A WOMAN has today admitted murdering her parents whose remains were discovered five years after they were last seen alive.
Virginia McCullough, 35, knifed her mum Lois McCullough, 75, to death at home in Chelmsford, Essex.
Virginia McCullough has admitted murder
John and Lois McCullough had not been seen since August 2018
She also killed her 74-year-old dad John – claiming she had poisoned him with prescription medication.
McCullough wept today as she admitted murdering the pair between June 17 and June 20, 2019 – although the couple had not been seen alive since the previous August.
Their bodies lay undiscovered until police were called following a concern for welfare report in September 2023.
Officers had also visited the home on August 18 last year after McCullough claimed she had been assaulted.
Officers interviewed her unaware the bodies were upstairs but no search was carried out as there was no indication of anything suspicious.
Essex Police carried out a review and concluded the female officer who interviewed McCullough had done nothing wrong.
McCullough had continued to live at the house where her mum and dad’s bodies lay rotting in a bedroom upstairs.
To cover her evil tracks, she would constantly lie about their whereabouts – claiming the pair were on unwell or on holiday.
But a worried GP raised the alarm in 2023 over missed appointments and the grim discovery was made.
McCullough will be sentenced on October 10.
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.”