Virginia McCullough Jailed for Minimum 36 Years for Murdering Parents and Hiding Bodies in Essex Home

Oct 11, 2024, 03:03 PM

Virginia McCullough, a 36-year-old woman from Great Baddow, Essex, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 36 years for the murders of her parents in 2019. McCullough poisoned her father, John McCullough, 70, and fatally stabbed her mother, Lois McCullough, 71. She then concealed their bodies within the family home, placing her father's body in a 'homemade mausoleum' and her mother's in a wardrobe, while living alongside them for four years. During this time, she stole £150,000 from their life savings and pensions. The murders were uncovered after concerns were raised by the family's GP. Upon her arrest, McCullough told police officers, 'Cheer up, you caught the bad guy.' Her siblings described her actions as 'evil, selfish, and abhorrent,' and police noted her deceit was on a 'shocking and monumental scale.'