Virginia McCollough, a 36-year-old girl was sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murders of her kids, John and Lois McCullough.
Virginia received a life-prison sentence on October 11 and has the option of receiving a pardon in 36 years.
The deaths occurred in 2019, when McCollough poisoned her 70-year-old papa, leaving him to death in his slumber, before killing her 71-year-old mom the next day. She stabbed her mom with a nail before turning to stabbing her repeatedly in a cold attack.
McCollough then kept their bodies a secret, residing alongside them for more than four years while still collecting her parents ‘ pensions and selling their property.
John, a retired business reports lecturer, and his family Lois moved to Clacton, Essex, after retirement, where they were engaged community members.
Despite being well-regarded by mates, their child Virginia, who lived with them, was known for her idiosyncratic behavior.
A GP raised concerns about the old couple’s frequent clinical absences, leading to the shocking finding. A next investigation revealed Lois’s remains stuffed in a closet and John’s mummified body despite a first police explore where McCollough gave false theories about her relatives ‘ presence.
McCollough claimed her parents were on vacation or avoiding email because of the Covid-19 pandemic, fabricating complex lies to cover up her horrible deeds. Her fraud extended to portraying herself as a web developer, while she quietly drained her parents ‘ funds to finance her gambling addiction, spending over £20, 000 online.
McCollough, according to the court, properly planned the murders, accumulating prescribed medicines to poison her parents, and engaging in physical violence when her first plans failed. She exhibited no grief during her imprisonment, making a cold joke to officers,” Cheer up, you’ve caught the poor guy”.
McCollough received a life sentence on October 11, 2024, with a maximum expression of 36 years before being eligible for parole. Her conduct was portrayed as a blatant reversal of parental and child respect. The prosecutor highlighted her cold-blooded analysis, noting the months of planning that preceded the deaths.
The home of John and Lois remembered their favorite parents as loving family members who valued their time together in a statement that John and Lois’s family would never forget.
They expressed heartache over the violent way their parents were taken from them while they were still grieving and demanded protection.
Virginia McCollough’s brutal acts have left all in shock, as details of her deception and the horrible nature of the murders are set to become explored in an impending Channel 5 documentary,’ Killed by our daughter: The Dunlop murders.’
