On October 11, 2024, a woman from Essex, UK, who murdered her parents and lived with their hidden corpses for four years while spending their pensions, was sentenced to life in prison, with a mandatory term of 36 years.
The woman, 36-year-old Virginia McCullough, admitted to the murders of her parents, John McCullough, 70, and Lois McCullough, 71, in June 2019 at their home in Great Baddow, Essex, England. She pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Prosecutor Lisa Wilding informed the court that Virginia constructed a crude tomb for her father, a university lecturer, using masonry blocks. This tomb was stored in a bedroom, concealed with blankets and photographs. Her mother’s body was kept in a sleeping bag in a bedroom closet.
McCullough had meticulously planned the murders, amassing prescription drugs and buying equipment to crush pills months ahead of the crimes. She poisoned her father using prescription medication, and her mother was poisoned and fatally injured by a hammer attack and stabbing.
In the four years after the murders, McCullough spun an intricate and long-lasting web of lies to cover her crimes, as described by the judge. She misled family members and doctors by claiming her parents were either ill or traveling, all while living in the family home alongside their remains.
Court records revealed that McCullough profited financially from her crimes, spending over $186,000 from her parents’ pensions and credit cards. She splurged $26,500 on online gambling alone. She lived without paying rent and racked up significant credit card debt in her parents’ names, fabricating letters to suggest they had lost money to scams.
The crimes were uncovered in September 2023 when the couple’s doctor expressed concern about their missed appointments, triggering a police investigation. McCullough confessed to the murders upon her arrest, revealing that she had started planning them in March 2019.
The presiding judge, Mr. Justice (Jeremy) Johnson, castigated McCullough’s actions as a grave violation of the trust that should exist between parents and their children.
He noted that the crimes demonstrated substantial premeditation and planning, evidenced by McCullough stockpiling a large amount of prescription drugs, purchasing a knife in May 2019, and obtaining tools to crush and separate pills.
He characterized McCullough’s actions as calculated aggression preceded by months of detailed planning and preparation.
During McCullough’s sentencing, he highlighted his belief that a significant motive for both murders was McCullough’s intent to prevent her parents from discovering her financial deception and to gain access to their funds.
