Tony Ray Amati killed three people in Las Vegas for fun
A member of the 1998 FBI’s top ten most wanted list.
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Anthony “Tony” Ray Amati was born on June 28th, 1976 in Carbondale, Illinois. His family uprooted and moved to Las Vegas in 1992, unaware of the type of horrific acts their son would commit there.
Tony graduated from Clark High School as an honors student in 1994 but worked as a telemarketer while attending. He was known for his intelligence and charm but reportedly suffered from OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) per a doctor during his murder trial.
The tragic and completely unnecessary deaths
Tony went with two accomplices on a crime spree starting in May of 1996. The two accomplices were Troy Sampson(27) and Edward James(23). They first robbed a gun store of $30,000 in Las Vegas and stole 75 firearms.
First murder: On May 27th, 1996, the three men shot over 20 rounds into Michael Matta(27) and killed him. Michael was walking around a parking lot looking through bags of trash when he was shot. Matta was also homeless at the time of his murder.
Second murder: The three men waited until July to strike again. Just two blocks from their first kill, they shot and killed John Garcia (48) near his garage on Tropicana Avenue.
Third Murder: In August of 1996, the three went on to shoot and kill Keith Dyer (22). The man had been standing just outside a friend’s house when this occurred. They also shot a woman named Stacie Dooley in the leg. Stacie was a friend of Keith’s and ended up being a witness in Tony’s trial. Stacie later said the three men were laughing during the shooting “like it was a big joke”.
Keith was shot 13 times. His mother died in September of 1999 and actively pursued her son’s killers via the justice system until her passing.
The Investigation
The investigation moved quickly at first. Tony left blood at one of the crime scenes from a cut on his hand that police were able to use to implicate him. The three men went to sell their stolen guns to a guns dealer in October of 1996. However, the guns dealer was an undercover cop. The two accomplices were arrested but…
