client was being “extorted” for additional payments.
When Victoria Goodwin spoke in court, the first thing she did was apologize to the man she tried to have killed.
“Firstly, and most importantly, I would like to apologize to Aaron,” she said. “I’m so immensely sorry for the pain and the anxiety I have caused you, and the betrayal that you undoubtedly and rightfully feel by my actions.” She promised her ex-husband, “I will bow out of your life forever,” and said she would leave the state of Nevada and never have contact with him again.
She said, “This is my rock bottom, and I’ll never forgive myself.”
More from Law&Crime: ‘Am I a bad person?’: Soon-to-be ex-wife of ‘Ghost Adventures’ star pleads guilty to murder-for-hire plot
Aaron Goodwin was emotional when he spoke in court. He stated that after he found out about his wife’s infidelity — including with a man he believed was named “Vincent,” but turned out to be Amato — he “gave her the option of divorce or we could try to work it out because I loved her so much.” He said that she was full of remorse and “didn’t want to lose” him.
“At least that’s what she told me,” he said.
He described discovering how deep the affair with Amato was, including the fact that the pair had been “spiritually married” and she referred to Aaron Goodwin as her “first husband.” He also said she had “put out a hit to kill me, more than once, got blackmailed, and spent all our savings to keep it quiet.”
“This has led me to fear for my life,” Aaron Goodwin said through tears. “I’ve hired armed security for weeks, not knowing if it was over or not.”
He said, “It’s like a heartbreak no one should go through in life. I can’t trust anything anymore. I cry everyday, I feel so alone.”
Aaron Goodwin also claimed that his ex-wife and her legal team attempted to “silence” him and discourage him from speaking out in court.
“The fact that this person did all this to me with no worry, no care or love in her heart for me, I’ll never feel the same, I’ll never feel safe or be the same because of what she did. She claims she’s remorseful now, now that she’s been caught. But at no time before did she ever try to stop this from happening.”
He added, “I feel like this deserves prison time, I don’t know.”
Krall then handed down Victoria Goodwin’s sentence: a minimum of three years in prison with a maximum of 7 1/2 years, or 90 months.
