In September 2023, a seemingly ordinary family home in Essex, England, became the site of a heinous crime that would stun even the most seasoned detectives. John and Lois McCullough, aged 70 and 71, had been missing for years, but their disappearance was only recently reported by their concerned doctor. When Essex Police forced entry into the McCulloughs' home on September 15, they were met with a shocking confession from their daughter, Virginia McCullough.
With a calm and detached demeanor, Virginia surrendered, stating, "I knew this would come eventually... It’s proper that I serve my punishment." But nothing could have prepared officers for the horrors they found inside. Virginia had murdered her parents in cold blood, poisoning her father with prescription medication and brutally stabbing her mother. She then constructed makeshift tombs for their bodies, living alongside them for four years while maintaining a web of deceit to cover her tracks.
Join me as I delve into the disturbing details of this case, exploring how Virginia's calculated actions deceived everyone around her. Discover the chilling body cam footage of her confession and the investigation that uncovered the shocking truth behind this family tragedy. How could a daughter commit such atrocities against her own parents, and what drove her to such extreme actions? Tune in to explore this gripping true crime story and the ongoing quest for justice.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cgmglzvnl1yt
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Rex-v-Virginia-McCullough-Sentencing-remarks.pdf
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/virginia-mccullough-parents-murder-fwxqlfpd9
https://youtu.be/VNTAxHAkEMY?si=M8yTs49PUmJtOtbu
Follow me here:
► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/
► Twitter - https://twitter.com/serial_napper
► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/
► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/
► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik
I will be in London at CrimeCon UK and I would love to meet you! Use my discount code NAPPER10 for 10% off the ticket price! Visit https://www.crimecon.co.uk/
Our Sponsors:
* Check out Mood and use my code SERIALNAPPER to get 20% off your first order at https://mood.com
* Head to http://www.Goli.com now and get an exclusive 42% off!
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
[00:00:00] Wünschst Du Dir jemanden, der Dich versteht wie kein anderer? Jemand, der Deine Wünsche wahr werden lässt und mit Dir das schönste Abenteuer Deines Lebens erleben möchte?
[00:00:10] Die Commerce-Plattform Shopify revolutioniert Millionen von Unternehmen weltweit. Mit Shopify richtest Du im Nu Deinen Online-Shop ein – ganz ohne Programmier- oder Designkenntnisse.
[00:00:21] Dank der effizienten Einrichtung und intuitiven Social-Media- und Online-Marketplace-Integration kannst Du über Instagram, eBay und Co. werben und verkaufen.
[00:00:31] Neue Zielgruppen zu erreichen war noch nie so einfach. Shopify bietet auf einer einzigen, sicheren Plattform alle Tools, um Dein Online-Business aufzubauen.
[00:00:40] Kostenlos testen und Dein Business der Welt präsentieren. Shopify.de//try besuchen
[00:00:47] Einfach shopify.de//try eingeben und loslegen. Made for Germany. Powered by Shopify.
[00:00:55] The case featured in this episode has been researched using police records, court documents, witness statements and the news.
[00:01:03] Listener discretion is advised. All parties mentioned are innocent until proven guilty and all opinions are my own.
[00:01:10] Hey everyone, my name is Nikki Young and this is Serial Napper, the true crime podcast for naps.
[00:01:36] I'm back with another true crime story to lull you to sleep or perhaps to give you nightmares.
[00:01:43] In September 2023, a quiet family home in Essex, England became the scene of an unthinkable crime.
[00:01:50] Two elderly people, seven-year-old John McCullough and his 71-year-old wife Lois had been missing for years.
[00:01:59] Their doctor, concerned after multiple missed appointments, alerted the authorities.
[00:02:04] What followed next would leave even the most seasoned detectives stunned.
[00:02:08] When Essex police forced their way into the McCullough's home on September 5th, they were met by a chilling confession.
[00:02:17] Standing in the doorway was their daughter, Virginia McCullough.
[00:02:21] With her hands raised ready to surrender, she calmly told officers, quote,
[00:02:26] I knew this would come eventually. It's proper that I serve my punishment.
[00:02:30] But nothing could have prepared them for what lay behind that door.
[00:02:35] As the investigation unfolded, disturbing body cam footage captured her eerie, detached demeanor as she admitted to killing her parents.
[00:02:45] The horrors discovered inside the home would shock the world.
[00:02:50] This case, as one veteran detective put it, quote, horrified even the most experienced murder investigators.
[00:02:58] So, dim the lights, put your phone down, and listen as I unravel the chilling story of Virginia McCullough,
[00:03:06] the secrets that were hidden in the walls of the McCullough family home,
[00:03:09] and the unspeakable acts that led to a crime so shocking, it continues to haunt everyone involved.
[00:03:17] So, let's jump right in.
[00:03:19] There is a reason that I've titled this episode, The Diabolical Daughter.
[00:03:23] So, we're gonna start with the one and only Virginia McCullough.
[00:03:29] Born to John and Lois in October of 1987, she was their fifth daughter, their youngest,
[00:03:36] and a bit different from their other children, as the youngest tends to be.
[00:03:41] Virginia, who they lovingly called Gin or Ginny, was known to be eccentric and a bit reclusive.
[00:03:48] Even as she got older, she never kept up with modern trends.
[00:03:53] She's been described as old-fashioned.
[00:03:56] She liked to dress up in styles straight out of the 1950s.
[00:04:00] Not a surprise to anyone who knew her.
[00:04:03] Later on in life, she would be diagnosed as autistic.
[00:04:07] She was on the autistic spectrum.
[00:04:09] The family lived in the small neighborhood of Great Baddow, which has a population of less than 15,000 people.
[00:04:16] An ideal location for those looking for a bit of a small-town charm just outside of the busy streets of London.
[00:04:23] They were described as middle class, with John working as a consultant before landing a gig teaching business studies at a local university.
[00:04:33] Though the lights were always kept on and there was always food on the table, the family dynamic was at times complicated and full of mental health issues.
[00:04:44] According to court records, much like his daughter Virginia, John was also on the spectrum.
[00:04:49] He had autism, a neurodivergent condition that was most definitely not understood back in the day.
[00:04:56] He craved structure and he would have been seen as a man who stuck to routine and put his job above all else.
[00:05:05] Unfortunately, the rigidity of his life left him feeling overwhelmed and he often turned to alcohol.
[00:05:13] John's wife, Lois, had her own struggles.
[00:05:16] She was a severe germaphobe and, while never officially diagnosed, she certainly displayed traits of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
[00:05:24] She kept the family house meticulous, nearly sterile.
[00:05:29] It wasn't the kind of place that felt like a family home that the children were truly allowed to live in.
[00:05:35] It didn't help that her anxiety often spurred her cleaning.
[00:05:39] And because she had agoraphobia, she spent much of her time in the house, ensuring that everything was kept clean at all times.
[00:05:47] Their children would later describe them best as, quote,
[00:05:51] functional rather than affectionate.
[00:05:54] The kids were functionally taken care of as best as they could be with five children to raise, but the home often lacked warmth.
[00:06:02] It was long ago now, but some from the community have said that growing up, the kids were often dirtied and bullied because of it.
[00:06:11] Especially Virginia, who would be called smelly Ginny.
[00:06:15] Others have said that the head of household, John, was so strict that many of the neighborhood kids were terrified of him.
[00:06:22] When his children did something that they weren't supposed to do, punishments were swift and heavy.
[00:06:29] Four of the five McCullough children moved out as soon as they could, but the youngest, Virginia, stayed living at home with her parents.
[00:06:36] She picked up a few odd jobs here and there, including working at a local bar called The Ship.
[00:06:43] But she never really decided on any particular direction to take her life in.
[00:06:49] Still, she generally appeared to be a very friendly person who oftentimes went a little overboard in her generosity.
[00:06:56] Quite literally, she would shower her co-workers, neighbors, and other acquaintances with notes and gifts to the point where it almost became a nuisance.
[00:07:08] It was strange and uncomfortable because she didn't know these people well enough to constantly be giving them these gifts.
[00:07:16] Even more strange was how this behavior directly contradicted the way that she was at home with her parents.
[00:07:24] Because she only worked part-time doing odd jobs here and there, her father would basically give her an allowance so that she had enough money to get the things that she wanted or needed.
[00:07:35] But still, this wasn't enough for her.
[00:07:37] She began stealing from her parents, taking out loans in their names without their consent or knowledge.
[00:07:44] When they would be contacted by the bank due to delinquent payments, Virginia would lie to them, telling them that they must have been hacked.
[00:07:53] That someone else had taken out those loans, had stolen their identity.
[00:07:58] Virginia would develop a shopping and online gambling addiction.
[00:08:02] She simply could not stop spending money.
[00:08:05] Money that wasn't hers.
[00:08:07] The payoff was the feeling that she experienced during these transactions.
[00:08:13] It's likely why she also went out of her way to give random people presents.
[00:08:18] Maybe it made her feel okay about all of the money that she was spending.
[00:08:22] Money that didn't belong to her.
[00:08:25] Money that belonged to her parents.
[00:08:28] And Virginia's parents, they continued to fund her.
[00:08:32] Because she continued to lie to them.
[00:08:34] She said that she was working towards becoming an artist.
[00:08:38] And that soon she would be getting paid well and would be able to pay them back.
[00:08:43] Yet, Virginia had no intention of ever doing so.
[00:08:48] She told them that she was working full-time now, but her employer was unfairly holding back her pay.
[00:08:54] Her parents felt awful for her.
[00:08:57] In an email to a friend, her mother Lois wrote,
[00:09:05] While it seemed like she had a good thing going, the accumulation of debt, it was just catching up to Virginia.
[00:09:12] And she knew that she wouldn't be able to continue stealing from her elderly parents much longer without getting caught.
[00:09:20] In March of 2019, she began contemplating killing both her mother and her father.
[00:09:27] Virginia began collecting mass amounts of prescription medication that she could use to poison them.
[00:09:34] She purchased a knife and instruments to be used to cut tablets that may.
[00:09:40] But it wouldn't be until June 2019 that she would finally decide that it was time to go through with her sinister plan.
[00:09:48] She began by testing the waters with how much prescription drugs would be needed to kill her father.
[00:09:54] Her dad would be the guinea pig.
[00:09:57] She made him a cocktail filled with crushed-up pills to see what kind of damage it would do to him.
[00:10:03] The goal was to give them both enough drugs to kill them.
[00:10:07] But if that didn't work, she had a knife to finish the job.
[00:10:11] On the first try, Virginia's father John didn't die.
[00:10:15] But she decided that she would try again a few days later.
[00:10:19] On June 17th, 2019, Virginia made both her mother and her father a drink mixed with a potent combination of prescription drugs.
[00:10:29] And then she put them in their individual beds for the evening.
[00:10:33] The next morning, she discovered her father, John, dead in his bed.
[00:10:38] However, her mother, Lois, she was still alive.
[00:10:43] Her mother was physically smaller than her father, so she had put less of the drugs in her drink.
[00:10:49] But as it turned out, her mother also decided not to finish the entire drink.
[00:10:55] Worried that her mother would now somehow turn her in for killing her father,
[00:10:59] she decided that she had to move on to Plan B to ensure that her mother died.
[00:11:05] While Lois was in bed listening to the radio with her headphones on,
[00:11:09] Virginia retrieved a pair of gloves and a hammer.
[00:11:13] She would later tell the police, quote,
[00:11:15] She looked so innocent.
[00:11:17] She was just sat there listening to the radio.
[00:11:21] I did go in three times to build up some gumption, but I knew I had to get it done and can't hesitate.
[00:11:28] She was just staring at me in disbelief.
[00:11:31] Then Virginia began to hit her mother in the head with the hammer.
[00:11:36] She later described the murder as, quote,
[00:11:43] That's how disconnected she is from the fact that she just murdered her own mother in cold blood in one of the most vicious of ways.
[00:11:51] When Virginia thought that the hammer was causing too much of a mess,
[00:11:55] she went to the kitchen and she retrieved a large knife to finish the job.
[00:12:00] Once her mother was dead, she allegedly repeated to her,
[00:12:04] I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
[00:12:07] Lois was stabbed with the knife eight times and suffered massive defense injuries,
[00:12:12] which is just horrible to think about.
[00:12:14] Her last moments of life were visions of her daughter violently killing her while she laid helplessly in bed.
[00:12:22] During the attack, Virginia cut her hand,
[00:12:25] which often happens during stabbings as the knife slips.
[00:12:28] So she went to the doctor to have the wound looked at because it wasn't stopping the bleeding.
[00:12:33] She told them that she had injured herself cutting vegetables.
[00:12:37] Then she went to the mall and used her father's bank card to buy plastic gloves and sleeping bags
[00:12:43] that she would use to conceal her parents' bodies.
[00:12:47] The next day, Virginia ordered a new credit card in her mother's name
[00:12:51] and then she went on a shopping spree, buying herself new clothes and jewelry.
[00:12:57] She hardly had time to think about her parents now that she had access to all of their money and all of their credit.
[00:13:04] But she remembered that she had to do something with her mother and father's bodies.
[00:13:09] She would put them each in a sleeping bag that she had just purchased.
[00:13:14] With her mother Lois, she put the body in a wardrobe located in the back of her bedroom and sealed it up with tape.
[00:13:21] With her father, she built him a makeshift tomb using cinder blocks.
[00:13:26] Then she stabbed blankets, pictures and paintings on top of his body.
[00:13:31] Then Virginia sent out a few text messages to her siblings from her mother's phone.
[00:13:37] One said,
[00:13:39] Your dad and I are at the seaside in Walton this week.
[00:13:42] Mom, X.
[00:13:43] While another said,
[00:13:44] Good night, Mom, X.
[00:13:47] Over the next four years, there would be many more text messages just like these ones,
[00:13:52] where Virginia pretended to be her mother and her father.
[00:13:55] Think about how sick and twisted that is.
[00:13:59] Her siblings believed that they were having these conversations with their parents for years,
[00:14:04] but all along it was their youngest sister Virginia pretending to be them.
[00:14:10] If there were occasions where they wanted to meet up in person,
[00:14:14] well, Virginia would make excuses as to why that just couldn't happen.
[00:14:19] They were sick.
[00:14:20] They were busy.
[00:14:21] They had other plans.
[00:14:22] During the holidays and birthdays, she would buy cards to send off in their names.
[00:14:28] Virginia would even make phone calls pretending to be her mother.
[00:14:31] She would call the doctors to ask questions,
[00:14:35] keep up the illusion that Lois was still alive.
[00:14:39] She would even call the police as Lois to make trivial complaints
[00:14:44] so that there was documented evidence that Lois was still alive.
[00:14:48] And of course, Virginia continued to spend all of her parents' money.
[00:14:54] It's time for a quick break and a word from tonight's sponsors.
[00:14:58] Hang on, I'll be back before you know it.
[00:15:02] Is your daily routine filled with hidden hormone disruptors?
[00:15:06] Believe it or not, there are over 1,000 of these sneaky culprits lurking in our environment.
[00:15:11] Everything from our food and water to the air we breathe and even in our skincare products.
[00:15:17] And they wreak havoc on our hormones.
[00:15:20] But here's the good news.
[00:15:22] You don't have to put up with it any longer.
[00:15:24] However, introducing Hormone Harmony, a game-changing formula crafted from all natural herbal ingredients
[00:15:31] designed to ease hormonal symptoms for women of all ages.
[00:15:35] Hormone Harmony isn't just for those going through menopause.
[00:15:38] It's for any woman navigating the ups and downs of hormone balance.
[00:15:43] Join the movement.
[00:15:45] Hormone Harmony has become a sensation.
[00:15:47] With a bottle flying off the shelves every 24 seconds and over 17,000 rave reviews,
[00:15:55] it's clear that women everywhere can't stop talking about it.
[00:15:58] If you're fed up with unexpected monthly surprises or menopause symptoms that zap your energy and joy,
[00:16:05] it's time to reclaim your vitality with Hormone Harmony.
[00:16:09] And here's a special treat.
[00:16:10] For a limited time, enjoy 15% off your first order at happymammoth.com.
[00:16:17] Just use the code SERIALNAPPER at checkout.
[00:16:20] That's right.
[00:16:21] Head to happymammoth.com and enter SERIALNAPPER for your discount today.
[00:16:27] It's time to feel like you again.
[00:16:31] Now back to our story.
[00:16:34] Between June 1st, 2018 and September 14th, 2023,
[00:16:39] she spent around 21,000 British pounds, which is around 27,000 USD online gambling.
[00:16:46] In total, she would spend around 149 British pounds or around $190,000 USD from their pensions
[00:16:55] and other loans that she took out in their name.
[00:16:58] Virginia wasn't hiding away while she brazenly spent this money either.
[00:17:02] She was more active in her neighborhood than ever.
[00:17:06] It was strange.
[00:17:08] She bombarded her neighbors with uninvited visits and unwanted gifts.
[00:17:14] One elderly woman who lived nearby described her as a pest.
[00:17:19] Virginia would just show up at her door wanting to talk her ear off.
[00:17:24] If she wasn't home, she'd leave random gifts on her doorsteps.
[00:17:29] Books, flowers, a multitude of things.
[00:17:33] Sometimes these gifts were things that she had purchased with her dead parents' money,
[00:17:37] and other times they were her dead parents' belongings.
[00:17:41] She was giving away their things to people in the neighborhood,
[00:17:45] and these people had no idea what exactly they were receiving.
[00:17:49] Another neighbor who lived across the street was a man named Russell Thorrington.
[00:17:54] Ever since he moved into his home, Victoria would constantly barrage him with visits and gifts.
[00:18:01] He would come home from work, and then within 15 minutes, she would be at his door wanting to chat.
[00:18:07] Russell would say,
[00:18:09] She would leave strange notes, a tiny LED Christmas tree once.
[00:18:14] I had a steak in a packet put through my letterbox.
[00:18:17] Virginia was clearly lonely, living in a house all by herself.
[00:18:22] I mean, if you don't count her two deceased parents.
[00:18:25] And she was trying to buy friends, trying to buy company.
[00:18:30] But it had the complete opposite effect.
[00:18:33] People found it off-putting.
[00:18:35] Her odd behavior didn't stop there.
[00:18:38] Just months before she was found out, she began pretending that she was pregnant.
[00:18:43] She would walk around wearing maternity clothing with a very obvious fake pregnancy bump,
[00:18:50] often carrying around hospital paperwork claiming that she was pregnant.
[00:18:55] Generally, people knew that she was faking it.
[00:18:58] But nobody really wanted to call her out on it.
[00:19:01] The community sort of felt like there was something clearly wrong with her,
[00:19:05] something not quite right.
[00:19:07] But she just needed help.
[00:19:09] She was mostly harmless, they thought.
[00:19:12] Virginia was even so brazen, she would call the police to make a fake report about being assaulted.
[00:19:18] Only about a month prior to her arrest, a police officer attended her home,
[00:19:24] the home that her parents' bodies were stashed in, where they would take her statement.
[00:19:29] While she didn't necessarily want to be found out for the murders,
[00:19:33] she did want attention desperately.
[00:19:36] She would spend over four years in that home with the bodies of her dead parents.
[00:19:41] When people would ask, or even if they didn't ask,
[00:19:44] she'd say that her parents had moved out of town because they didn't like the gossipers in their neighborhood.
[00:19:50] Of course, her story always seemed to change depending on who she was talking to.
[00:19:55] Sometimes she would say that they were away on holidays.
[00:19:59] In 2020, this lie became really easy for her with the COVID lockdowns.
[00:20:06] This was particularly helpful in keeping her siblings and other family members away from the home.
[00:20:11] Her parents, they were elderly. They were at-risk individuals.
[00:20:17] She could easily say that they needed to stay home and away from people who might spread the illness to them.
[00:20:23] But her lies could not work forever.
[00:20:27] Eventually, they would catch up to her and everything would come crashing down.
[00:20:32] In September 2023, Lois and John's doctor contacted the police because he was worried about their well-being.
[00:20:41] The elderly couple had not been in to see him in years.
[00:20:45] They kept canceling their appointments and making excuses as to why they couldn't pick up important prescription medication.
[00:20:52] The police contacted the McCullough home by phone and Virginia answered.
[00:20:57] When they asked to speak to Lois and John, she told them that they were away, traveling.
[00:21:03] But the police, they weren't buying it.
[00:21:07] On September 15th, officers raided the home.
[00:21:11] Virginia was there and she very calmly, very politely confessed to everything.
[00:21:18] I've got to say, it was a very British way of confessing to something just so awful.
[00:21:24] The interaction was captured on body cam.
[00:21:27] Here's a clip.
[00:21:28] Say where you are.
[00:21:29] Say where you are, Alan.
[00:21:31] Say where you are, Alan.
[00:21:31] Say where you are, Alan.
[00:21:31] Say where you are, Alan.
[00:21:32] Say where you are, Alan.
[00:21:32] Say where you are, Alan.
[00:21:32] You're here.
[00:21:33] Jenny?
[00:21:36] Oh.
[00:21:37] The time is for talk, you're under arresting suspicion of murder against Jonathan McCullough and
[00:21:42] Lawrence McCullough.
[00:21:43] Yep.
[00:21:43] She does the same thing, but in my home defense, if you do not mention one question,
[00:21:46] socialized reporting seem to do so.
[00:21:49] Okay.
[00:21:50] All right, your rest is necessary.
[00:21:51] I'll go to the kitchen.
[00:21:52] Is there anything in the pop-up we should know about?
[00:21:54] Yes.
[00:21:54] Can I take you to it?
[00:21:55] No, you can tell me.
[00:21:57] Can you go to the first phone, just tell me something about what's in there?
[00:22:02] Yeah.
[00:22:03] I mean, the only reason I said I need to tell you something about what's upstairs on the
[00:22:07] top floor as well.
[00:22:08] That's fine.
[00:22:08] Okay.
[00:22:10] My dad probably isn't there.
[00:22:12] Right, okay.
[00:22:13] Yep, okay.
[00:22:15] Obviously, I'll say-
[00:22:16] Where about your arm?
[00:22:18] A little bit more complicated.
[00:22:20] Okay.
[00:22:22] Can I, that's why I said can I go upstairs and show you-
[00:22:24] Right, can you explain it to us please, because we're trying to preserve this.
[00:22:27] It's now going to be seen, so we need to preserve this the best we can.
[00:22:30] So I don't want you to have you walking up there, all right?
[00:22:33] Oh my God.
[00:22:33] Because that's for your wellbeing as well as ours.
[00:22:35] Oh no, up, up, up.
[00:22:36] Okay.
[00:22:37] Thank you.
[00:22:37] Thank you.
[00:22:37] Where will we find your mum?
[00:22:39] Well, possible.
[00:22:40] Where will we find your mum?
[00:22:41] Okay, so upstairs there are about five wardrobes.
[00:22:44] Yep.
[00:22:45] It's behind the bed, but back next to the sink.
[00:22:49] That's the second one.
[00:22:51] I slipped a pile of those into his drink.
[00:22:55] There were about two or three drinks that I bought downstairs.
[00:23:01] Yeah, they were basically, he didn't drink all of them.
[00:23:07] He only drank probably about half of two.
[00:23:09] But yeah, when I went in in the morning, this was before my mother.
[00:23:15] When I went in the morning, early hours, I got up about half an hour early,
[00:23:19] about six o'clock in the morning, came in and she was gone.
[00:23:24] It was gone.
[00:23:25] It's, I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
[00:23:32] And it's forth part that I served my punishment.
[00:23:35] So, yeah.
[00:23:38] Okay, so Virginia, I just can ask you this.
[00:23:40] This is what I've written down based on the information you just told us
[00:23:42] because what we regard as a significant comment.
[00:23:45] Because you've made it up on undercourt from the heart of your list.
[00:23:48] Those things, by the way, they're my granddads.
[00:23:50] Okay, right.
[00:23:51] So I've written this piece.
[00:23:53] I, Virginia McCulloch, have informed police constables 77329 Brown and 79387 Bowers
[00:24:01] after entering my house on Friday the 15th September 2023 that I murdered my father,
[00:24:05] John McCulloch, who was stated was under a bed in the rear ground floor of the house
[00:24:11] and my mother upstairs in a cupboard next to the sink.
[00:24:14] Wardrobe.
[00:24:15] Wardrobe.
[00:24:15] It's a double wardrobe.
[00:24:16] Right, okay.
[00:24:16] I've written cupboard.
[00:24:17] It's like four wardrobes, but it's the one near the sink, double wardrobe.
[00:24:21] They're coming.
[00:24:23] Cheer my wife, at least you've put the bad guy.
[00:24:26] I've been waking up today and done my job.
[00:24:29] I know, I don't think that's 100% evil, but we all...
[00:24:32] Yeah.
[00:24:33] I'm not going to comment on anything.
[00:24:34] It's not my job to comment on it, okay?
[00:24:36] Because I've got to be impartial with everything, okay?
[00:24:37] So I'm not going to give any comment.
[00:24:39] No.
[00:24:40] No?
[00:24:40] Well, I mean, I deserve to obviously get whatever's coming sentence-wise
[00:24:46] because that's the right thing to do.
[00:24:49] And that might give me a bit of peace.
[00:24:52] Also in the handbag as well, there's...
[00:24:56] And again, because you're probably going to need to know about it, there's a card in there.
[00:25:02] Yes.
[00:25:02] I've got one money.
[00:25:06] And that's a bank card where there's a lot of transactions that have taken place.
[00:25:14] I've lost a few years.
[00:25:15] What?
[00:25:16] From money that pertains to my parents.
[00:25:18] This has got to be one of the strangest interactions between police and a killer that I've ever seen.
[00:25:25] She matter-of-factly told officers that she had murdered her parents
[00:25:30] and then she instructed them on where they would find the bodies hidden away in the house.
[00:25:36] At one point, she even tells them, quote,
[00:25:44] John's body was found still in the sleeping bag in a makeshift mausoleum,
[00:25:49] while Lois was located in her sleeping bag in a wardrobe sealed with tape.
[00:25:54] Once back at the station, Virginia continued spilling the details about what she had done to her parents.
[00:26:01] She told them where to find the hammer and knife that she had used to kill her mother.
[00:26:06] And she noted that it, quote, will still have blood on it.
[00:26:11] So, um, the night of my pen is upstairs in the 23rd, um, um, 29th.
[00:26:20] Um, uh, it's in the middle with a crying carpet, um, against the opposite shelves.
[00:26:28] So, there are two long white shelves opposite, um, where that room is.
[00:26:34] That's where their wife is.
[00:26:37] So, uh, next thing is very hard to talk about.
[00:26:40] It's probably most curiously detailed.
[00:26:42] Um, so on the, um, ground floor, underneath the stairs, uh, there's a few, like, storage boxes and things.
[00:26:53] Um, um, and, uh, in the middle, um, I think it's in my foxes or in a bar or something.
[00:27:00] Um, there, um, um, um, if you want me to shush up the face, it's fine.
[00:27:07] Um, but every bit helps.
[00:27:09] You'll, you will find very simple.
[00:27:11] It's helpful.
[00:27:11] There's a hammer.
[00:27:13] Uh, I know.
[00:27:14] I know.
[00:27:15] I know.
[00:27:15] But I'm, I'm trying to help so you find everything.
[00:27:18] It's in the middle, underneath the stairs.
[00:27:20] It will still have blood on it.
[00:27:22] It's frosted.
[00:27:23] But it will still have blood traces on it.
[00:27:25] There was no question in this case about who had done it.
[00:27:29] But many wondered why.
[00:27:31] When Virginia went to trial, she claimed that she was depressed and she felt trapped by her parents.
[00:27:37] That she needed to get away from them and she felt like this was the only way.
[00:27:42] There was testimony given related to her autism and her rigid thinking.
[00:27:47] One report suggested she had a, quote, binary choice between living with your parents and killing them.
[00:27:54] However, looking at all of the evidence and the way that she behaved over the four years, how she had stolen from them prior to their deaths and then continued to benefit financially after their deaths.
[00:28:07] I mean, this was clearly a financial motivation.
[00:28:12] Virginia pleaded guilty to the murders of her parents, John and Lois McCullough, and she was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 36 years.
[00:28:21] Three of her siblings attended the trial and gave an impact statement saying that they had a profound level of hate for her.
[00:28:30] They wrote, quote,
[00:28:45] Lois' brother also submitted a statement about how he was duped by his niece into believing that he was having all of these conversations with his sister over the years.
[00:28:55] He said, quote,
[00:28:59] Virginia has spread many lies and stories to cover her murders.
[00:29:03] It undermines my faith in humanity.
[00:29:06] I still have letters sent to me.
[00:29:08] I know now some of the contact with what I believe to be Lois and John was not them.
[00:29:14] Some moments and conversations I believe I was having were not true.
[00:29:19] There are precious times with Lois and John I will miss out on because of the wicked act of their own daughter.
[00:29:27] Virginia is dangerous, and my biggest fear is she will plan something as she is manipulative and now has a lot of time to plan.
[00:29:37] For four long years, Virginia lived in the house with the bodies of her deceased parents, lying to everyone from her own siblings to the police, all while profiting off of their tragic deaths.
[00:29:52] But it wasn't just the pensions that she stole.
[00:29:56] She went further, taking out loans in their names, selling their possessions, all to fuel her addiction to gambling and lavish living.
[00:30:06] Clothes, jewelry, bribes, whatever it took to buy affection, to buy a life she didn't deserve.
[00:30:13] In the end, though, the truth came crashing down.
[00:30:18] Her parents died knowing the monster she had become.
[00:30:22] And her siblings?
[00:30:23] They can never forget the betrayal.
[00:30:26] This is a story of greed, deception, and a family forever shattered by one of their own.
[00:30:33] Remember, not every evil wears an obvious face.
[00:30:38] That's it for me tonight.
[00:30:39] If you want to reach out, you can find me on Facebook at Serial Napper.
[00:30:44] You can find my audio on Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
[00:30:50] I post all of my episodes in video format over on YouTube, so go check it out.
[00:30:55] And if you are watching on YouTube currently, I would love if you can give me a thumbs up and subscribe because every little bit helps.
[00:31:03] I also wanted to let you know that my Patreon will be up and running as of November 30th, so just a few days away.
[00:31:10] If you'd like to get your Serial Napper episodes early and ad-free, hop on over and check out the details at patreon.com slash serialnapper.
[00:31:21] Until next time, sweet dreams, stay kind, especially in the comments.
[00:31:29] Bye.