Woman jailed for murdering her parents – after living at family home in Essex with their hidden bodies for years

A woman has been jailed after murdering both her parents and living with their bodies in the family home for four years.

Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John, 70, with prescription medication, before stabbing her mother Lois, 71, in the chest at their home in Chelmsford, Essex.

Their deaths happened sometime in June 2019 – but their bodies were not discovered until 2023 after their GP raised concerns about missed appointments.

In that time McCullough had hidden their remains and continued to live there, building a “makeshift tomb” for her father – while telling friends and neighbours that they had moved away, were unwell, or had gone on lengthy trips.

She was sentenced to a life term, with a minimum of 36 years, after pleading guilty to two counts of murder at Chelmsford Crown Court in July.

‘Cheer up, at least you caught the bad guy‘

McCullough confessed “moments after” police were called to the family home – following the report from the GP.

Bodycam footage of the arrest showed police forcing entry to the property before confronting McCullough in a hallway.

She appeared almost nonchalant in the footage, telling officers she would “cooperate” and calmly confessing to her crimes.

When asked by police, she said: “My dad’s body is in there.”

An officer then asked: “What about your mum?”

McCullough calmly replied: “[That’s] a little bit more complicated… upstairs there are about five wardrobes, it’s behind the bed at the back, next to the sink. It’s the second one.”

In reference to the arrest, she told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually. It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”

She added: “Cheer up, at least you caught the bad guy.”

McCullough later told officers where the murder weapon was.

Apparently referencing the knife she used to stab her mother, she said: “It’s in the middle underneath the stairs, it will still have blood on it, it’s rusted, but it will still have blood traces on it.”

‘Intelligent manipulator’

Essex Police said documents found 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”.

Detective Superintendent Rob Kirby described McCullough as someone who “lied about almost every aspect of her life”.

He said McCullough had been “maintaining a charade to deceive everyone close to her and clearly taking advantage of her parents’ goodwill”.

“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 added.

‘Homemade mausoleum’

Prosecutor Lisa Wilding KC told the court that McCullough “built a makeshift tomb” for her father, which was “covered with multiple blankets, and a number of pictures and paintings over the top”.

It was also described in court as a “homemade mausoleum”, and was in a ground floor room which had been her father’s bedroom and study, “composed with masonry blocks stacked together”.

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McCullough “concealed the body of her mother, wrapped in a sleeping bag, within a wardrobe in her mother’s bedroom on the top floor of the property,” the barrister said.

While in the dock, McCullough began to cry as the prosecution read out an account she gave to officers where she described the moments before she killed her mother.

She said: “[Her mother] just looked so innocent with her back turned against the wall.

“She was listening to the radio, she wasn’t doing anything.”

McCullough also told police she had to “build up gumption” to kill her mother as “I knew I had to get it done”.