5 chilling details about Chuck Gold’s murder

Chuck Gold was a Wild West cowboy performer who was better known by his stage name "Black Bart." He was found shot to death in October 1992 at his Phoenix home, where he lived with his wife Carole, a former Playboy bunny, and stepson Kenneth.

Investigations uncovered that Chuck was killed by a contract killer, hired by the mother-son duo who were after Gold's approximately $160,000 insurance payout. Carole was convicted for her involvement in the murder in 1997 and was granted parole only recently, in August 2023. Oxygen's Snapped will explore the story of Carole Gold in season 34 episode 11, airing on September 15, 2024.

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5 horrific details of Chuck Gold's murder

1) Chuck's body was discovered by wife Carole Gold

Carole, who was a Playboy bunny at the original Playboy Club in Chicago when it opened in 1960, first met Chuck at a Playboy resort in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The two got married in 1978 and relocated to Arizona, where they operated the stables at Pointe Tapatio Cliffs. Chuck was a Wild West cowboy performer who engaged in performances at the stables and various charity events.

In October 1992, Carole found the body of Chuck, in his all-black attire, lying on the kitchen floor of their house on East Grovers Avenue. It was further discovered that Chuck Gold was killed with a .22 caliber handgun, suspected to be equipped with a homemade suppressor.

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2) Revelations from the investigation

Chuck Gold was gunned down by a hired hitman when he got back home from a show on the evening of October 20, 1992. An examination of the body confirmed that he was shot multiple times.

At the time of the crime, Carole was out for the evening, and she drove home when she got a call from Chuck, only to find his dead body in the kitchen. There was no indication of a break-in at the crime location.

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3) Carole's alleged involvement

Carole was the prime suspect in the murder case, as prosecutors alleged that she had Chuck killed to claim an approximately $160,000 insurance payout. Chuck had previously threatened to kick out Carole’s son Kenneth Ashton Cottini, when the former caught him smoking marijuana in the stables. Kenneth also had other drug addiction problems.

It was argued that the mother and son duo had previously tried killing Chuck Gold with rat poison. After being unsuccessful, Kenneth offered $9,000 to his dealer, Robert William Pryor, to kill Chuck, as Carole footed the bill. Kenneth was charged with murder in September 1993, while Carole was charged in October 1997.

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4) Initial conviction in the murder of Chuck Gold

For his role in the murder case, Robert Pryor was sentenced to 20 years in prison through a plea deal. Pryor had led investigators to Danny Jay Goddard, the person who carried out the murder of Chuck Gold. But Goddard received immunity by testifying against Kenneth in 1995. However, that trial ended in a hung jury, after one juror remained unconvinced.

In a joint trial against mother and son, Kenneth pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a sentence of at least 18 years in prison. He was released from prison in September 2011.

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5) Carole's conviction years after the murder

Carole Gold had spent at least two years in jail awaiting trial before she was convicted. She had not posted bail, as all her money was spent on her son’s defence. Carole claimed in court that she had nothing to do with the crime and that she loved her husband, before her sentencing on October 14, 1997.

Carole J. Gold was convicted for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and first-degree murder of her husband, Charles "Chuck" Gold. She was released on August 31, 2023, from the Perryville prison complex, as per the Arizona Department of Correction Rehabilitation & Reentry inmate records. Gold is now 84 years old.

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Catch the details of Chuck Gold's murder tomorrow, September 15, on Oxygen's Snapped.