Analysis of media coverage from major UK news outlets

Virginia McCullough Gets Life with 36-Year Minimum for Killing Parents in Essex

Oct 11, 2024, 02:45 PM

Virginia McCullough, a 36-year-old debt-ridden artist from Great Baddow in Essex, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 36 years for the murders of her parents, John and Lois McCullough. The crimes occurred in 2019 when she poisoned her father with prescription medication and stabbed her mother shortly afterwards. McCullough lived alongside their bodies in the family home for four years, concealing her father's body in a homemade mausoleum in his bedroom and her mother's body in a wardrobe. During this time, she lied about their whereabouts and plundered their life savings, stealing £150,000. McCullough showed no emotion in the dock during her sentencing at Chelmsford Crown Court. Upon her arrest, she admitted to the killings and told officers, "Cheer up, you caught the bad guy."