‘Ghost Adventures’ Star’s Wife Scores Small Victory in Court Ahead of Murder-for-Hire Trial

Victoria Goodwin scored a small win in court on Tuesday.

Goodwin was arrested last month for allegedly trying to hire a hitman to kill her husband, “Ghost Adventures” host Aaron Goodwin. She was later charged with solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Now, The Las Vegas Review Journal reports prosecutors have agreed to drop the solicitation charge.

Victoria appeared in Las Vegas Justice Court on Tuesday and waived her right to a preliminary hearing.

According to The Review Journal, her lawyer David Brown stated that the case is heading to District Court, where the solicitation charge would be dropped and Victoria would make her formal plea.

Brown later told the press that Goodwin is still facing the conspiracy charge, and the punishment could range from probation to 10 years behind bars.

While Aaron is a host of the long-running show “Ghost Adventures,” which launches a new season April 16 on Discovery Channel and streams on Max, his own true crime story is beyond anything he could imagine.

On social media the couple appeared happy, but underneath, a terrible plot was allegedly brewing.

The details are chilling. Victoria was allegedly texting with inmate Greg Amato in Florida who was in charge of hiring the hitman. 

Amato killed his own family after becoming obsessed with and spending over $200,000 on an internet cam girl. He is serving three life sentences. Grant’s story was told in the Paramount+ series “Control-Alt-Desire.” 

The messages between Victoria and Grant reportedly included one that said, "Am I a bad person? Because I chose to end his existence. Not divorce."

The plot was uncovered when corrections officers seized the inmate’s cell phone as contraband.

TMZ reports that Victoria planned to pay the hitman $11,515 for the murder and had already sent $2,500 upfront.

Police claim the plan was to have the hitman kill Aaron while he was shooting “Ghost Adventures” on location in California. 

A police report obtained by People magazine also claims Victoria and Amato texted about "how much they are in love" and that Goodwin insisted her husband “would not accept divorce."

When asked about the messages, Victoria allegedly said in the arrest report that she was “lonely” and having marriage problems. She claimed she did not want Aaron dead, and could not remember sending any messages about a hitman.

According to the arrest report, "She described herself of sometimes daydreaming of being in a different situation… Victoria expressed her feelings of wanting to be without Aaron and with Amato, which she described as fantasy or daydream."

“Extra” spoke with former Las Vegas Police Officer Dean O’Kelley, who is not associated with the case, but has worked on similar “kill for hire” crimes.

He said, “It looks like they've got it buttoned up pretty tight with the text messages, the agreement for payment, the very specific amount and it's pretty clear she wanted him killed rather than someone to put the fear into him.”

As for Victoria’s chances at trial, O’Kelley added, “In high-profile cases, sad to say when you have someone who may come across okay in court as sympathetic, you never know what jurors are gonna do.”

After news broke of the alleged murder for hire plot, Aaron filed for divorce. The couple wed in 2020, but had their ceremony in 2022.

Goodwin also broke his silence on Instagram. He shared an image of a smiling, hands-out emoji and 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.”