A woman from the United Kingdom, who killed her parents in their Essex home and continued to live with their hidden corpses for four years while using their pension funds, was handed a life sentence with a minimum of 36 years on October 11, 2024.

The convicted woman, Virginia McCullough, 36, admitted to the Chelmsford Crown Court that she had murdered her parents, John McCullough, 70, and Lois McCullough, 71, in their Great Baddow, Essex, England residence in June 2019.

As prosecutor Lisa Wilding informed the court, McCullough had constructed a “makeshift tomb” using masonry blocks for her father, a university teacher. This tomb was concealed in the bedroom, hidden under blankets and photographs. Her mother’s body was wrapped in a sleeping bag and stored in a bedroom closet.

McCullough had carefully planned the murders, gathering prescription drugs and acquiring tools to crush pills several months before the killings took place. She used prescription drugs to poison her father, while her mother was poisoned and also suffered lethal injuries from a hammer attack and stabbing.

In the four years that followed the murders, as noted by the judge, McCullough sustained “an elaborate, extensive, and enduring web of deceit” to hide her crimes. She misled relatives and medical professionals by claiming her parents were either ill or on vacation, all while she continued to reside in the family home with their remains.

As court records revealed, McCullough profited from her parents’ deaths, spending more than $186,000 from their pensions and credit cards. She squandered $26,500 on online gambling alone. She lived rent-free and ran up substantial credit card debts in her parents’ names, forging letters to make it seem as if they had fallen victim to scams.

McCullough’s crimes were uncovered in September 2023 when the couple’s physician raised concerns about missed medical appointments, triggering a police investigation. Upon her arrest, McCullough confessed to the murders, saying she had started planning them in March 2019.

The presiding judge, Mr. Justice (Jeremy) Johnson, described McCullough’s crimes as a severe violation of the trust that should exist between parents and children.

He highlighted the significant level of premeditation and planning in the crimes, noting that McCullough had amassed a large amount of prescription drugs, bought a knife in May 2019, and procured tools to crush and separate pills.

He categorized her offenses as deliberate acts of aggression that followed a long period of planning and preparation.

While handing down the sentence, he expressed his belief that a primary motive for both murders was to prevent her parents from finding out about her theft and deceit and to gain control over funds intended for them.