Virginia McCullough murdered both her parents and then lived with their decomposing bodies for four years - she even made a grisly confession to police when she was finally arrested
Michael Moran
19:00, 15 Jan 2026
A woman who killed her parents and then lived with their decomposing bodies for four years made a chilling confession to police upon her arrest. Virginia McCullough admitted that she had sealed her mother’s body in a wardrobe as “maggots and flies” began to infest the corpse just days after the murder.
Former Essex police detective Simon Dinsdale, speaking in a new documentary about the case, stated: “The disposal of a dead body is not an easy thing to do.”
He added that McCullough’s “level of sophistication” in concealing the two corpses was unparalleled in his experience.
McCullough had entombed her father in one of the ground-floor rooms of the house they shared in Great Baddow, Essex. She explained: “To explain about some of the building materials in the garden, I said a garden wall was being done,” and “I made a wooden and concrete block-type enclosed structure out of my father’s original bed. I put wood at either end and extra blocks … I told the next-door neighbour that I was building a fireplace to make an excuse for any noise.”
Channel 5’s How I Murdered Mum & Dad: The Virginia McCullough Confessions details how the murderer then covered her father’s makeshift tomb with a blanket, along with several paintings and photographs.
However, McCullough’s handling of her mother’s remains was far more brutal. She told police: “The following day I went upstairs and, while crying, moved my mother’s body into a four-door wardrobe. I taped up the gaps in the wardrobe to get rid of any remaining maggots or flies that had initially started to appear.”
McCullough had initially attempted to poison her parents. In her father’s case, this was somewhat successful. John McCullough was a heavy drinker, allowing her to conceal a large quantity of sedatives in his nightly glass of wine.
Her mother, Lois, survived the poisoning, although she was reportedly left extremely drowsy after the massive sedative overdose. McCullough described how she then struck her mum with a hammer “like someone playing a xylophone” before stabbing the 71-year-old several times in the back.
“What Virginia did is staggering,” Simon Dinsdale says. “The concept that you could treat your parents in that way; first to murder them, and then to hide them away, is incredible.”
He added: “What must she have been feeling as she’s walking around that house, knowing that her parents are in the next room?”
Upon her eventual arrest, McCullough appeared almost relieved, eager to reveal the secret behind her parents’ disappearance. In the years following their murder, she continued to collect their pensions and use their credit cards, reaping benefits of around £150,000.
An Essex court heard that she had spent approximately £21,000 on online gambling between 2019 and 2023.
A darker backstory to McCullough’s crimes also emerged, with the 36-year-old alleging a lifetime of neglect and abuse from her parents—particularly her mother. Detailing her troubled upbringing, she recounted that she was never toilet-trained and was often sent to school in dirty clothes, resulting in harsh treatment from her peers.
One former schoolmate recalled: “She was weird at school – but not ‘murder your parents and hid their bodies’ weird.”
As an adult, McCullough maintained this reputation for “weirdness,” consistently fabricating dramatic stories that none of her neighbours believed. Shortly before her arrest, she contacted police claiming she had been assaulted in her home and was even advised to “stop calling” over disputes with neighbours.
In the years after Lois and John’s deaths, McCullough maintained a deceptive façade, spinning conflicting tales about their whereabouts. She told local shopkeepers that her parents were on holiday or had relocated, all while returning each night to the horrific scene of her crimes.
The Covid-19 lockdowns provided her with cover, allowing her to avoid uncomfortable questions.
However, her fabrications only delayed the inevitable. The McCulloughs’ family doctor grew concerned after John and Lois failed to attend multiple appointments, prompting police to visit the family home.
“Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy,” she coolly remarked to the arresting officers.
In October 2024, McCullough, who was 36 at the time, received a life sentence at Chelmsford Crown Court for both murders, and is anticipated to serve at least 36 years behind bars.
How I Murdered Mum & Dad: The Virginia McCullough Confessions airs on Channel 5 at 10pm, Thursday, January 15.