A young woman, abusing the kindness of her parents, spent their money, accumulating large debts on credit cards.
A resident of the town of Great Baddow near Chelmsford (Essex County, UK) Virginia McCullough hid bodies in her house for four years her parents, whom she killed. She told her neighbors that they had retired and moved to the coast.
The BBC reports on this horrific crime.
Why the pensioners' spouses weren't looked for
“The curtains were always drawn, and you couldn't see if anyone was in the house,” Phil Sargent, who lived in the house next door to the McCulloughs for 20 years, told the publication.
The McCulloughs' family doctor sometimes expressed concern about not seeing his patients for long periods of time. But their daughter always found an excuse for their absence, canceling visits on their behalf.
By a convenient coincidence for her, it was at this time that Britain was placed under quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Later, Alan Thomson, the owner of the company that rented the McCulloughs a television, became suspicious about the fate of the pensioners. After the phone call, their daughter suddenly disowned it on her parents' behalf.
When Thomson's staff came to collect the television, Virginia refused to let them in and took the set out to the front door.
Found in the house
In September 2023, Essex Police received a call from Essex County Trustees, who were concerned about the safety of their charges.
It was then discovered that 70-year-old John McCullough, a retired business studies lecturer, had been fatally poisoned. The killer kept his body in a hiding place made of foam blocks and blankets.
The body of his 71-year-old wife Lois was hidden in sleeping bags and blankets in a closet on the top floor of the home. Experts determined that the woman had been beaten with a hammer and slashed with a knife, but she had also been poisoned with medication.
When police arrived at the house in September 2023, Virginia was calm and said she “knew this day would come.”
“I deserve what comes next, which is the sentence, because it's right and it will maybe give me some peace,” she added.
Why a Daughter Killed Her Parents
As it turned out, the young woman, abusing the kindness of her parents, lived in their house and spent their money, accumulating large credit card debts in their names.
Fake letters showed that McCullough had deceived her parents, convincing them that they had lost money due to fraud. In fact, she spent the money.
In total, McCullough received a financial benefit from the murder of her parents of £149,697 – taking into account their pensions, credit cards and the sale of assets.
The trial also heard that she spent £21,000 on online gambling between 2019 and 2023.
On Friday, Virginia McCullough, 36, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders at Chelmsford Crown Court, with a minimum term of imprisonment of 36 years.
Recall that earlier, German prosecutors brought charges of murder against two Ukrainian couple from the city of Sandhausen in the state of Baden-Württemberg. The 44-year-old woman and the 43-year-old man committed the crime for the sake of kidnapping a baby.
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