Daughter killed parents and lived with bodies for years

An "intelligent manipulator" murdered her parents "in cold blood" then hid them in makeshift tombs and lived alongside their bodies for four years.

- TARA COBHAM

Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, aged 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her 71- year-old mother Lois McCullough shortly afterwards. She then lied about their whereabouts and spent their money.

Judge Mr Justice Johnson sentenced McCullough, of Chelmsford, Essex, to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing in the same court.

Richard Butcher, brother of Lois McCullough, said in a victim impact statement that his niece - the defendant - was "very dangerous" and what had happened "undermined my faith in humanity".

McCullough poisoned her father, who had worked as a university lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, with prescription medication that she crushed and put into his alcoholic drinks then, a day later, she beat her mother with a hammer and fatally stabbed her.

The sentencing hearing was told she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Pump Hill, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks. She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents' names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions.

The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips. But concerns for Mr and Mrs McCullough's welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council's safeguarding team referred these to police.