Virginia McCullough

[Roundthemoon]

Is anyone watching the news story about Virginia McCullough, the woman who murdered both of her parents?

There is a video showing her arrest. The scary thing is that she looks so normal.

Yes isn't it very odd that siblings had had no contact with their parents for 4 years! You'd think they'd have raised the alarm before then. Maybe there's more to it than meets the eye?

I have no idea, I have also wondered this. I understand that Virginia faked emails etc cancelling family events etc. And of course, covid probably made it easier for her to keep things hidden for longer, but it seems very strange that the other children didn't try to speak to their parents on the phone and didn't raise any concerns.

It is hard to comprehend but John and Lois were quite an odd couple and perhaps their relationships with their children weren't close. I believe that one of the siblings described their parenting as "functional but not affectionate". Of course, we never really know what goes on behind closed doors but I am more ready to believe the accounts of the non-murderer sisters than I am to believe Virginia's account. Whatever issues Lois may or may not have had, I don't think victim blaming is appropriate here as she isn't able to defend herself.

Yeah and even if the mother was extremely abusive, it's not an excuse.

My mother was extremely abusive to me at points when i was young , I've managed never to become a killer.

This woman is just despicable.

She went guilty from the get go so no need for a defence maybe?

I just think it's so terribly sad that the dad worked hard to have a good career as a lecturer,

then he had a daughter who was lazy, didn't work, gambled, took all his money, and then killed him.

His own child.

She destroyed him.

shocking video. I’m sure there must be a lot of backstory here that might come out. Also surprised BBC website shows this kind of stuff!

I understand that the father tried very hard to help his daughter get a job. He was very pleased at one point that he had helped her to secure something, but obviously it didn't last.

It's shocking to think of the parents lives being ended by their own child in that way.

Just reading the latest BBC report on this; covid helped her to disguise this for so long apparently. She killed them 6 months prior to its appearance, and then came social distancing and what not.

Yes. I believe that she continued corresponding with various family members by email. And I read that she even sent postcards from Clacton purporting to be from her parents. It seems that the deceit was quite elaborate and with her parents being relatively introverted anyway, she somehow managed to go unnoticed.

I suspect that a very large number of children have their lives 'destroyed' by terrible parents.

I suspect the number of parents whose lives are 'destroyed' by their children is miniscule in comparison

Yes, but we are talking about this particular case, and these particular parents

and we have absolutely no idea what happened behind closed doors in this family but the fact that the siblings didn't feel the need to physically check on their parents suggest that this was not a normal family.

I'm not sure what your point is though.
Are you saying its the parents fault?

Because nothing the parents could have done, deserves murder.

As I said, I know people who had very abusive parents.

They managed never to kill them

You are the OP, you commented on how weird her behaviour was when talking about her parents bodies.
I'm simply trying to guess why she is behaving so strangely with such a lack of remorse or empathy, almost like a psychopath and wondering was it something in her childhood which shaped this behaviour.

I think it was her gambling addiction and desperation for money

Well, to paraphrase your other post, I know people who have a gambling addiction.

They managed never to kill their parents.

Maybe stop trying to guess. Implying that it is somehow the fault of the victims without any evidence to back that up is in pretty poor taste.

"Almost like a psychopath"?

What's an actual psychopath then?

Yes, I was a bit surprised by that too. I’m sure it will seem ridiculous to some to feel like that, but if I had seen that as the no doubt overly sensitive child I was it would have really freaked me out. It was an extremely disturbing video, not only the sheer horror of what she had done but also the extreme lack of emotion on her part. Of course, there’s any amount of horror all over the internet, but something about the way this was just made available all over the main news sites was a bit surprising, to me anyway.

I'd recommend reading "in cold blood" by Truman Capote if this theme interests you. I agree it is unsettling and a terrible case all round.

I just saw the video. Not in UK so hadn’t heard about it.

I think, as the saying goes, they walk among us. The creepiest murderers are just normal, but damaged people. She killed her parents. She had reasons (not good ones probably), but it’s not like she went around killing randoms.
Her siblings not even being aware for 4 years is absolutely a red flag.

But yes OP, horrible.
I have a relative in the police who deals with the likes of this woman and says it is more common than we’ll ever know.

Not a murderer but this very normal, pretty woman was jailed for two years because of her abusive behaviour to her partner,

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8djrl18v81o

She didn't look the type to be a bully and I suppose that is a problem reporting her behaviour and hoping someone believes the victim.

What did you expect her to look like?

I guessed less normal /average?

It's the way she speaks, it's so devoid of emotion but her tone is almost chatty. Then, when she saus, "Cheer up, you've caught the bad guy", my jaw dropped. Abusive or not to murder her parents and then conceal their bodies for 4 years is unforgivable.