“Evil,” “Lying” Former Playboy Bunny and Her Son Hire Hitman to Kill Husband

When police arrived at a home in Phoenix, Arizona on the night of Oct. 20, 1992 because of reports of a man lying dead on the kitchen floor, they found an unusual sight.

“He was dressed as a cowboy. All in black. From his boots to his hat,” said Joseph Petrosino, a former Phoenix police detective, on Snapped, airing Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen. “It kinda jumped out at you. And he had a western-style belt with a big buckle that said ‘Black Bart’ on it.”

Charles “Chuck” Gold, 51, had been shot four times in the head, three times, in the chest and once in the wrist. His wife, Carole, had come home to find him dead. The back door was unlocked. There were no signs of a robbery. But as police took a closer look at Carole and her son, 20-year-old Kenneth “Ashton” Cottini, they realized there were cracks in the 14-year-long marriage, as well as tension between the Army veteran and 20-year-old.

“You know, he’s been cheating on Carole,” said Robert Pryor, a friend of Ashton Cottini, on Snapped. “She wasn’t young anymore. I guess she was one of Hugh Hefner’s first Playboy bunnies. And she didn’t have that to fall back on.”

Chuck Gold was married four times before he met Carole Cottini in 1977 at horse stables in Lake Geneva near Chicago. The then-36-year-old managed the horse stables, and also put on gunslinger exhibitions with staged battles. After a whirlwind romance, Carole became Chuck’s fifth wife. In 1983, the two decided to open horse stables in Phoenix, Arizona.

After Chuck’s murder, police interviewed Carole, and she denied that there was a life insurance policy. She also admitted that Chuck had girlfriends while they were married. Chuck’s stepston, Ashton, told police his stepfather was currently having an affair.

“She’s married, but he’s seen them together at the stables, but when there are other people around they don’t act like boyfriend and girlfriend. But everybody knew about it,” Petrosino said.

Chuck’s girlfriend admitted the affair to police.

“Her husband didn’t know about it,” Petrosino said. “She didn’t want him to know about it … they socialized the four of them: she and her husband — Chuck and Carole.”

But Chuck’s girlfriend also provided more insight into Chuck and Carole’s marriage.

“She says that at one point Carole told Chuck she didn’t want to have sex with him anymore and so that became almost platonic,” said KTVK/KPHO reporter Briana Whitney on Snapped.

She also revealed that Chuck and his stepson did not have a good relationship, and shared what Chuck told her in a phone call the day before he was murdered.

“Was angry, complaining about Ashton,” Petrosino said. “The fact that Ashton is not carrying his part of the load — he’s not working, he’s a financial drain.”

When officers spoke to employees of the Golds' horse stable, they discovered Ashton’s drug problems were a constant source of conflict between Ashton, Carole, and Chuck.

“I was at the stables quite often when Ashton would smoke pot at the stables,” said former blacksmith for Chuck Gold, James Long, on Snapped. “Chuck would catch him. And they didn’t get along very well at all … it’s against the law, for one. They could have lost everything they had. Just the wrong person walks in at the wrong time.”

Police learned Chuck and Carole had bailed Ashton out when he owed money to drug dealers. They also learned Ashton was lying when he admitted he was on probation for a drug issue, but was currently sober.  

“Ashton’s not a reformed drug user,” Petrosino said. “He’s still doing drugs. His stepfather has a problem with him, and they aren’t working through it. They are at odds.”

Chuck’s friends told police that before he died, Chuck told Ashton he wanted him out of the house by the end of the month and told Carole he was going to file for divorce.

33-year-old Robert “Bob” Pryor was known to police as a distributor of synthetic heroin in the Phoenix area. During the murder investigation, police discovered Pryor was also Ashton Cottini’s dealer. Pryor’s home was raided for drugs around the time of Chuck Gold’s death, and police found the same ammunition as what was used to kill Chuck.

Dan Goddard, an associate of Pryor’s, was also working with police as an informant at the time, and shared shocking information: He was hired by Pryor to be his driver the night of Chuck’s murder.

“The real ‘a-ha!’ moment is when Dan Goddard actually drives detectives to where he went that night, and it’s Chuck Gold’s house,” Whitney said.

Pryor alleged it was Dan Goddard who actually pulled the trigger.

“What Dan did, was he told the story — just switched the roles of me and him,” Pryor said on Snapped. “And so, I was like, ‘Oh hell no, this isn’t the way it went.'”

Still, Pryor, Cottini, and Carole Gold were all arrested, but with a lack of evidence, charges were dropped against Carole. A hung jury declared Cottini and Pryor’s trial a mistrial.

Shortly after, Pryor was arrested again for selling drugs, and this time he made a deal to testify against Carole Gold and Cottini for a reduced sentence.

“Ashton started telling me about how much he did not like his stepfather, Chuck … but it just eventually led into, ‘Yeah, we’d like to see him dead,’” Pryor said.

He told police during interviews that it was Carole’s idea to kill her husband, and she offered him $20,000 to complete the hit.

“Carole had the ultimate plan,” Pryor said. “There was an event that Chuck was going to. When it was over and he could come home, all we had to do was be waiting, and shoot Chuck.”

Carole Gold and her son were tried together in August 1997 for Chuck Gold’s murder. As the final piece of evidence, police determined Carole forged Chuck’s name to a $150,000 life insurance policy that named her the beneficiary.

Midway through the trial, Ashton Cottini took a plea deal, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. He was released on Sept. 19, 2011 at the age of 39.

Carole Gold was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder, and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. She was released on parole in 2023 at the age of 84.

“I think that Carole and Ashton got exactly what they deserved,” said Stephanie Gold, Chuck’s daughter, on Snapped. “Carole is the worst kind of mother there is. Evil. Lying. Carole didn’t pull the trigger, but she is just as responsible. There’s nothing worse than being betrayed by a loved one.”

Bob Pryor was released from prison on Feb. 26, 2007. Dan Goddard was granted immunity from any charges for his cooperation with police.

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