A South Carolina couple, Amy and Rosmore Vilardi, have been apprehended and charged with the brutal murder of four family members. The victims, who were found stabbed and shot to death, included Amy Vilardi’s mother, father-in-law, grandmother-in-law, and maternal grandmother. The horrific incident took place on Halloween night in 2015.
The Vilardis were taken into custody last Friday, following their identification as persons of interest by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office in March. The victims’ bodies were discovered on November 2, 2015, several days after the murders. Amy Vilardi is alleged to have made the 911 call that led to the discovery.
Anderson County Sheriff Chad McBride, during a press conference, expressed that the authorities had anticipated the arrest. He acknowledged the complexity of the case, attributing the delay in arrests to the need to assemble numerous pieces of evidence and the extensive effort required.
The law enforcement agencies have remained tight-lipped about the majority of the evidence that led to the charges against the couple. Sheriff McBride described the 911 call and the subsequent discovery of the bodies as the cornerstone of the case. He refrained from revealing further details about the investigation, urging the media to follow the court proceedings for more information.
The Sheriff painted a grim picture of the crime scene, describing it as one of the most gruesome his team had ever encountered. The Vilardis were living on the same property as the victims at the time of the murders, in a separate house on Refuge Road in Pendleton, a small town near Clemson University.
The case has had a significant impact on the local community. Sheriff McBride described it as a “huge case” that had “rocked everybody to the core”. The Vilardis had given media interviews following the discovery of the bodies, with Amy Vilardi recounting her discovery of the bodies to a local NBC affiliate.
The couple appeared for an initial hearing on Saturday morning, where they were denied bond. They are currently being held at the Anderson County Detention Center. The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case. As of now, no motive for the killings has been suggested.