British woman who murdered her parents and lived with their bodies has been sentenced to life in prison | News, sports, jobs

This undated award photo released by Essex Police shows Virginia McCullough who will be sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday, October 11, 2024 after murdering her parents and then living next to their bodies for four years while lying about their whereabouts. (Essex Police via AP)

LONDON (AP) — A British woman who murdered her parents and then lived next to their bodies in makeshift graves in the family home for four years was sentenced Friday to life in prison and told she would be ineligible for the next 36 years comes up for parole.

Virginia McCullough, who spent her parents’ money and went to great lengths to cover her tracks with family and friends through a web of lies, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court in southeast England in June 2019 pleaded guilty to the murder of her parents.

Judge Jeremy Johnson said during the sentencing hearing that McCullough’s actions… “A gross violation of the trust that should exist between parents and their children.”

When Essex Police raided her home in the village of Great Baddow last September, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had murdered them.

McCullough, 36, admitted that she poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription drugs that she crushed and put in his alcoholic drinks and that a day later she beat her 71-year-old mother Lois McCullough with a hammer and fatally stabbed her .

‘I knew this would happen eventually’ she said while handcuffed in body-worn footage captured by police and released Friday. “It is right that I serve my sentence.”

After McCullough was arrested on suspicion of double murder, she told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you caught the bad guy.” add that “I know I don’t seem 100% bad.”

Further body camera footage shows McCullough at the police station telling officers where to find the hammer and kitchen knife she used to kill her mother.

In the words of the prosecutor, McCullough held her father captive in a prison “homemade mausoleum” in his bedroom and study on the ground floor, in a building that was “composed of masonry blocks stacked on top of each other.” She also had her mother’s body wrapped in a sleeping bag in a wardrobe on the top floor of the property.

In the years between the murders and her arrest, McCullough racked up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and continued to spend their pensions. The court heard she had canceled family arrangements and often told doctors and relatives that her parents were unwell or on long journeys.

Statements from three unnamed siblings of the suspect were read out in court by prosecutor Lisa Wilding. One said that “Our parents were completely innocent victims” while another said: “Virginia always said Mom and Dad were doing well and made up lie after lie about their daily activities.”

Concerns about her parents’ welfare were raised by a doctor in September 2023, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred concerns to the police.

Judge Johnson said McCullough was a “extensive, extensive and enduring web of deception” for months and years and that he was sure there was one “substantial degree of both pre-meditation and planning,” as she had collected a large quantity of prescription medications and purchased a knife and tools to crush and separate tablets.

Essex Police said documents found at the address included a photo of a woman “desperately trying” to prevent her parents from discovering the parlous state of her finances while giving “false guarantees” about her work and future prospects.

“She is an intelligent manipulator who chose to callously kill her parents without thinking of them or those who continue to suffer as a result of their loss.” said Superintendent Rob Kirby. “The details of this case shock and frighten even the most experienced murder detectives, let alone any right-thinking member of the public.”

Lawyer Christine Agnew, mitigating for McCullough, told the court that the defendant understands that she has damaged her siblings to the extent that they “Probably won’t recover” and she said so “I am a happier person in prison than outside.”