An artist who killed her parents and hid their bodies at her home for years told neighbours they had ‘moved to the seaside’.
Virginia McCullough, 36, wept in court today as she confessed to poisoning her father John, 70, and brutally stabbing her mother Lois, 71, to death in June 2019.
But over the next four years the killer repeatedly lied to concerned locals and her parents’ GP about their whereabouts as their bodies decomposed in the house where she continued to live.
Neighbours of the end of terraced three-storey home in Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, described McCullough, known as ‘Ginny’, as ‘a little bit odd’ who would ‘suddenly appear for chats at 10pm’.
McCullough was arrested on September 13 last year when John and Lois’ GPs raised the alarm to police about missed appointments.
In the moments after Essex Police attended the home, she confessed to poisoning her father with prescription medication and stabbing her mother shortly afterwards.
Their bodies were then found in a top-floor bedroom.
McCullough was seen to be a ‘pest’ by locals who say she had returned to live in the house where she had grown up, reported The Times.
They added she would randomly buy them stuff from a Chinese takeaway and leave it on their doorsteps, and suddenly appear late at night wanting to talk to them.
A shop worker said he had not seen John and Lois since the Covid pandemic with McCullogh telling him they had moved to the seaside.
‘We’re all shocked, we didn’t think she was capable of this,’ he said.
He said McCullough would bother shop workers and buy them things and ‘was just like a pest’.
‘She would be talking about the problems she had in the street,’ he said.
Retired systems engineer Phil Sargeant, 67, said she would come out to chat to you if she spotted you leaving home.
‘You would get this story or other on what’s happening to her and her world, most of it was just made up,’ he said.
Mr McCullough, a former lecturer at Chelmsford College of Further Education, and Lois are believed to have had four daughters, with Virginia being the youngest.
McCullough admitted murdering John and Lois McCullough when she appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court today.
She appeared in court via video link from HMP Peterborough wearing a purple top and necklace with long blonde hair.
McCullough rubbed tears form her eyes as Judge Christopher Morgan told her: ‘You will understand there is a single sentence that can be passed upon you in these circumstances.
‘What must be determined is the minimum term.
‘You will remain in custody.’
She will face a two-day sentencing hearing on 10 and 11 October.
In a statement issued through Essex Police, the family of John McCullough and Lois McCullough earlier said: ‘We are deeply shocked by their deaths and ask for privacy at this difficult time.’
Police had attended the end-of-terrace house on 18 August 2018, after McCullough alleged she was assaulted in her back garden.
A female officer had interviewed McCullough in a first-floor living room – unaware of the bodies upstairs.
A review has been carried out by Essex Police over the prior contact with Ms McCullough and concluded the female officer did not do anything wrong.
An Essex Police spokesman said: ‘We have not made a referral to the IOPC in relation to this case, as it does not fit the criteria for either a mandatory or voluntary referral.’
Detective Inspector Lydia George, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: ‘At the heart of this investigation are John and Lois – and their whole family.
‘Virginia’s actions have had a significant and emotional impact on the family group and our thoughts today are first and foremost with them.
‘We have worked very closely with them and supported them from the outset as we established the circumstances around John and Lois’ deaths and gathered the evidence which has led to today’s guilty pleas.’
Ms George added: ‘Clearly this was a hugely complex investigation from the outset.
‘Officers were met with an incredibly challenging scene and worked at the address over the course of several days to carry out forensic enquiries.
‘This involved expertise and insight from several teams across the force and it is thanks to the work of dozens of dedicated officers and staff that we were able to bring this tragic case to court and, now, a satisfactory conviction.’
