Virginia McCullough: Daughter who murdered parents and hid bodies for years is jailed for life

A woman who murdered both her parents and then hid their bodies in her house for years has been jailed for life.

Virginia McCullough poisoned her father John and attacked her mother Lois with a hammer and a knife, then covered up their deaths with a web of lies to family.

The 36-year-old told relatives and authorities that the couple were unwell or away on holiday whenever they questioned why they had not seen them.

At Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday, McCullough was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years, having admitted two counts of murder in June.

The judge, Mr Justice Johnson, said McCullough's actions were a "gross violation of the trust that should exist between parents and their children".

He said he was sure the offences involved a "substantial degree of both pre-meditation and planning".

After sentencing, Mr and Mrs McCullough's family said they had been "left devastated and heartbroken at the deaths of our parents who were taken from us so cruelly."

“Our Mum and Dad are forever in our hearts, and are loved and missed beyond any measure" they said.

In bodycam footage of her arrest, McCullough tells officers: "I did know that this would come eventually.

"It's proper that I serve my punishment."

• Watch the full bodycam confession from Virginia McCullough, as filmed by Essex Police officers

Concerns were first raised for the couple in September 2023, when the couple's GP became worried that Mr McCullough, 70, had not attended appointments or picked up his medication.

A missing person investigation began that month, and police visited the couple's home in Pump Hill, Great Baddow, where their daughter claimed they would be away travelling until October.

That aroused officers' suspicions and they got permission to enter the house, where they found human remains later identified as Mr and Mrs McCullough.

Police established that the murders took place at some stage in the summer of 2019, and post-mortem examinations revealed both had been poisoned with prescription medication.

Mr McCullough had died as a result of the poisoning and his wife, 71, had been hit with a hammer and then stabbed.

During the investigation, it emerged that their daughter had told "persistent lies" about their whereabouts, cancelling family arrangements and telling doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on long trips.

She went to "great effort" to keep family and friends away from the house throughout the Covid pandemic and years thereafter, said police.

When police raided the house, McCullough was arrested and immediately confessed to officers that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.

Evidence showed that she had "long manipulated and abused her parents’ good will for financial gain, said police, running up large debts on credit cards in her parents' names.

After their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions.

The court heard she benefitted from nearly £150,000 as a result of killing her parents.

A spokesman said: "The documents uncovered at the address built a picture of a woman who was trying desperately to keep her parents from discovering the depth of the financial black hole she continued to dig, while giving them false assurances about her employment and future prospects."

Det Supt Rob Kirby said: “Virginia McCullough murdered her parents in cold blood.

“Her actions were considered, meticulous and carried out in such a way as to conceal what she had done for as long as possible.

“These were the actions of someone who had taken time to plan and carry out the murder of her parents in the interest of self-preservation and personal gain, before living within metres of the bodies of her two victims for a number of years.

“Throughout the course of our investigation, we have built a picture of the vast levels of deceit, betrayal and fraud she engaged in. It was on a shocking and monumental scale.

“McCullough lied about almost every aspect of her life, maintaining a charade to deceive everyone close to her and clearly taking advantage of her parents’ good will.

“She is an intelligent manipulator who chose to kill her parents callously, without a thought for them or those who continue to suffer as a result of their loss.

He said the details "shock and horrify even the most experienced of murder detectives" and that McCullough's family could not have foreseen "this level of deceit".

“They have been left utterly devastated by the circumstances of this case and they continue to feel the loss of John and Lois each and every day.

“This process, from the finding of John and Lois’ remains, to the unravelling of McCullough’s web of lies, has taken a huge toll on the wider family network.

“With this sentence and with all that we have uncovered throughout our investigation, we hope they can now start to find a way forward with their lives."

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