Free Republic

More than eight years after a South Carolina couple was brutally killed in their home on Halloween night alongside their elderly mothers, one of the family members who gave a slew of tearful media interviews mourning the victims has just been charged with the crime. Anderson County Sheriff Chad McBride announced the jaw-dropping conclusion of the case on Friday, telling reporters that Amy Vilardi and her husband, Rosmore “Ross” Vilardi, had been taken into custody and charged with the murders of Amy’s mother, Cathy Scott, 60; Cathy’s husband, Michael Scott, 59; Michael’s mother, Barbara Scott, 80; and Cathy’s mother, Violet...

Embattled Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano, under investigation by his own agency for financial issues, threw himself in front of a Metra train this morning and was killed, sources said. It happened in an unincorporated area near Crystal Lake just after 8 a.m.

Chicago Breaking News reported late last night that former Chicago schools chief and current Secretary of Education Arne Duncan manipulated a system to favor powerful political allies by placing their children in the schools of their choice. The discovery of a list, the existence of which had been long denied by the city, and its composition of mainly high-powered political figures calls into question the appeals system used to reconsider applications that had been denied by the top Chicago-area schools: While many Chicago parents took formal routes to land their children in the best schools, the well-connected also sought help...

HIS FINAL HOURS | Police files obtained by Sun-Times show School Board ### Sixteen hours before he was found dead, city School Board President Michael W. Scott got a Sunday-morning call from a top aide to Mayor Daley to schedule a meeting about questionable expenses that Scott and his staff had charged to board credit cards. Scott had a 13-minute conversation with mayoral press secretary Jacquelyn Heard starting at 11:01 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, according to police reports obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times about Scott's suicide. Scott goes to the office of a real estate developer regarding Scott's monthly fee...

We may never know what drove Chicago School Board President Michael Scott to take his life. At the time of his death, Scott had been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury looking into the admissions practices at Chicago's selective-enrollment schools. As a member of Mayor Daley's failed Olympic bid team, he also came under unfavorable media scrutiny for helping a group of ministers develop land that would have netted a hefty profit had the bid been successful. Scott denied having a financial interest in the development. Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), who has been charged with taking bribes and has been...

Grief and anger, like clouds of a coming storm, moved back and forth across the landscape of Mayor Daley's face in public appearances last week. And why not? Michael Scott, his longtime, loyal friend, was dead. Suddenly. Violently. By his own hand, according to the Cook County medical examiner. When we lose someone we love, particularly like that, don't we ask ourselves what it was we failed to see? Or failed to do? Our own helplessness adds rage to sorrow. It's understandable. It's human. That's the best explanation I can come up with for what happened Wednesday at the mayor's...

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3 It seems the Olympic suicide flu is spreading through Chicago. Michael Scott another dirty political partner of Valerie Jarrett decides to blow his brains out. We all know the Daley motto, dead men tell no tales and Scott won’t be talking. Of course we also know that suicide in Chi-town is like going for a swim w/lead sneakers in NJ. This is...

Suicide? Yes? Yes? No? Press Conference with the Mayor.

Michael Scott made his living in Chicago politics as one of Mayor Richard Daley's guys out front. The mayor put him on a series of public boards, from the Park District to the Chicago Board of Education. He made a decent living in real estate, and for 30 years he did what all front guys do: Talk to reporters, sit in front of news cameras and lend his face to the mayor's policies and enterprise. What's strange is that this very public man found an extremely private place to die. The place where Scott was found early Monday, with a...

A body discovered floating in the Chicago River near Merchandise Mart this morning is believed to be that of Chicago Public Schools Board President Michael Scott, police said. Police have not positively identified the man, but Scott’s Cadillac was found nearby and Scott’s family had reported him missing earlier in the day....

A body tentatively identified as Michael Scott, president of the Chicago Board of Education, was found in the Chicago River near the Merchandise Mart this morning, police sources said. A blue Cadillac registered to Scott, 60, was found parked next to a trash bin yards away from the river. A police spokesman said the identification was preliminary. The Cook County medical examiner's office has not yet positively identified the body. Scott's family, concerned about his whereabouts, had contacted police Sunday night, reporting he was missing.