The Scott Family Massacre



When Anderson County sheriff’s officers respond to a 911 call on Nov. 2, 2015, they discover the bodies of Mike and Cathy Scott and their elderly mothers sprawled across the blood-soaked floor of their Pendleton, SC home. The brutal quadruple homicide shocks the community and devastates their close-knit families, who can’t imagine who might have killed the quiet well-liked couple and two innocent women in their 80s. Was it a home invasion robbery gone wrong, a random act of violence, or somebody closer to home? Seven years later, the Scott family massacre remains unsolved, and the community fears the killer will strike again.

If you have any information about the quadruple homicide in Pendleton, South Carolina, leave a tip on our website, call 1-888-CRIME-SC (1-888-274-6372), or submit tips online to www.p3tips.com, or www.crimesc.com.

UPDATE: A week after the podcast aired, in March of 2023, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office officially named Cathy Scott’s daughter, Amy Vilardi, and her husband, Ross Vilardi, as persons of interest. Nine months later, in December of 2023, Amy and Ross Vilardi were taken into custody and charged with all four murders. The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office has not yet revealed what new information informed the arrests, saying instead that all will be revealed in court. The couple has been denied bond and awaits further hearings.

 

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15 Comments

  1. Snow Fallen

    Does anyone else think the couple arrested could be innocent? WhT is the evidence other than the money? Who’s to say she didn’t take the money after they were killed?

    Reply

  2. Steve

    Just listened to this last week, and arrests made this week . Good job

    Reply

  3. scott

    There are so many questions not answered here , if the detectives are as slack as the sheriffs statement yesterday then this is a mess. If the couple had been out to dinner that night , where did they go and who could they have seen and talked too ( cell records , witnesses) they knew this person or persons involved . Why cut throats and then shoot them after they were dead ? The info given by some of the commenters here sounds like bs , the male was known to deal in jewelry and guns ( could he have told someone about new inventory ) . Cell records , bank records and the coroners report will tell more . I can tell you this I have known this couple for years and the only thing accomplished here is a County Sherriff trying to cover his department for slack police work and ruining this couples lives .Try the sister of Mike Scott or anyone of his brothers .

    Reply

  4. Pam

    Please continue to share this story of my family’s murders. I will not give up! There is power in waiting and in believing!

    Reply

    • Jamie Madden Hendricks

      8yrs is a long time. I’m very happy for the indictment. Praying for a guilty verdict. Thanking God for the first steps toward Justice. It won’t bring loved ones back. We’ll see them in heaven! I feel safer now than I have in yrs. Always in Prayers Ms Pam.

      Reply

  5. Nina

    If an investigative reporter got on this and write a book, they would be set. Any suggestions on who to contact?

    Reply

  6. Savannah Thomas

    I’m the daughter of Amy Vilardi and I do believe that my mother and step father had something to do with this or they did do it. I want to find out who killed my grandparents because I was always at their house when I was little. I basically lived there while my mother was at work. I’m praying for everyone in my family and I’m praying that god will help us find the right evidence to put them to justice. God bless.

    Reply

  7. Berenice

    I truly believe that this is a “family”murder. Both of them were probably involved because of how this happened. It wasn’t just one it had to be the both of them.
    Money, greed and disregard for other people. Sheriff Chad’s office has said since the beginning that these two have been the prime suspects. If they aren’t convicted in this life time and can live with themselves with this hanging over their heads they are stronger than most people.
    Something like this will follow them to their deathbeds. I’d rather confess and lift the heavy load off my shoulders.

    Reply

  8. Ash

  9. Ana Maria

    No matter how much it hurts, the killer is closer than you think. No ransacking, so no random job. Who else knew $$ was kept there? Only the Daughter. Although she’s NOT involved, hubby would almost have to be. Hubby in serious financial trouble, yet he was trusted to keep $$ for his father in law? Nah, I don’t think so. He never thought cops would search HIS home. Tell me why else would $60K be in HIS trailer?? Step-Son in Law is former military ( trained to use guns & knives ) and so were his former military buddies, which he prob enlisted to do this job. His alibi made sure they BOTH were out of town that night. The fact they’re no longer cooperating with LE, is NEVER a good sign. Look at Son In Law’s cell phone records and at former buddies with issues with the law. Surprised LE haven’t acted on this one. Motive? Anger over business failing, FIL has $$ and doesn’t help. Overkill came in to make it look like it was REALLY personal, and yep, it was to someone, really close by.

    Reply

    • Jessica

      I 1000% agree. Like it’s so obviously the son in law did, or played a big part in it, and I’d even say the daughter at least knew about it even if she didn’t actually DO it. How this case is STILL unsolved is mind boggling to me. Seems to me even a blind idiot could solve this one within a week.

      Reply

  10. B Nyman

    Did the victim’s children have an explanation for the large sum of cash in their possession? Did they ever test the cash found for the DNA or fingerprints of the deceased?

    Reply

  11. Jennifer Tubb-Scott

    These brutal and senseless murders did not have to happen. Our family has hurt enough. There needs to be closure.

    Reply