A Columbia couple has been arrested in connection with the murders of the woman’s mother and three other family members in Pendleton in 2015.

Anderson County Sheriff Chad McBride said at a news conference Friday afternoon that Amy Vilardi and her husband, Rosmore “Ross” Vilardi, had just been charged with the murders of Amy’s mother, Cathy Scott, 60; Cathy’s husband, Michael “Mike” Scott, 59; Mike’s mother, Barbara Scott, 80; and Cathy’s mother, Violet Taylor, 82.

They were each shot with a revolver in their home on Halloween night 2015.

McBride called the murders brutal and the crime scene gruesome and gory, among the worst detectives had ever seen.

He did not discuss why it had taken so long to bring charges other than to say there were many pieces that needed to be put together.

Shortly after the murders, the Daily Mail reported there had been a family dispute over Mike Scott’s sideline business of buying and selling gold. He was employed by the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

The Daily Mail also said Cathy Scott, who cared for the mothers at home, and her daughter were in a dispute over the grandchildren. Amy Vilardi and Vilardi’s husband of eight weeks lived in a mobile home on the property and ran a dog grooming business.

The Daily Mail reported Cathy Scott managed to run to the master bedroom from the living room where the others were shot. She was shot twice in the head.

Amy Vilardi told deputies at the time the disagreements were not serious.

Ross Vilardi said they were in Columbia when the murders occurred.

McBride said Friday Amy Vilardi called 911 to report the murders.

At the time, Amy Vilardi told Fox Carolina: ‘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 there. I don’t understand why any of it has happened and I just keep thinking it’s a dream I’m going to wake up from. Whoever did this, I don’t see how you can live with yourself.”

“God bless this family. They have waited so long,” McBride said, and added, “We were praying this day would come.”