Daughter who murdered parents and hid bodies for years discoverd in Farnborough

A lady has been sentenced to life in prison for killing her parents and hiding their bodies in her home for a long time.

Virginia McCullough used a knife and a hammer to attack her mother Lois and poisoned her father John. She then used a web of falsehoods to conceal their deaths from her family.

When family members and law enforcement enquired as to why they hadn’t seen the couple, the 36-year-old explained that they were either sick or on vacation.

McCullough, who pleaded to two counts of murder in June, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday.

McCullough’s acts were deemed a “gross violation of the trust that should exist between parents and their children” by the judge, Mr. Justice Johnson.

He declared that there was “substantial degree of both pre-meditation and planning” involved in the charges.

Following the sentencing, the family of Mr. and Mrs. McCullough expressed their grief, saying they were “left devastated and heartbroken at the deaths of our parents who were taken from us so cruelly.”

“Our parents will always hold a special place in our hearts and will always be deeply loved and missed,” they declared.

McCullough says to police during her arrest as captured on bodycam: “I did know that this would come eventually.”

“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”

The couple’s general practitioner (GP) initially expressed concern in September 2023 after learning that Mr. McCullough, 70, had not picked up his prescription or attended visits.

That month saw the start of a missing person’s investigation. When police paid a visit to the couple’s Pump Hill, Great Baddow, home, their daughter stated they would be travelling until October.

Officers were suspicious of it, so they obtained authorisation to search the residence and discovered human remains that were subsequently identified as those of Mr. and Mrs. McCullough.

Both victims had been poisoned with prescription medication, according to post-mortem studies conducted after police discovered that the killings occurred during the summer of 2019.

The poisoning had claimed Mr. McCullough’s life, and his 71-year-old wife had been hit with a hammer and then stabbed.

Their daughter had been spreading “persistent lies” about their locations, cancelling family plans, and informing doctors and relatives that her parents were sick or abroad on extended travels, according to information uncovered during the investigation.

According to investigators, she made “great effort” to prevent friends and family from visiting the property during the Covid epidemic and in the years that followed.

Following an arrest during a raid, McCullough admitted to the authorities that she had killed her parents and that their remains were inside the home.

According to the evidence presented to the police, she had “long manipulated and abused her parents’ goodwill for financial gain, accruing large credit card debt on her parents’ names.”

She kept using their pensions after they passed away.

The court heard she benefitted from nearly £150,000 as a result of killing her parents.

A spokesman said: “The documents uncovered 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.”

Det Supt Rob Kirby 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.

“These were the actions of someone who had taken time to plan and carry out the murder of her parents in the interest of self-preservation and personal gain, before living within metres of the bodies of her two victims for a number of years.

“Throughout the course of our investigation, we have built a picture of the vast levels of deceit, betrayal and fraud she engaged in. It was on a shocking and monumental scale.

“McCullough lied about almost every aspect of her life, maintaining a charade to deceive everyone close to her and clearly taking advantage of her parents’ good will.

“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 said the details “shock and horrify even the most experienced of murder detectives” and that McCullough’s family could not have foreseen “this level of deceit”.

“They have been left utterly devastated by the circumstances of this case and they continue to feel the loss of John and Lois each and every day.

“This process, from the finding of John and Lois’ remains, to the unravelling of McCullough’s web of lies, has taken a huge toll on the wider family network.

“With this sentence and with all that we have uncovered throughout our investigation, we hope they can now start to find a way forward with their lives.”