Virginia McCullough, 36, has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 36 years after being found guilty of murdering her parents and living with their bodies for four years in their home in Great Baddow, Essex. McCullough poisoned her father, John McCullough, 70, and brutally murdered her mother, Lois McCullough, 71, the following day in June 2019.
After the murders, McCullough concealed the bodies, building a makeshift tomb for her father and hiding her mother’s body in a wardrobe. For four years, she kept up appearances, telling relatives and authorities that her parents were on holiday or unwell to explain their absence.
The gruesome discovery was made in September 2023, after police were alerted by concerned doctors and forced entry into the home. McCullough confessed to the murders upon arrest, calmly telling officers, “I knew this day would come.”
The court heard how McCullough had been plotting the murders since early 2019, driven by fear of her parents discovering that she had been stealing from them. She had been living off their pensions and credit cards, spending over £149,000, including £21,000 on online gambling.
During sentencing, the judge condemned her actions as a “gross violation of trust” and noted the significant planning involved in the murders. McCullough’s siblings, devastated by the loss, expressed their pain, describing the situation as “a living nightmare” and the betrayal as “unforgivable.”
McCullough now faces a lifetime behind bars for her horrific crimes.
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