Virginia McCullough: Killer tells police 'you've caught the bad guy' after murdering parents

A woman has been jailed for life after murdering her parents "in cold blood" and then hiding their bodies in the family home while she lived alongside them for four years and spent their money.

"Intelligent manipulator" Virginia McCullough killed 70-year-old John McCullough and 71-year-old Lois McCullough in 2019 and then put them in "makeshift tombs".

On Friday, she was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court to life with a minimum of 36 years behind bars.

Police said the "vast levels of deceit, betrayal and fraud she engaged in" were on a "shocking and monumental scale".

When officers forced their way into the house in Great Baddow, Essex, she confessed her parents' bodies were there, and she had killed them, adding she didn't "seem 100% evil".

McCullough, wearing handcuffs, said in police body-worn video footage: "I did know that this would kind of come eventually.

"It's proper that I serve my punishment."

She said she had slipped something into her father's drink and put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother's body in an upstairs wardrobe.

McCullough, after being arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: "Cheer up, at least you've caught the bad guy."

She went on: "I know I don't seem 100% evil."

The murders

In June 2019, McCullough, 36, poisoned her father with prescription medication which she crushed and put into his alcoholic drinks.

The next day, she beat Lois McCullough with a hammer and stabbed her to death.

The judge, Mr Justice Johnson, said he was sure the offences involved a "substantial degree of both pre-meditation and planning".

He said McCullough "accumulated a large amount of prescription drugs" over three months and in May 2019 she "bought a knife as well as implements to crush and separate tablets".

Hiding the bodies

After the murders, McCullough hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home, the court heard.

Prosecutor Lisa Wilding KC said McCullough built a structure for her father's body in a ground-floor room which had been his bedroom and study.

It was "composed with masonry blocks stacked together", forming a "rectangular tomb" which was "covered with multiple blankets, and a number of pictures and paintings over the top", Ms Wilding said.

McCullough concealed the body of her mother by wrapping it in a sleeping bag and keeping it in a wardrobe in a bedroom on the top floor of the property, the barrister added.

Spending parents' money

McCullough ran up big debts on credit cards in her parents' names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions.

Ms Wilding said McCullough "has not been employed for many years".

Police said documents found at the house "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".

The prosecutor said the defendant "engaged in online gambling" and spent £21,193 in transactions related to gambling between 1 June 2018 and 14 September 2023.

Ms Wilding said McCullough "made arrangements to ensure that she continued to enjoy the benefit of the pensions that continued to be paid in their names" following her parents' deaths.

McCullough "benefited from" £59,664.01 from the state pension and £76,334.58 from Mr McCullough's Teacher's Pension between 18 June 2019 and 15 September 2023, according to the prosecutor.

Ms Wilding said money appeared to have been "frittered away and the investigation has not revealed any expenditure on expensive, luxury or extravagant items".

Telling lies

The court heard the killer had told persistent lies about their whereabouts, frequently telling doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.

The judge said McCullough "span and maintained" an "elaborate, extensive and enduring web of deceit" over months and years.

Fears raised

A GP raised concerns for the couple's welfare in September 2023, and Essex County Council's safeguarding team referred these to police.

The GP had not seen the pair for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments.

It was found McCullough frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father's absence.

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Police investigation

A missing person's investigation was initially launched by police and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.

It later turned into a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house on 15 September 2023, McCullough confessed her parents' bodies were there and she had killed them.

In the dock, McCullough began to cry as the prosecution read out an account she gave to police, where she described the moments before she killed her mum.

She told police: "[Her mum] 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 officers she had to "build up gumption" to kill her mother as "I knew I had to get it done".

She admitted to murdering her parents between 17 June 2019 and 20 June 2019 at a hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Police reaction after sentencing

Detective Superintendent Rob Kirby, of Essex Police, said: "Virginia McCullough murdered her parents in cold blood.

"Her actions were considered, meticulous and carried out in such a way as to conceal what she had done for as long as possible."

He added: "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."

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