A woman from Essex who murdered both her parents and then lived with their decomposing remains inside her home for four years has been sentenced to life in prison.
A Grisly Discovery and a Chilling Confession
Virginia McCullough, 36, was finally arrested after concerns were raised by her parents' GP. When officers arrived at the family home in Great Baddow, Essex, they made a horrific discovery. McCullough had killed her mother, Lois, and father, John, some time in August or September 2018, and had concealed their bodies within the property.
Upon her arrest, she made a bizarrely cheerful remark to police, stating, "Cheer up, at least you've caught the bad guy." She then proceeded to give detailed confessions about the murders and the extreme steps she took to hide the corpses.
Macabre Methods of Concealment
McCullough's methods for disposing of her parents' bodies were described by former Essex police detective Simon Dinsdale as having an unprecedented "level of sophistication." She first attempted to poison both parents with a massive overdose of sedatives.
Her father, a heavy drinker, died after she concealed the drugs in his nightly glass of wine. Her mother, however, survived the initial poisoning. McCullough then attacked the 71-year-old with a hammer, describing it as "like someone playing a xylophone," before stabbing her multiple times in the back.
To hide her father's body, she constructed a macabre tomb in a downstairs room using his original bed, wood, and concrete blocks, telling a neighbour she was building a fireplace to explain any noise. She then covered the structure with a blanket, paintings, and photos.
Her mother's body was dealt with more crudely. Within days, maggots and flies began to accumulate on the corpse. McCullough told police she cried as she moved her mother's body into a four-door wardrobe, which she then sealed with tape to contain the insects.
Life After the Murders and the Final Reckoning
For the next four years, McCullough maintained a chilling façade, living alone in the house with her parents' remains. She continued to draw their pensions and used their credit cards, fraudulently obtaining around £150,000. Court records show she spent approximately £21,000 of this on online gambling between 2019 and 2023.
She gave contradictory stories to locals, claiming her parents were on holiday or had moved away. The coronavirus lockdowns helped her avoid further scrutiny. McCullough, who had a reputation for "weirdness" and telling dramatic tales, even called police with false assault claims prior to her arrest.
In her defence, she claimed a lifetime of neglect and abuse from her parents, particularly her mother, stating she was never toilet-trained and was sent to school in dirty clothes. A former schoolfriend recalled her as "weird" but not to the level of her crimes.
In October 2024, at Chelmsford Crown Court, Virginia McCullough was handed a life sentence for the double murder. The judge ordered that she must serve a minimum of 36 years in prison before being considered for parole. The case is detailed in the Channel 5 documentary "How I Murdered Mum & Dad: The Virginia McCullough Confessions."
