A woman who murdered her parents and then lived next to their bodies for four years while spending their money is now facing life in prison.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with sleeping pills before beating her mother Lois McCullough, 71, and stabbing her to death at their home in Pump Hill, Chelmsford.
She would tell doctors and relatives that her parents were unwell, on vacation or away on long trips – all while their bodies rotted in the house where she continued to live while they cashed their pension checks and accumulated huge debts in their names.
The artist – described by locals as a 'pest' and eccentric – admitted to murdering them at a meeting in June 2019, before spending more than four years covering up their disappearance.
She stuffed her father's body in a “makeshift tomb” disguised as a bed downstairs and hid her mother's remains in a closet upstairs.
Artist Virginia McCullough, 36, (pictured) admitted poisoning her father with prescription drugs and stabbing her mother before hiding their bodies for years
Virginia McCullough, 36, killed her parents John, 74, (right) and Lois, 75, (left) at their home in Chelmsford, Essex, between June 17 and 20, 2019
McCullough stabbed them to death at the house in Pump Hill, Chelmsford, before continuing to live there as if nothing had happened (photo: forensic police at the scene)
She would tell friends and relatives that Lois and John had moved to Clacton to be by the sea – while they decomposed in the house
Wearing a tight purple long-sleeved blouse and heavy eye makeup, blonde McCullough looked noticeably thinner as she appeared in the dock at Chelmsford Crown Court this morning. She spoke only to confirm her name.
No members of his family appeared in court to see his sentencing.
The court heard she gave her father a fatal dose of sleeping pills, leaving him to die alone as she also sedated her mother with a smaller amount of medication.
The next morning, as Mrs McCullough lay in bed listening to the radio, her daughter hit her with a hammer and stabbed her eight times in the chest and neck.
She cut her own finger during the savage attack – and tried to pretend it was an accident when cutting vegetables after going to the doctor with the wound, which wouldn't stop bleeding.
Prosecutor Lisa Wilding KC said: “Between June 17 and 18, 2019, Virginia McCullough murdered her parents.
'She poisoned her father with a fatal combination of prescription medications that she crushed and put in his alcoholic drinks on the night of June 17, and the next day, she hit her mother with a hammer and stabbed her several times in the chest with a knife. kitchen purchased for this purpose.
'The defendant then built a makeshift tomb for her father in a downstairs room of the family home, which had been her bedroom and study.
'She hid her mother's body, wrapped in a sleeping bag, in a wardrobe in her mother's bedroom, on the top floor of the property. They remained there for four years until these events were discovered.
'Her actions were, by her own admission, the culmination of months of reflection and planning that began in March 2019.'
McCullough was arrested on September 15 last year after GPs raised the alarm about missed appointments – after spending years telling friends and relatives a pack of lies about where her parents were.
The court heard McCullough had a medical history of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and glaucoma, all of which required regular medication and doctor visits.
A professor at Anglia Ruskin University, he was “on the autistic spectrum” and was “a routine man”, the court heard.
“Ultimately, it was his failure to attend review appointments with his GP that triggered an inquiry and the subsequent involvement of the police,” Ms Wilding said.
Ms. McCullough had a history of anxiety and was prescribed lorazepam. She was also agoraphobic and had obsessive-compulsive disorder which manifested itself in exhaustive cleaning with disinfectant.
Both were described in court as being “functional and unaffectionate” parents who nevertheless “loved and cared for their children” despite being “old-fashioned in their ways, not prone to showing affection”. They slept in separate beds.
McCullough (pictured in court) was arrested on September 15 last year after her parents' bodies were found in their three-storey house in Pump Hill
Virginia McCullough, the court was told, was described as a “compulsive liar” and “socially awkward” by those who knew her.
She claimed to suffer from complex medical issues, including severe headaches, and had not worked since she was a waitress in 2017.
Still, she pretended to her parents that she was a salaried web designer and pretended to go to the office. She also lied about having benign cysts that needed treatment and falsely told her doctor that she was pregnant and had miscarried.
She resented her mother, the court heard, labeling her a “happiness vacuum cleaner” who beat her while bathing her as a child.
After the murder, McCullough went to Chelmsford town center where he bought plastic gloves from Lakeland, paying with his father's credit card.
That same day, she bought sleeping bags and wrapped her parents' bodies in them.
She then embarked on an endless chronicle of lies, telling friends and relatives that her parents were unwell, on vacation or on long trips.
On June 18, she used her mother's phone to text a relative, writing that she and Mr McCullough were “at the seaside in Walton this week”.
On at least one occasion, she tried to pose as a mother in a phone call to a relative.
McCullough also sent Moonpig birthday cards and gift cards as gifts, allegedly from her mother.
She was warned to face a life sentence when she admitted the murders in July, then appearing via video link from HMP Peterborough.
McCullough wiped tears from his eyes at the previous hearing when Judge Christopher Morgan told him: 'You will understand that there is only one sentence that can be passed against you in these circumstances.
'What must be determined is the minimum period. You will remain in custody.
It later emerged that Essex Police attended the address less than a month earlier, on August 18, after McCullough claimed she was assaulted in her backyard.
A police officer interviewed McCullough in a first-floor living room – unaware of the bodies upstairs.
A review was carried out by Essex Police into previous contact with Ms McCullough and concluded that the officer did nothing wrong.
Local residents living on the outskirts of Pump Hill in September last year described McCullough as “quite talkative” and “a bit strange”.
An employee at a nearby store, who asked not to be named, said McCullough told him his parents had moved to a seaside area.
He said he hadn't seen them since before the Covid-19 pandemic, but previously “I saw them two or three times a week”.
The worker said he didn't talk to her parents much, but they “seemed like nice, normal people.”
“We were told they had moved to the seafront,” he said, adding that it was McCullough who told him.
'We're all shocked, we didn't think she was capable of this.'
He said McCullough would speak to workers at local stores and buy things for them.
“In fact, she was like a plague,” he said. 'She would be talking about the problems she had on the street.'
He said she was 'a bit strange at times', adding: 'She would come in and say 'do you want a coffee' and five minutes later there was a coffee there.'
He said she told him she was pregnant and he didn't know if he should believe it.
Neighbor Phil Sargent said McCullough was “very talkative” and “always came and attacked you”.
“It would be a fair comment to say that she was a little irrational in her thinking,” he said. 'She did not appear to be a threat of any kind.'
He said McCullough would 'buy things, gifts and leave them on your doorstep – Chinese takeaway stuff, regularly'.
“She would suddenly show up at 10pm and want to talk,” he said.
'If you were leaving, she would see you and leave. You would hear this or another story about what is happening to her and her world, most of it was made up.
Another neighbor, who did not give his name, described McCullough as “pleasant,” “generous” and an “artist,” adding that he had not seen her parents for at least two years.
Neighbor Dave Oldershaw said McCullough was “acting out, going up to the Chinese (with takeaway food) as if nothing had happened”.
He said he 'thought she lived alone' in the house, adding: 'I only knew her to say hello – she was no problem.'
