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Virginia McCullough knew why the police broke into her home that fateful day, but she couldn't help wondering why it had taken them so long. “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy,” she calmly told the officers as they handcuffed her. For four years, the 36-year-old had concealed a horrifying secret: she had murdered her parents, John and Lois McCullough. Neighbors thought the elderly couple had retired to the seaside, but the grim truth was that they had been poisoned and killed by their own daughter.

 

 

The McCullough family home in Great Baddow, Essex, had become a place of growing secrecy in 2019. Relatives were told to stay away, and friends were informed that John and Lois McCullough had moved to Clacton-on-Sea, a coastal town in Essex. But behind the closed doors of their home on Pump Hill, a gruesome reality unfolded.

 

 

John McCullough, a retired business studies lecturer, had been poisoned and his body hidden in a makeshift tomb of breeze blocks and blankets. His wife, Lois, met a brutal end—battered with a hammer, stabbed, and also poisoned by prescription drugs administered by their daughter. Lois’s body was stashed away in an upstairs wardrobe, covered with sleeping bags and duvets. 

 

 

Virginia McCullough, who had managed to keep this grim secret for years, was finally convicted in 2023. Sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 36 years to serve, she left many in the community stunned. 

 

Phil Sargeant, a neighbor of the McCulloughs for 20 years, had often noticed the drawn curtains and the strange, shadow-like movements in the house. "They were just like shadows, they'd move very quickly from A to B," he said. Now he understood why. Reflecting on Virginia, he found it difficult to reconcile her pleasant demeanor with the horrific crime.

 

“She’d come across as quite pleasant; she was funny, she was irreverent as well. She had a dark sense of humor,” Sargeant added.

 

The unraveling of this mystery began when the Essex County Council’s safeguarding team raised concerns in September 2023. A general practitioner at the McCulloughs’ registered medical practice had not seen the couple in some time. Virginia had offered various excuses, often canceling appointments on their behalf. The lengthy COVID-19 lockdowns had provided her with the perfect cover, but as restrictions lifted, her explanations became less believable.

 

Alan Thomson, who rented a television to the McCulloughs, also grew suspicious. After Virginia abruptly canceled the rental, Thomson’s team arrived to collect the TV but were barred from entering the house. “I got the feeling perhaps she was a bit of a fantasist, but no way would I have thought she’d be a murderer,” he said.

 

The police had visited the house before, weeks prior to the discovery of the bodies, to investigate an unrelated assault allegation made by Virginia. Some speculated that she had used the incident to test the waters, as the claim amounted to nothing. When officers returned in September, Virginia was more forthcoming. "I did know that this day would come eventually," she confessed. "I deserve to get what’s coming, sentence-wise, because that’s the right thing to do and then that might give me a bit of peace."

 

Documents found inside the house revealed that Virginia had been living rent-free, spending her parents’ money, and accumulating debt in their names. She had even forged letters to trick them into thinking they had been scammed. In total, she had taken £149,697 from her parents through their pensions, credit cards, and the sale of assets. To fuel her lifestyle, including a £21,000 addiction to online gambling, she had concocted lies and resorted to murder when the truth threatened to come out.

 

Paul Hastings, a greengrocer at a local shopping center, also noticed the McCulloughs’ absence. Virginia told him they had moved away, and her eccentric nature masked any suspicion. “She came in to the shop and said, ‘The police are after me, they think I killed my mum and dad,’” Hastings recalled. He brushed it off as another one of her strange comments, not realizing the chilling truth behind her words.

 

For four years, Virginia McCullough managed to hide the horrifying fate of her parents, but in the end, her lies unraveled. The tragic story of John and Lois McCullough remains a grim reminder of the dark secrets that can sometimes lie hidden behind ordinary suburban doors.

 

Based on a report from BBC | C4 2024-10-15

 

 

 

 

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