A Disturbing Discovery
On September 15, 2023, Essex Police forced their way into a home on Pump Hill in Great Baddow, England. What they found inside would haunt them for years to come. Virginia McCullough, calm and collected, uttered words that sent chills down the officers’ spines: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually. It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
As the police searched the property, they uncovered a gruesome scene. John McCullough, 70, lay entombed in a makeshift mausoleum constructed from masonry blocks in his ground-floor bedroom. Upstairs, the body of Lois McCullough, 71, was found wrapped in a sleeping bag inside a wardrobe. Their daughter had been living with their corpses for four years, all while spinning elaborate tales about their whereabouts to family, friends, and doctors.
The Murders
The tragic events unfolded in June 2019. Virginia McCullough meticulously planned the demise of her parents. On June 17, she poisoned her father, a former university lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, with a lethal cocktail of crushed prescription medication mixed into his alcoholic drinks.
The following day, fearing her mother would discover the truth, McCullough committed an even more brutal act. She bludgeoned Lois McCullough with a hammer and then stabbed her repeatedly in the chest with a kitchen knife while her mother listened to the radio in bed. In a chilling statement to police, McCullough described the attack: “When I was hitting her, it felt like someone poorly playing the xylophone; it was all over the place.”
A Web of Lies
With her parents dead, Virginia McCullough embarked on an elaborate charade. She canceled family gatherings, told friends and doctors that her parents were ill or on holiday, and even used the COVID-19 pandemic to her advantage in maintaining the illusion that they were still alive.
Detective Superintendent Rob Kirby of Essex Police described McCullough’s deception as “shocking and monumental.” He stated, “We built a picture of the vast levels of deceit, betrayal and fraud she engaged in.” McCullough’s ability to maintain this facade for so long speaks to her manipulative nature and the trust others had placed in her.
Financial Motivations
As the investigation unfolded, a financial motive emerged. McCullough had accrued significant debt using her parents’ credit cards and continued to withdraw their pensions after their deaths. The total financial gain from her heinous acts amounted to £149,697.
Virginia McCullough is the youngest of five daughters born to John and Lois McCullough. Unlike her sisters who had moved out, Virginia continued to live with her elderly parents in their family home in Great Baddow, Essex. She was unemployed and relied on financial support from her father.
McCullough had a history of dishonesty, described by one of her sisters as a “compulsive liar.” She had been stealing from her parents and securing loans in their names without their knowledge, accumulating significant debt through online gambling and shopping. Her relationship with her parents was complex, marked by financial exploitation and deception, which ultimately led to her carrying out their murders to avoid discovery of her fraudulent activities.
Prosecutor Lisa Wilding KC revealed that McCullough had been planning the murders since March 2019. The court learned that she had engaged in online gambling, spending £21,193 on gambling-related transactions between June 2018 and September 2023.
The Unraveling
The carefully constructed lie began to crumble in September 2023 when the McCulloughs’ doctor raised concerns about missed appointments. This led to a missing persons investigation that quickly focused on Virginia McCullough due to her inconsistent explanations about her parents’ whereabouts.
When police finally entered the home, McCullough’s facade crumbled. In a moment of dark humor that highlighted her disturbing mindset, she told the arresting officers, “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy,” adding, “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
The case sent shockwaves through the community of Great Baddow and beyond. Richard Butcher, Lois McCullough’s brother, expressed the devastating impact in a victim impact statement, describing his niece as “very dangerous” and stating that the events had “undermined my faith in humanity.“
Detective Superintendent Kirby echoed these sentiments, saying, “The details of this case shock and horrify even the most experienced of murder detectives, let alone any right-thinking member of the public.” The case raised unsettling questions about the nature of trust within families and the potential for deception to go undetected for years.
Virginia McCullough’s ability to maintain her deception for over four years was a testament to her calculated and manipulative nature. From the day of the murders, she embarked on an elaborate scheme to convince family and authorities that her parents were still alive. She sent text messages and made phone calls impersonating her mother, used multiple SIM cards to avoid detection, and even sent pre-printed birthday cards to maintain the illusion.
McCullough went as far as making calls to her father’s pension company, pretending to be him, and contacted police and her parents’ GP while posing as her mother.
Justice is Served
On October 11, 2024, Virginia McCullough faced justice at Chelmsford Crown Court. Judge Mr. Justice Jeremy Johnson sentenced her to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 36 years. In his sentencing remarks, the judge addressed McCullough directly:
“Your parents were entitled to feel safe in their own beds and in their own home. They were entitled to feel safe from their daughter. Your conduct amounted to a gross violation of the trust that should exist between parents and their children. For 4 years and 3 months after you had murdered your parents, you pretended that they were still alive. That started right from the day of their deaths. You are described by one of your sisters as having always been a compulsive liar. That description is clearly justified, but it hardly captures the elaborate, extensive and enduring web of deceit that you spun and maintained over months and years.”
Virginia McCullough’s actions were driven by a complex interplay of psychological motivations rooted in financial desperation and a long-standing pattern of deceit. Facing nearly £60,000 in debt, she resorted to stealing from her parents while maintaining a facade of trust. The judge noted that her substantial motive for the murders was to prevent her parents from discovering her thefts and to continue accessing their finances, which amounted to almost £150,000 over the years.
Although she claimed to feel “trapped” by her circumstances, the reality was that she was ensnared in her own dishonesty. McCullough had a history of fabricating stories about employment and financial frauds to cover up her actions. Additionally, while she exhibited symptoms of personality disorder and autism spectrum condition, the judge emphasized that these factors did not diminish her culpability; rather, they highlighted her calculated decision-making process leading up to the murders. Ultimately, Virginia’s choice to kill her parents stemmed from a desire for financial gain and an inability to confront the consequences of her long-term deceit.
A Disturbing Legacy
The case of Virginia McCullough serves as a chilling reminder of the depths of human depravity and the devastating consequences of greed and deception. It raises important questions about mental health, family dynamics, and the systems in place to protect vulnerable individuals.
As the community of Great Baddow attempts to heal from this tragedy, the case will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact on all those involved. It serves as a warning about the importance of maintaining connections with loved ones and being vigilant for signs of abuse or neglect, even within seemingly normal family units.
While female killers are statistically less common, and matricide and patricide are particularly rare crimes, McCullough’s actions push the boundaries of what many thought possible within a family.
As Virginia McCullough begins her 36-year minimum sentence, the justice system has recognized the extreme threat she poses to society, ensuring that this dangerous woman will remain behind bars for decades to come. Justice has been served, yet the deep scars left on the McCullough family and the wider community will require a much longer healing time.
