South Carolina Couple Arrested in Connection with ‘Gruesome and Brutal’ Halloween 2015 Massacre: Sheriff

A married couple in South Carolina have been arrested in connection with the "gruesome" Halloween 2015 murders of four family members, authorities said.

On Nov. 2, 2015, deputies responded to a home in Anderson after receiving a call about a possible shooting, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office announced.

Responding officers searched the residence and located the bodies of 80-year-old Barbara Scott, 60-year-old Cathy Scott, 59-year-old Michael Scott and 82-year-old Violet Taylor.

Police said all four of the victims lived at the residence where they were found and had been killed on Oct. 31, 2015.

On Dec. 15, 2023, officials announced Amy Vilardi and her husband, Rosmore “Ross” Vilardi, were arrested at their home in Columbia and charged with four counts of murder each.

During a press conference, Anderson County Sheriff Chad McBride said Amy Vilardi made the initial 911 call back in 2015, WSPA-TV reported.

She was the daughter of Michael and Cathy Scott and the granddaughter of Taylor, officials said.

Following the murders, Amy Vilardi reportedly gave an interview to WSPA-TV and said the victims were “wonderful people” and that they “just didn’t deserve this.”

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Six months after the slayings, the Vilardis sued the sheriff’s office in an attempt to recover property seized during the investigation, including $60,000 in cash and two vehicles, WSPA reported.

At the press conference, McBride said the four victims were “senselessly and brutally murdered” in a crime detectives believe to be “one of the worst scenes they’ve ever seen.”