UK - Lois and John McCullough, 70s, daughter accused of killing parents between 21 Aug 2018 and Sept 2023, Chelmsford, Essex, 15 Sept 2023

[bobbymkii]

I wonder if she will ever say why?

I think the chances are actually pretty good that she will

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Daughter, 36, admits poisoning father and stabbing mother to death

Virginia McCullough, 36, killed John, 74, and Lois, 75, (pictured together) at their home in Chelmsford, Essex, between June 17 and June 20, 2019.

www.dailymail.co.uk

An artist wept in court today as she admitted murdering her parents five years ago.

McCullough was arrested on September 13 last year after her parents' bodies were found in a top-floor bedroom at their three-storey house in Pump Hill.

Essex Police said in the moments afterwards, she confessed to poisoning her father with prescription medication and stabbing her mother shortly afterwards.

 

[Luwin]

There seems quite a disparity between poisoning one and stabbing the other

 

[nhmemorymaker]

There seems quite a disparity between poisoning one and stabbing the other

Yes, truly a research study for psychiatrists!!

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I wonder where she slept at night??

And HOW she slept at night.

 

[AcbMurders]

Daughter, 36, admits poisoning father and stabbing mother to death

Virginia McCullough, 36, killed John, 74, and Lois, 75, (pictured together) at their home in Chelmsford, Essex, between June 17 and June 20, 2019.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Locals living around Pump Hill in September last year described McCullough as 'quite chatty' and a 'little bit odd'.
A worker at a nearby shop, who asked not to be named, said McCullough had told him her parents had moved to be by the seaside.
(…)
He said that McCullough would speak to workers in the local shops and buy them things.'If anything she was just like a pest,' he said.
'She would be talking about the problems she had in the street.'
He said she was a 'little bit odd sometimes', adding: 'She would come in and go 'do you want a coffee' then five minutes later there would be a coffee sitting there.'
He said she had told him she was pregnant, and he did not know whether to believe this.
Neighbour Phil Sargent said McCullough was 'quite chatty' and 'would always come and descend on you'.
'It would be a fair comment to say she was slightly irrational with her thinking,' he said.
'She didn't appear to be a threat of any kind.'
He said McCullough 'would buy you things, gifts and leave them outside your door - stuff from the Chinese takeaway, on a regular basis'.
'She would all of a sudden appear at 10pm and want to talk,' he said.
'If you were going out she would spot you and come out.
'You would get this story or other on what's happening to her and her world, most of it was just made up.'
~~~~
Interesting what some of the neighbours say about her …. It does not sound like she had many friends. How come none of her sisters queried the fact that they had not heard from their parents for 4 years? Maybe they’d all cut ties with their parents for whatever reason…

 

[Cedars]

How come none of her sisters queried the fact that they had not heard from their parents for 4 years? Maybe they’d all cut ties with their parents for whatever reason…

I agree, clearly not very attached, close family. Perhaps her mental health problems were inherited?

I think, in part, Covid helped a lot. They clearly didn't get together for Xmas 2019, but then everything was in lock-down for years, if you wanted to make excuses for not visiting elderly people.

Maybe she did talk to her family and made up stories about why the parents couldn't talk themselves... sometimes siblings are just relieved that someone else is willing to do the caregiving, and don't want to barge in because that might mean they'd have to take over the caregiving themselves?

JMO

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I'm not sure how much caregiving was needed by her, as nothing much has been said about the state of their health.
Maybe caring for them became too much for her.
No excuse, but maybe a reason.

 

[bobbymkii]

Sentencing was meant to be taking place tomorrow, but the case doesn't appear in court listings at the moment

 

[bobbymkii]

Tomorrow. Finally!

CHELMSFORD NEW MAGISTRATES

Court 7 - sitting at 10:30 am

[td]

THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE JOHNSON​

[/td]​

---

Court 7 - sitting at 10:30 am

[td]

The Honourable Mr Justice Johnson​

[/td]​

For Sentence

CP Case

MCCULLOUGH Virginia

42MR2436923

CPS

RES Mr Justice Johnson Defendant to be produced. All parties to attend COURT 7

 

[Smccat]

Tomorrow. Finally!

CHELMSFORD NEW MAGISTRATES

Court 7 - sitting at 10:30 am

[td]
THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE JOHNSON​

[/td]​

---

Court 7 - sitting at 10:30 am

[td]
The Honourable Mr Justice Johnson​

[/td]​

For Sentence

CP Case

MCCULLOUGH Virginia

42MR2436923

CPS

RES Mr Justice Johnson Defendant to be produced. All parties to attend COURT 7

Thanks Bobby

 

[Alyce]

Tomorrow. Finally!

CHELMSFORD NEW MAGISTRATES

Court 7 - sitting at 10:30 am

[td]
THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE JOHNSON​

[/td]​

---

Court 7 - sitting at 10:30 am

[td]
The Honourable Mr Justice Johnson​

[/td]​

For Sentence

CP Case

MCCULLOUGH Virginia

42MR2436923

CPS

RES Mr Justice Johnson Defendant to be produced. All parties to attend COURT 7

Finally indeed. I expect she will get some reduction for the instant guilty plea.

 

[bobbymkii]

Live blog:

Daughter hid parents in 'makeshift tomb' for years after murders

She lived in the house where their dead bodies were hidden

www.essexlive.news

 

[Alyce]

and another blog.....

Virginia McCullough sentencing: Woman murdered parents and lived with their dead bodies

A woman who murdered her parents and then lived alongside their bodies for four years hid her mother’s body in a wardrobe and built a “makeshift tomb” for her father

www.telegraph.co.uk

Murderer faces life sentence​

Judge Mr Justice Johnson will to sentence McCullough on Friday at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Warning her at an earlier hearing that she faced a life sentence, Judge Christopher Morgan, who presided over the plea hearing, said: “You will understand that there is a single sentence that can be passed upon you in these circumstances.

“Consideration however has to be given to the minimum term.”

Who are the lawyers involved?​

Lisa Wilding is acting for the Crown Prosecution Service.

Christine Agnew, is acting as defence for McCullough.

Mr Justice Johnson is the presiding judge in the case.

​

 

[Alyce]

McCullough poisoned father and stabbed mother with kitchen knife’​

Lisa Wilding told the court: “Between the 17th and 18th June 2019 Virginia McCullough murdered both of her parents.

“She poisoned her father with a fatal combination of prescription drugs that she crushed and put into his alcoholic drinks on the night of the 17th June.

“And the following day she beat her mother with a hammer and stabbed her multiple times in
the chest with a kitchen knife bought for the purpose.”

Father was hidden in ‘makeshift tomb’ for four years​

The court heard how McCullough built a “makeshift tomb” for her father in a ground floor room of the family home, which had been his bedroom and study.

Ms Wilding told the court: “She concealed the body of her mother, wrapped in a sleeping bag, within 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.”

Months of thought and planning’​

The court was told McCullough attacks, were by her own admission, the culmination of
months of thought and planning which began in about March of 2019.

Virginia McCullough sentencing: Woman murdered parents and lived with their dead bodies

A woman who murdered her parents and then lived alongside their bodies for four years hid her mother’s body in a wardrobe and built a “makeshift tomb” for her father

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[Alyce]

Father’s missing GP appointment sparked police investigation.​

Ms Wilding told the court John McCullough was born on 8 January 1949 and was 74 years of age at the time of his death.

He had a medical history of hypertension, Type-II diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia and glaucoma. He required ongoing medication and for the medication to be regularly reviewed.

“Ultimately it was his failure to attend for review appointments with his GP that triggered an enquiry and subsequent police involvement.”

McCullough was a ‘compulsive liar’ and ‘socially awkward’ say family​

McCullough was described in court by her siblings as “socially awkward’ and a “compulsive liar”. It is said she complained of suffering from “complex medical issues including thunderclap headaches”.

McCullough’s parents ‘did love and care for their children”​

Mr McCullough was described by one of his children as “being on the autistic spectrum” and was “very much a man of routine”.

He worked as a university lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University and was a published author, Ms Wilding said.

Mrs McCullough was said to have a history of anxiety and was also agoraphobic and suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder.

They were described as “loving parents who did love and care for their children” and “old fashioned in their ways not prone to displaying affection”.

Virginia McCullough sentencing: Woman murdered parents and lived with their dead bodies

A woman who murdered her parents and then lived alongside their bodies for four years hid her mother’s body in a wardrobe and built a “makeshift tomb” for her father

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[Alyce]

From the link above....

Ultimately it was his failure to attend for review appointments with his GP that triggered an enquiry and subsequent police involvement


but it seems to have taken 5 years for that trigger to occur ??

 

[Alyce]

from Bobby's link, above​

​

What was Virginia like?​

Virginia was described as “socially awkward and a compulsive liar” by those close to her. Ms Wilding says: “She [Virignia] reported to them that she suffered complex medical issues including thunderclap headaches. She told siblings she was paying her parents rent for living in the house.

“The defendant had not been employed for a number of years. She undertook bar work for a period of time. However it’s apparent from emails that the defendant was lying to her parents about working among other things. She claimed to be a web designer on a salary and appeared to be going into the office.”

Daughter hid parents in 'makeshift tomb' for years after murders

She lived in the house where their dead bodies were hidden

www.essexlive.news

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Virginia McCullough sentencing: Woman murdered parents and lived with their dead bodies

A woman who murdered her parents and then lived alongside their bodies for four years hid her mother’s body in a wardrobe and built a “makeshift tomb” for her father

www.telegraph.co.uk

‘My mother was a happiness hoover,’ says McCullough​

The court heard how McCullough described her mother as angry and violent who would smack her children while bathing them until 13 years of age, and said she was a “happiness hoover”.

 

[bobbymkii]

The total gain by the defendant was in the region £149,697.

Yikes! As murders for gain go, that is quite the hefty sum.

Daughter hid parents in 'makeshift tomb' for years after murders

She lived in the house where their dead bodies were hidden

www.essexlive.news