“Didn’t Deserve It” Couple Murdered Mother, Grandmother, and Step-Grandmother | Amy Vilardi

Now part of the Darkcast Network. Welcome to Indy Podcasts with a Dark side. At around 2:30pm on Monday, November 2, 2015, 32 year old Amy Danielle Velardi called 911 from a property on Refuge Road in Pendleton, South Carolina. She was crying so hard that the dispatcher was having trouble understanding her. At one point the dispatcher told her, ma’, am, I can’t understand you, honey. And Amy finally, finally managed to say, in my mama’s house there’s four people that are dead. When the dispatcher asked if she was sure, Amy said, quote, there’s not a pulse on any of them. There’s four people. There’s four people in my mama’s house and they’re dead. She told the dispatcher that there was so much blood and that the bodies were really cold. Then explained that her stepfather and her two grandmothers were in the living room while her mother was on the bedroom floor. The dispatcher also asked Amy whether anyone had been bothering the family or if she knew of anyone who might have wanted to hurt them. Amy said she didn’t know, but she did mention of her stepfather that, quote, I know he bought and sold gold and he would meet people, places, but he, I, uh, don’t know. I don’t think he’d ever bring them here. The call lasted somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes and deputies with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office were sent to the double wide mobile home on Refuge Lane. When they went inside, they found, uh, four members of the same family dead. Amy’s 60 year old mother, Kathy Taylor Scott was found in the bedroom while Kathy’s 58 year old husband, Terry Michael. Mike Scott was in the living room along with Mike’s 80 year old mother Barbara Scott, and Kathy’s 82 year old mother Violet Taylor. There was blood throughout the home and it was immediately clear that all four of them had died violently. Staff Sergeant Scotty Hill was one of the investigators who responded to the scene and he later described it as one of the bloodiest scenes he’d ever been to. But before getting into exactly what investigators found inside that house and how they started trying to figure out who had killed four members of the same family. I want to introduce myself if you are new here. Hi, my name is Kai and this is Love and Heartbreak to Homicide. I would like to request that you go ahead and subscribe to Love and Murder on whatever platform you’re currently listening on. But the best way to subscribe is through our patreon patreon.com loveandmurder where you can subscribe for free and you won’t miss an episode. Or if you do want to support love and murder, you could also choose one of the paid subscriptions and become part of the LaM Patreon Fam. And I’ll tell you more about the Patreon and after the episode. So now let’s get back into what happened on that day. Kathy was Amy’s mother and was described by the people who knew her as a warm woman whose life revolved around caring for her family. She was also taking care of both Violet and Barbara, who were elderly and dealing with declining health. So the Double wide was really a multi generational household where Kathy and Mike were helping to take care of both of their mothers. Violette was Kathy’s mother and Amy’s maternal grandmother. She was described as a gentle, quiet woman who loved her family, while Barbara was Mike’s mother and Amy’s step grandmother. Barbara also lived with Kathy and Mike so they could help care for her as she got older. Mike had been married to Kathy for nine years and worked for the South Carolina Department of Transportation. Outside of his regular job, he also bought, sold and traded gold jewelry, coins and antiques and other valuables. And he was very particular about how he handled his money. Mike had, quote, previously sold drugs but had sobered up since. And over the years, he became very focused on his family, his collections, and keeping track of what he owned. He kept detailed records and photographs of his inventory and apparently didn’t trust banks very much. So instead of keeping all of his money in an account, Mike sometimes kept tens of thousands of dollars in cash locked inside safes in his bedroom. Now, as I said before, the family lived in Pendleton, which was a small western South Carolina town with a population of around 3,000 to 3,500 people. And neighbors described them as peaceful people who would do anything for anyone. Then living only about 50 yards away on that same Refuge Road property was Kathy’s daughter, Amy. Amy had two young children from previous relationships and Mike and Cathy were extremely close to their grandchildren. Family members said that the kids spent a lot of time with them and Mike and Cathy absolutely doted on them. Amy had also been through several marriages before her relationship with a man named Rossmore Velardi, who they called Ross. And she was described as something of a wild child. There had also been problems between Amy and Kathy for years, according to Roxy. Roxy, uh, according to Roxy Voorhees. Now they have it like her name is initially spelled R, O, C, K, S, Y, Roxy. But then I guess whenever she writes it out. She spells it R, O, X, Y, Roxy. So they have Roxy. Roxy Voorhees. I was going to say it, but then y’ all would have been like, well, what’s the difference? So anyways, according to Roxy, who worked for Amy’s dog grooming business, a lot of Amy’s anger towards her mother went back to what happened between Amy’s biological father and her. He had been crushed by a car and placed on life support and eventually Kathy made the decision to have him taken off of life support. According to Roxy, Amy never forgave her mother for making that decision and continued blaming Cathy for her father’s death. The relationship between mother and daughter could get very heated and over times, some of their arguments became public. Amy posted things online about narcissistic parents and disrespect, and she also uploaded videos of arguments between herself and members of her family. Roxy described Amy as the main decision maker in her relationship with Ross and said Amy had a deep hatred for Cathy. Ross was 28 years old in 2015, and unlike Amy, he was described as polite and a pretty likable guy. He was also a former United States Marine who had specialized training in hand to hand combat and had guarded embassies around the world. When he left the Marine Corps, he left with a, uh, Kabar military style knife, K a bar Kabar, I guess. Now I couldn’t find exactly how Amy and Russ met, but what I do know is by 2013, they were already together and running a mobile dog grooming business. And that business was called Stiles for Miles Pet Spa. That year, Ross received about $25,000 through a military disability settlement, while the pet grooming brought in around $17,000. While they were bringing in some money, they were also spending a lot of money between the settlement income from the business and other money coming in. They bought a truck for around $14,000, a Ford Mustang for approximately $5,800 and two Harley Davidson motorcycles that cost about $15,000. They literally had $25,000 come in and 17,000 DOL spent that $17,000 on a truck basically. And then they bought a Ford Mustang with I guess the rest of their $17,000, which is now cutting into the $25,000 and then two. What do you need? You already had a Ford and a truck. What did you need two Harley Davidsons for? That’s another $15,000. And then I guess they thought they were on the up and up with the business bringing in 17,000. But the problem is with new businesses, there are ups There are highs and then there are lows. And so by the next year, their business income had dropped significantly. And in 2014, Styles for Miles had brought in only around $2,700. Now, uh, how are you going to pay for all that extra stuff that you just bought? And as we all know, as the business struggled, the bills kept coming, because bills don’t care about your money flow. Their vehicles were close to being repossessed. They were falling behind on the rent for their commercial space. And there were also problems where employees were not getting paid. Amy’s cousin, Hannah Taylor, worked at the pet spa for a while and later described how often creditors were calling. She said, quote, every morning I got there, I would check the voicemails, check the phone calls, and they were bill collectors calling and leaving voicemails like you wouldn’t. Hannah also said that her own paycheck sometimes came up short, and she was eventually fired after confronting Amy about the money she owed. Are you serious? I’m gonna tell you right now, you got one time, one time to not pay me my money. And then you fire me. And because I’m complaining that you owe me money off the time I gave you, and I’ll go to the work board. That’s it. I’m gonna report your company. I don’t care if you’re brother, sister, I don’t care. That sounds mean, doesn’t it? I lie. I care if it’s my family, close family members, if it’s like my brother, my sister, something like that. And I know they wouldn’t take advantage of me, but they have hard times. I’m not going to report them. But I’m also not going to stay there and not get paid. But anything under that, cousin, friends, complete strangers, I paid. I gave you my time, you pay me my money, and that’s it. And I know, I know some of y’ all still going to think that’s mean. I hear you, but my bills don’t hear you. My bills don’t care how nice I’m being. And, uh, I have bills to pay, and I have a child to raise and all that stuff. So my bills don’t care that you’re a distant family member or whatever. So, yes, I will report you. I will report that company if, you know, you don’t pay me my money. And then look at what happened. Like, she was literally working for free. And. And finally, well, I don’t want to say for free, but she did give some time for free. And then finally she went and told Amy, like, look, I’m missing money. And did you think that they were like, oh well, you’re family so just give us a little time and we’ll get it? No, she fired her. So this is what I’m saying. You can’t always think about other people. You kind of got got to think about yourself sometimes. I’m not saying be a narcissist, but sometimes you got to think about yourself because when other people, when it comes to other people, a lot of people, not everyone, but a lot of people will think about themselves first. What are your thoughts about that in the comments? Do you agree with me or am I being unreasonable? Let me know. Anyways. By the summer of 2015, the already difficult relationship between Amy and her family got even worse. Don’t forget they’re all living on the same property, only 50 yards apart. Things really came to a head on July 4, 2015, after Math and Cathy took Amy’s two children to a church Fourth of July celebration. When they brought the kids back, they found Amy, Ross and several of their friends drunk. And Mike and Kathy became concerned enough that they wanted to take the children back home with them. That led, uh, to a screaming argument and eventually a physical fight. I can’t imagine fighting someone else’s mom, let alone fighting my mom. I could be mad at my mom, but I can’t imagine fighting my mom. My mom would bend me in half and snap me in two and throw me. I, uh, mean she’s really small. She probably couldn’t do that. I could probably take her, but I can’t see a world in which I would hit my mom. I would just, I would just walk away like, that’s it. So after this incident here, Amy stopped Mike and Kathy from seeing the children. So even though they’re just living like, I could just pop my blinds and see the house right there. Even though they were living that close, she didn’t allow them to see their grandchildren. Amy later sent a message to her aunt Pamela Scott Isbell, explaining how she felt about what happened. She wrote, quote, they won’t bully me or push me around until they get their way anymore and I won’t back down ever again. Your brother crossed a real line with me. After seeing as nasty as he could be, he has lost the privilege to be a grandparent now. The problems weren’t only between Amy and her mother either. During one family argument that was recorded on video, Ross told 80 year old Barbara, I hope you die. At the same time, the arguments between Amy and Kathy continued showing up online through videos and Posts about their relationship. While the family problems were getting worse, Amy and Ross were also continuing to run out of money. On September 4, 2015, Ross sent Amy a text telling her, quote, honey, please don’t spend any more money. We only have $40 left in the business account. Then on October 15, Amy texts Ross that people were, quote, at the shop raising crap about the rent. And Ross replied, quote, what would you like me to say to them, babe? I mean, at this moment, we don’t have the money. By October 22, they were dealing with a debt of around 7,000 to $8,000 that needed to be paid around the beginning of November. What, two weeks? You had to pay 7 to $8,000 in two weeks? And they only had $40 in the business account. During another conversation about the amount of money they needed, Amy wrote, quote, they don’t need this amount of dollars. And then she added, but we will not November 1st. I don’t know. That’s how she said it. I guess she meant we won’t have it by November 1st. I don’t know. Two days later, on October 24th, Amy and Ross got married. Then on October 29th, Mike took a picture of a stack of $100 bills he had at home and sent the picture to one of his co workers. Why would you do. Why would. Why would you ever do that? And how are they getting. Didn’t you only have 40 bucks to your name and you have 7,000? I, uh, don’t understand the thought process of anybody in that entire sentence. Now. That’s what’s been going on. So let’s go back to the afternoon of November 2nd. Once investigators started processing the home and the medical examinations were complete, they got a much clearer picture of just how violent the attack had been. Staff Sergeant Hill said, quote, I was told there were four bodies inside the Double Wide Home. Once we found out the extent of their injuries and the fact that their throats were cut and then they were shot post mortem, it seemed very, very aggressive and personal and somebody full of rage and hate. I’ve never seen anything like it before or since. Mike had been stabbed six times in the side of his neck. While Barbara had also suffered multiple stab wounds, including defensive injuries. Violin’s injuries were so severe that her throat had been cut to the point that she was nearly decapitated. The medical examiner also found defensive cuts and bruising on all three women, showing that they had tried to protect themselves during the attack. Kathy was found in the bedroom and had been stabbed in the chest, puncturing one of her Lungs. And she had also been shot twice in the head. One of those bullets broke her jaw. And according to later testimony, she swallowed the bullet literally. In six years of doing true crime and all the years that I have watched and listened to true crime, I have never. This is an absolute first. Investigators also found an empty holster underneath Kathy’s bed. The gun that belonged in that holster was her.38 caliber revolver. And investigators believe that the three same gun had been used to shoot all four. Victim Mike, Barbara, and Violet had been shot after they were already dead while Kathy was still alive when she was shot. The revolver itself, however, was missing from the house. Pathologists also noted a rectangular bruise that was consistent with the handle of a heavy military style, uh, knife. Considering Ross’s background as a Marine and the fact that he had owned such a knife, that was something investigated investigators looked at. But none of the knives they eventually seized could be tied directly to the murders. As investigators continued processing the scenes, they also found bloody footprints throughout the house. And there appeared to be two sets of them. One set looked like it had been made by someone walking barefoot, while the other came from a shoe with a, uh, very specific tread pattern that investigators identified as being consistent with. With an Asics Gel Speedstar 5 running shoe. Yep. Here at LaM, we always say keep as much evidence on or around your person as possible. What do we also say? Tell everybody you know and everybody you don’t. So if you’re going to walk through the blood, make sure you do it in a shoe that has a very specific thread that, uh, they can literally just look at it and be like, oh, yeah, my brother had that. That’s the Adidas 2.8. There was something else about those shoe prints that was especially important. Investigators found drops of the victim’s blood on top of some of the impressions, which meant that the person wearing those shoes hadn’t just walked through the house after the incident and then ended up just stepping in blood that was already there. No, these prints had been made while the attack was happening. There were also no signs of forced entry. Inside the living room, police found children’s toys laid out on the coffee table. And investigators knew Amy’s two children were out of town that weekend. Now, since Amy and Ross lived about, you know, I could throw a stone and hit their window right there. Police started looking much more closely at the single wide trailer next door. Between November 2nd and November 4th, they executed five search warrants there. And when officers first went inside, they notice a strong smell of bleach. What really caught their Attention, though, was a Safe containing approximately $87,000 in cash. Investigator Craig Holbrooks noticed that the money wasn’t just thrown into the safe. Instead, the bills had been wrapped and separated by denomination and year, which was the same unusual way Mike organized his own cash. That immediately raised questions, especially considering Amy and Ross’s financial problems. But investigators still had a major problem. The way the money was organized made them suspicious. Yes, but it didn’t prove the cash belonged to Mike. Amy and Ross maintained that the money came from their pet grooming business and their other side hustles. Police continued searching for anything that could connect the couple directly to what happened. And on November 11, they executed another warrant at a storage unit rented by Ross. Inside that unit, investigators recovered guns, knives, and other items. But none of those weapons could be directly tied to the killing. And Kathy’s missing.38 caliber revolver still hadn’t been found. There was also no DNA, no fingerprints or other immediate forensic evidence that allowed investigators to say definitively that Ross was or Amy had been inside the house during the attack. So they started looking at the couple’s movements and communications. Around the time the family died, Ross told investigators that he and Amy had been away in the Columbia area. Records also showed that on November 1, the couple went to Blythewood, South Carolina, where they bought new cell phones after getting rid of their old ones. Why you buying new cell phones? Amy also sent messages to another person, making sure that person knew she and Ross were in Columbia area. Tell me you covering your tracks without telling me you cover in your tracks? Hey. Yeah, Kathy, I, uh, haven’t talked to you in about two and a half years, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m in Colombia now. I know. I know you’re not in Colombia, and why would I be telling you this? But I just thought somebody, you know, some random person for no reason should know that we’re in Columbia. Okay, that’s it, girl. Bye. You’re so crazy. See you later. What she didn’t say. As you well know, she didn’t say all of that. I’m just making something up, because why would she just randomly message somebody to let them know that they were in Columbia? That very same day, Roxy had stopped at the refugee road property to pick up her paycheck. She later remembered Amy and Ross standing stiffly at the counter while the TV from the double wide next door cast a blue light through the house. I mean, that’s not suspicious, is it? There was also the business debt that had been hanging over them. On November 1, Ross had given the landlord a post dated check for $8,000 and asked him to hold it until the following day. Then on the morning of November 2nd, Ross returned and paid the entire $8,000 in cash. Now that all happened before Amy called 911. Investigators also went back to what happened on the night itself. One of the messages they found had been sent by Amy to Ross on 8:36 on that night. Amy had written, everyone is up now and talking. Hahaha, huh huh huh huh. Take my car and grab a six pack. Investigators thought that Amy was referring to the family members next door being awake and together. But then they saw that at 9:38pm the QT cameras recorded Ross making a bear run. When investigators looked closely at the footage, they noticed that he was wearing a pair of red Acics Gel Speedstar 5 running shoes. So they went and tried to get the shoes that Ross had been wearing, but they never were able to recover it. Where were the shoes? Investigators also found another message that raised questions about what Amy and Ross were doing after the bodies were discovered. On November 5, only three days after Amy reported finding her family dead, she sent Ross a, ah, text that said, quote, hey babe, we need to go ahead and run. By then, investigators were clearly looking hard at Amy and Ross because what you need to run for, y’ all don’t run marathons or run track. What does that mean? But as you know, suspicion isn’t enough to make an arrest. They still couldn’t prove the 87,000 belonged to Mike. They didn’t have Kathy’s gloves, the sneakers weren’t there, and they couldn’t find any DNA or anything. So it’s just all speculation right now. But because of what they were able to get together so far, they could start piecing together how the attack went down. So based on the locations of the bodies and the injuries, investigators believe Mike was attacked first in the living room. Violet and Barbara were also attacked there while Kathy made it into the bedroom and apparently tried to get her gun. Investigators believe that the revolver was taken from the bedroom and then used against the family. So this explained the attack, but it didn’t answer all the other questions that they had. In the days after the bodies were found, Amy and Ross gave several TV interviews and continued talking publicly about what might have happened. Amy described walking up to the back door and said, when I went to knock on the back door, the door just pushed open. So I walked in and it was dark and I just flipped the light on and there they were. They were Just, they were just there. She also said, quote, I don’t understand why any of this happened, and I just keep thinking it’s a dream I’m going to wake up from. And described her family as some of the best people. Amy said that they were Christian, would do anything for people, and that even though families sometimes butt heads, they were still family and loved one another. She also called them wonderful people who just didn’t deserve this before saying, whoever did this, I don’t see how you could live with yourself. Ross also spoke publicly and brought up Mike’s gold business. He told reporters, quote, detectives have been asking me, what does your gut tell you? And I come back with about three different things, buying and selling gold. He did some transactions that at times, Amy and I kind of counseled him and say, we have kids here, here, and it might not be a good idea. After the funeral, some of the members of the family also paid attention to Amy and Ross’s behavior. Kathy’s niece, Tammy White, later said Amy showed up to the funeral wearing what she described as a flashy red dress and a large Kentucky Derby style hat. The day after the funeral, Ross went into the double wide, removed the furniture and bloody carpet, and put the items outside. Amy and Ross later remodeled the home and moved into the same house where Kathy, Mike and Violet and Barbara had died. Even with investigators suspicions, no arrest came in 2015, and the criminal case eventually stalled. While that was happening, a separate fight started over the family’s property, money and belongings. On March 28, 2016, Amy sued her aunt Pam over two cars belonging to Mike and Barbara. Uh, a 2010 Toyota Tundra and a 2005 Toyota Corolla valued at $28,699. Pam fought back and accused Amy of having unclean hands, claiming she had forged signatures belonging to her dead relatives to transfer the vehicle titles to them. Pam also accused Amy of refusing to return around $30,000 worth of family property, including diamond earrings, gold necklaces, and antique dishes. Man, money can do stuff to people. Just, uh, oh, my God. I just, oh, my God. I couldn’t imagine somebody, my family, so many people in my family being murdered and then turning around and fighting over money. Like, I couldn’t imagine that. Now, I’m not saying, like, some of them are wrong, like, you know, trying to get family property back or Pam fighting Amy over the cars. Like, why are you trying to get the cars so bad? Like, you know, but what I’m saying is the one who’s starting to fight, I couldn’t imagine like you don’t care. Then, on May 25, Amy and Ross sued the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office over property police had seized during the murder investigation. They argued that the Sheriff’s Office was wrongfully holding more than $10,000 worth of cash, cars, electronics, firearms, and other items that they said had no evidentiary value. Another lawsuit followed in 2017 after Amy agreed to sell the refugee road Property, accepted a $10,000 deposit, and then allegedly failed to transfer the property titles. Wow. So they. They’re just stealing everything? Allegedly. Those civil disputes continued for years. But in 2021, S.C. circuit Court Judge J. Cordell Maddox Jr. Approved a global settlement. Amy and Ross received $34,890, while Pam was awarded other property from the estate, including four cars, Kathy’s personal belongings, a.22 Magnum revolver, and $21,412 police had recovered from the bathroom of the Double Wide. Amy and Ross eventually sold the Pendleton property and moved to the West Columbia area, where they started another mobile grooming business called Right Way Mobile Pet Grooming. I mean, the first one didn’t work, but you said you got all this money for the first one. That’s the thing. But anyways, the first one didn’t work, so you used some money and then opened the same business on September 2, 2022. They were even providing free grooming services for police canines. Really? Really. Are you allegedly wink, wink, nudge, nudge, bribing the cops. By then, years had passed without an arrest. Pam later described how hard that it was for the family, saying, quote, I remember thinking arrests would be made within a week. And here we are five years later. Our lives are forever altered from this brutal crime. Everything was taken from us that day. And we’ve had to continue with little answers. Then in 2023, the case started getting more attention again. On March 8, an episode of the Unsolved Mysteries podcast called the Scott Family Massacre featured the case. And on March 14, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office publicly named Amy and Ross as of interest. In April, Amy’s daughter, Savannah Thomas, also made a public statement about what she believed had happened to her grandparents. I’m the daughter of Amy Velardi, and I do believe that my mother and stepfather, uh, had something to do with this, or they did do this. 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. Work. I’m praying for everyone in my family. I’m praying for help to find the right evidence. To put them to justice. Then in August 2023, Sheriff Chad McBride brought in the team from cold, uh, justice to help review the case. Veteran prosecutor Kelly Siegler and homicide investigator Steve Spinogla worked with law enforcement to go back through the evidence that had already been collected. While digital forensic expert Eric Devlin focused on electron records. One of the things forensic expert Devlin went back to was that photograph Mike had sent to his co worker on October 29, 2015. Remember, if you remember, Mike had taken a picture of that stack of hundred dollar bills, uh, because I was like, why? So, yeah, Devlin went back over that picture. The picture was clear enough that some of the serial numbers could be read. So forensic expert Devlin compared those numbers with the photographs police had taken of the cash seized from Amy and Ross’s safe eight years earlier. Who would have, uh, thought to do that? But that’s why he’s the expert. And guess what they found Matches. At least two specific hundred dollar bills recovered from Amy and Ross’s safe could now be shown to have been in Mike’s possession shortly before his death. With that development, investigators went back to Amy and Ross and was like, um, yeah, you want to tell us again where you were that night? This time they interviewed them separately. Investigators Spinogla and detective Tyler Duncan spoke with Ross inside an unmarked police car that had been wired with cameras and microphones. Ross talked about where he and Amy had been that weekend and also pointed investigators towards Pam as someone they should consider, really. Eventually, they confronted him with the QT footage showing him wearing the red sneakers. Ross acknowledged wearing the shoes, but he said he had no idea what happened to them. At another point in the conversation, he began asking investigators about best case scenarios if he decided to cooperate. Just confess at this point. Just confess. When they told him that they believed he was responsible for the killings, Ross asked for an attorney. Investigators also approached Amy outside her home, but she refused to get into their car. While talking about the case, Amy told them, quote, I drove myself quite crazy for about a couple of years later there, and I’ve chosen to step away and I’ve got to be healthy and I’ve got kids and I’ve got to live life and it’s somebody else that, who’s dropped the ball. That’s not on me anymore. What? What? Okay, is that her weird way of saying that I didn’t do it, somebody else did it, and y’ all haven’t figured it out yet? I didn’t understand that quote, but that’s what I’m getting from that on December 15, 2023. Eight years after Kathy, Mike, Violet and Barbara were found dead, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office arrested Amy and Ross and charged each of them with four counts of murder. Sheriff McBride M. Said, quote, they were senselessly and brutally murdered. It was gruesome, it was gory, and it was just a devastating scene to see. I think we knew this day would come. We were praying this day would come. Pam had waited years for that day, too. She said, quote, I’m not sure what I’m feeling right now. Thankful, excited. I just have so many emotions. It’s that day that we’ve all hoped for, that we’ve all prayed for, that we’ve all believed one day was coming. But it’s unreal. Then the case moved to court. Between February 11 and February 13, 2024, hearings were held involving the couple’s detention and bond. During those proceedings, the state revealed that a detention officer had found two homemade shanks hidden inside a drawer in the cell that Amy shared with two other women. Another inmate also reported hearing Amy say that she was getting out of here one way or another. Amy’s defense attorney, Laurie S. Murray, pushed back on that. Attorney Murray said that Amy’s belongings were kept in an unused bunk rather than in the drawer where the shanks were found, and argued that there was nothing showing that they belonged to Amy, which I guess is true. And there’s other people in there. She also argued that her client should be granted bond. By considering what Amy and Ross had done during the eight years when they were free to leave, they, for eight years, were able to move wherever they wanted. They could visit where they want to, travel where they wanted, run if they wanted to, move to a country that didn’t have extradition if they wanted. But they didn’t. They stayed here. The question is, did they really have money for all of that? I mean, yeah, they got this money from, um, the safe, allegedly. But how fast did they run through that money? Look at how fast they ran through money the first time. Plus, they had to keep an eye on the cops, allegedly, while they were giving them the, uh, canines free baths and stuff. So Tammy then spoke about what the unresolved case had done to her family, saying, quote, our family has been in fear for the last eight years because the crime led us to wonder if any of our remaining family could be in danger. My last plea is that the victims, Kathy, Mike, Barbara and Violet, be honored by denying the bond. On February 6, South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Heath Taylor denied the bond for both Amy and Ross. Their cases continued moving together until February 12, 2026, when Ross’s defense attorney, Shawn Kent, asked Judge Scott to separate the trials. Attorney Kent argued that trying Amy and Ross together would create serious problems because much of the state’s case involved the statements the spouses had made about one another. But the state opposed separating them, arguing that many of the statements used words like we. And trying to remove every reference to the other defendant would make parts of this evidence difficult for a jury to follow. Well, yeah, that’s what the defense was going for. Attorney Kent also raised Ross’s recorded conversation inside the unmarked police car. He argued that investigators had tried to get a confession by discussing possible deals and best case scenarios, and that the state would then try to use Ross’s questions as evidence against him. I mean, he’s the one who asked, quote, the criminal justice system is not complicated. What we look at is we look at actual evidence. We don’t look at theories. And what the state of South Carolina has done after eight years is come up with a theory. He also objected to the way Ross’s military background was being used, saying, quote, they have used his service to the United States of America against him. That’s not how our criminal justice system works. Judge Sprouse granted the request and separated the cases. Amy would go to trial first, while Ross would have his own jury later. Now, before Amy’s trial began, Attorney Murray also challenged the state’s financial expert and argued that the expert wasn’t qualified to connect the couple’s personal financial records to the crime. And Judge Sprouse said, look, I already granted you one thing. Go over there and shut up. Uh, he didn’t say that. He did deny the request, though, allowing the financial evidence to be presented. Amy’s trial began on February 23, 2026, and this is where the state finally put its complete theory in front of a jury. Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Heather Savitz Wise. Oh, my God. Y’ all don’t understand how many tries it took me to say that. That is the longest job title I’ve ever heard. Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General. Anyway, Attorney Wise and prosecutor Joel Kozak presented a case built largely on circumstantial evidence. Prosecutor Kozak told the jury to follow the money, while prosecutor Weiss told them, quote, people will kill and do desperate things for money. The one person who truly stood to benefit from their death is Amy Velardi. Rather than simply showing that Amy and Ross had been struggling financially, prosecutors used the timing of what happened around the murders to make their argument the couple had a large debt come in due. Remember it was like two weeks out. Ross had given his landlord a post dated check on November 1 and then the next morning he suddenly had $8,000 in cash. Police also found the tens of thousands of dollars in their safe. And the serial number comparison now showed that at least some of that money belonged to Mike, which honestly Mike could have just given them money. So that really isn’t proof. Prosecutors then turned to the problems inside the family. They reminded jurors about the July 4th fight and the fact that Amy had stopped Kathy and Mike from seeing the grandchildren. This was also where the toys found on the coffee table become important. The state argued that Kathy and Mike were expecting to see the children and that Amy had used the possibility of reconciliation and access to the grandchildren children to get the family to lower their guard. According to the prosecutors. That also helped to explain why there had been no forced entry into the double wide. Prosecutors gave the jury their interpretation of Amy’s October 31st message to Ross as well. They argued that when Amy wrote everyone is up now talking. Hahaha huh, take my car and grab a six pack. She was letting Ross know that everyone inside the house was awake and together. The state also connected this two sets of bloody impressions with the QT surveillance footage. Prosecutors argued that the smaller barefoot impressions belonged to Amy, while the larger shoe impressions were consistent with the same ASIC model Ross had been wearing when he was recorded buying beer at 9:38. Prosecutor Weiss also brought up Ross’s military background, even though the defense had said you shouldn’t do that. But what she brought it up was to discuss the knife injury. She said, quote, the stab wounds and the lacerations are very concerning and they tend to show a very personal relationship to the victims of the crime itself. Mr. Velardi has had training in hand to hand combat with knives, had a khabar when he was discharged from the Marine Corps. Now when I said even though she wasn’t supposed to bring that up, it wasn’t the judge who actually gave the ruling. It was just the defense saying, oh don’t bring this up because you’re using his military background against him. The state then took the couple’s movements on November 1, their trip to Columbia. The new phones, the messages establish and where they were and argued that those things weren’t random. According to prosecutors, Amy and Ross were trying to create an alibi so someone else would find the body while they were away. Prosecutor Weiss told the jury that the problem with that plan was that no one found Them. All Amy and Ross had to do was go to Columbia and be sure she was in Colombia when the bodies were found. But nobody finds the bodies. Now. The plan has to change. Somebody has to find the bodies. It’s Monday morning. What do we do now? According to the state, the answer was Amy’s November 2nd 911 call. Another major piece of the prosecution’s case came from Amy’s former cellmate, Jackie Phillips. Jackie told the jury that Amy had confessed to her while they were in jail together. She testified, quote, I was really kind of struck at her comment when she said that they had corralled them into the living room and he did the deed. They corralled them into the living room and did the deed. I said, so you mean shot them? And she said she went like this. Basically, they went like this, and she was demonstrating a gesture with her finger like a gun. So now it’s the defense’s turn, and, oh, boy, were they burning to have a turn. Attorney Murray started with the biggest weakness that she saw in the state’s case. There was still no direct forensic evidence. During closing arguments, Attorney Murray told the jury, quote, there’s no evidence because Amy didn’t do it. They didn’t find any fingerprints, not on the floors, the counters, the walls. Not one fingerprint that they could match to Amy Velardi or her husband. Touch DNA? None. The defense also pointed out that investigators hadn’t found the victim’s blood or DNA, um, inside of Amy or Ross’s trailer, even though the attack inside the double wide had been extremely bloody. Police had seized firearms and knives during their searches, but none of those weapons had ever been tied to the murders, and some were eventually returned by court order. My question is, where are his shoes? How do you just lose a pair of shoes? And surprise coincidence. The same shoes that were used in the murder, or, um, you know, they could track in the murder were the same shoes they saw you with that night. And now, suddenly, coincidentally, those same shoes are missing. Really? So the defense again argued that, remember, because they were talking about the military background before. So now in the trial, uh, the defense also, uh, brought up the fact that they are using Ross’s military background against him. Um, they also challenged the state financial argument, saying that even though some of the serial numbers matched, they said that Ross and Amy didn’t even hide the money. So they were like, it was just sitting there, so how could it have been them? He said that keeping the supposedly stolen murder money in plain sight and reach of police didn’t make sense. Which I can name off just off the top of my head. In these cases, I’ve done, like, five people who have committed murders who just literally left the evidence right on them. So, I mean, that’s. It’s really not an argument. They could have just been stupid. Then she went after the state’s timeline. She said the arrest warrants placed the killings on October 31, but the coroner’s report and an early doctor’s report listed the time of death as November 1st. The state called pathologist Kyle Shaw, and pathologist Shaw acknowledged that determining an exact time of death can be difficult. He told the jury, quote, there’s a lot of inconsistencies on determining time of death and time since death based on really, of the body examination method that we have. Attorney Murray argued that investigators had built their timeline around the ACICS surveillance footage instead of allowing the medical evidence to determine when the family had died. She also attacked the reliability of witnesses whose memories had changed over time. Roxy, for instance, testified that Amy’s behavior during the cleanup of the house that night felt light and like a normal workday. Attorney Murray then brought up Roxy’s original 2015 police interview, when she had described Amy as very upset and distressed and, yeah, I remember that, but it’s been how many years? Maybe she forgot about it then. The defense also challenged Jackie’s jailhouse confession story by playing Jackie’s earlier recorded interview with investigators. In that version, Jackie said that Amy had told her that she corralled them in the house and then he shot them, which was different from Jackie’s courtroom testimony, that they had corralled the family. Attorney Murray pressed her about the change, and Jackie acknowledged it, saying, quote, right, I did say she. Maybe it doesn’t make sense, but I was just telling you what I was told. Attorney Murray then brought up Jackie’s criminal history, which, you know, she’s in jail. We know she has a criminal history. But he said her criminal history involved drugs and got her to admit that she lied on a drug test while in jail. Apples and oranges. The defense’s argument was that Jackie wasn’t a reliable witness and had reason to provide investigators with information if she believed that it might help her own situation, which is totally plausible. Another major part of the defense was the role that Cole justice had played in reviving the case. Attorney Murray argued that Amy hadn’t been arrested in 2015 because police knew they didn’t have enough evidence and that the 2023 arrest came after the TV show brought a new attention and pressure to the investigation. According to the defense, investigators had developed tunnel vision around Amy and Ross and were put in a new interpretation on old evidence while ignoring other possibilities, including people Mike may have dealt with through his gold business. This after a week of testimony, the case went to the jury on Friday, February 27, 2026. Now, before I continue, first of all, the ice cream truck is about to pass, so you’re about to hear ice cream truck music. I apologize for that. Second, I want you to imagine, if you’re in the jury, take the argument of the prosecution and then take the argument of the defense and let me know in the comments what you think the verdict will be. Now, while you’re doing that, let me explain why I’m asking you before giving you the verdict. I really think this time that both sides have valid points. On the prosecution side, there are a lot of things that’s really, really hard for me to ignore. Amy and Ross were having serious financial problems before the murders. And then you have the $8,000 cash payment and the money found inside their safe. And years later, investigators were able to connect some of the money found in the safe directly back to Mike. Then you have Ross wearing the same shoes that match the bloody shoe print. And Amy’s text saying that everyone was up, and the family problems leading up to the murder, and Jackie saying that Amy confessed to her in jail. It’s just a lot. But none of those things themselves necessarily proves that Amy committed the murder. But the problem is when you start stacking them on top of each other. So I can understand why the prosecution believed that they had a strong case. But then I look at what the defense was saying, and y’ all know that I hate to agree with the defense a lot of the times I won’t say all the time. And with if their argument, they’re talking about how the scene was really, really bloody. But even though it was so blood, so much blood and gore, there was no DNA found of Amy’s and Mike’s, no fingerprints, no victim blood found in Amy and Ross’s trailer, and no murder weapon was recovered. Then the, uh, bare footprints were never actually forensically identified as Amy’s. And even though Ross was wearing the same type of shoe, the actual shoes were never found and tested. So it’s like, then you have questions about the exact time of death. Witnesses whose memories changed throughout the years, and then Jackie’s words changing from Amy saying she corralled them to they corralled them. So was it her who did it herself, or they both did it it? And even Though I’m saying this like, you know, I can understand. I also can agree that this is a lot of nitpicking. So with all that said, go ahead and put your answer in the comments below. If you were part of the jury, before I tell you what the actual jury decided based on only everything that you just heard up until this point, what do you think? Guilty or not guilty? While you’re doing that, I’m just gonna let you know that this is one of those cases where I don’t hear the prosecution’s case and immediately think, well, obviously the jury’s gonna find him guilty. I honestly don’t know. If I was a member of the jury, I don’t even know how I would vote, uh, there. It’s just everybody has. Circumstantial evidence is really hard to prove. You know what I’m saying? It’s just. And everybody has a good argument. So that’s why I want to know what you would do if you were sitting in that jury box. Personally, I would need to talk this over with the other members of the jury before I was able to give a definitive answer. All right, So I hope with all my rambling, that you had time to put your answer in the comments below. So now I could go ahead and tell you what happened. So the jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before finding Amy guilty on all four counts of murder. So I hope to see your comments there. I wonder if you said guilty. Wonder if you said not guilty, but if you did say guilty, what kind of, like, pushed you over into the realm of she’s guilty? Judge Sprouse then sentenced her to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, one sentence for each person that she had been convicted of killing. So what do you think? Are you surprised with the verdict? Are you surprised with the sentence? Or does it kind of match up with what you thought afterwards? South Carolina Attorney General Allen Wilson thanked the jury and the prosecutors who worked the case case. But he also addressed the family, saying, quote, and finally, to those family members who lost loved ones, we hope this brings you closure. Amy has since appealed her convictions, where she filed her notice of appeal on March 9, 2026. And on May 14, she was granted an extension of time. The trial transcripts were delivered to the South Carolina Court of appeals on June 18. And on June 19, a motion to file out of time was submitted, and that motion was processed on June20. And as of now, Amy’s appeal was still in the initial briefing stage, and the Court of Appeals had sent an overdue letter concerning her briefing schedule. Attorney Wanda H. Carter is currently represented Amy in the appeal, while Lori S. Murray and Joshua Snow Kendrick are enlisted as her former trial attorneys. Ross’s case is still separate from amy’s conviction on July 28, 2026. His trial was scheduled for October 12, 2026, and prosecutors have also filed 52 pretrial motions in his case and are expected to rely on much of the same financial, digital, and physical evidence that was presented during Amy’s trial. But so far, Ross has not been convicted, and he still faces four counts of murder. And as of right now, as you well know, because the case is still ongoing, um, the charges and everything said hair is just alleged because I ain’t trying to be sued. And that leaves this family in a strange position because one case has reached a verdict while another one hasn’t. And on top of that, Amy’s conviction is still being appealed. What are your thoughts on that case? One of the questions I personally have after going through all of this is how much circumstantial evidence is enough? Because in a case like this, you could look at one piece by itself and say that it doesn’t prove murder. But at what point do you have enough individual pieces where they’re all put together and that becomes enough for evidence? You know what I’m saying? This is what Amy’s jury had to decide. I wonder how hard it was for them to do that, because like I said, I would have had to talk it through really seriously with somebody on the jury before I could have made up my mind. So what are your thoughts on this case? I initially asked you, did you agree with Amy’s, uh, verdict and her sentencing? And I’m also going to add, do you think Ross will get the same sentence as Amy? I will keep this case, um, for updating. I already put, um. I usually mark cases that need updating, so I already put a mark next to this one. And I’ll let you know what verdict, um, and sentence in that Ross got. In the meantime, let me know what you think in the comments below. As I told you in the beginning of this episode, I wanted to tell you a little bit about the Patreon patreon.com 11Murder. This is where you get bonus cases, bonus facts, bonus, um, after shows, bonus pictures, bonus videos, et cetera, et cetera. You get bonuses by being part of the lam fam. If you sign up to one of our paid tiers, the best tier that you get the most bang for your buck is the $5 tier. Because at that tier don’t not only do you get everything below it, but you also get one bonus episode a month. And if I do after shows, you do get those after shows too. So with that tier is basically, like I said, after shows, one bonus episode a month. You get ad free. So you don’t get an intro, you don’t get an outro. And we go straight into the case and my thoughts on the case. And then even sometimes in talking about the case, you get to learn a little bit about me and my background and my history. So like the last episode we did, which came out on Tuesday, I think, as of this recording, which was, uh, the case on Kelvin Williams, I believe his name was, um, yeah, Kelvin Williams, that case. I actually did a rant about my background. So if you just wanted to hear about that, then you join the Patreon and you do hear behind the scene rants and stuff that I do delete, um, from the public feed because, you know, it’s private stuff. Well, somewhat private since I do share it with the lam fam. But anyways, go ahead and join at the Patreon at one of the paid tiers. You also become a supporter of Love and Murder. You help keep this podcast going, you help keep the victims names out there, you help keep my lights on to be able to have this podcast. But if you’re not ready to sign up for it, you can go to the Patreon and you can sign up for free. Patreon.com forward/loveandmurder and by being a free sub, you do get reminders of each episode so you don’t miss a case. Patreon.com uh, forward/loveandmurder so that is all I have for you today. I do want to thank you for listening. And as I end each full episode, I want to remind you that it’s say it with me now. All, uh, love and no murder, y’. All. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for supporting me and I will see you in the next episode. Bye. Um,

Since you listened to this case, maybe you’d be interested in:

A Son’s Secret Life Led to the Double Murder of His Parents | Chandler Halderson
https://murderandlove.com/a-sons-secret-life-let-to-the-double-murder-of-his-parents-chandler-halderson/

Sources: (what the sources say)

https://people.com/amy-vilardi-murder-trail-11912471

https://www.courttv.com/news/sc-v-amy-vilardi-halloween-family-murders-trial/

https://www.independentmail.com/story/news/crime/2026/02/27/amy-vilardi-of-pendleton-sc-found-guilty-of-quadruple-homicides/88880895007/

https://www.foxcarolina.com/2026/04/30/evidence-revealed-pendleton-quadruple-murder-case/

https://www.foxcarolina.com/2026/06/03/carolina-crime-files-cost-greed/

https://www.oxygen.com/cold-justice/crime-news/pendleton-quadruple-homicide-mike-cathy-scott

https://www.oxygen.com/cold-justice/crime-news/sc-couple-arrested-2015-pendleton-quadruple-murder-mike-cathy-scott

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