Virginia McCullough - life sentence for killing parents
Discussion
Killed her parents, her mother particularly brutally, then lived with their corpses in the house for four years while frittering away their life's earnings. Grotesque. Something about her calm demeanour in the bodycam footage makes it even more unsettling.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ywjvwe01no
(Apologies if posted/discussed elsewhere, couldn't find a thread on it)
ETA - Also realising now I missed out the 'u' in her name. Typo joys.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ywjvwe01no
(Apologies if posted/discussed elsewhere, couldn't find a thread on it)
ETA - Also realising now I missed out the 'u' in her name. Typo joys.
I'm going to open a thread called: 'Could Virginia McCullogh be Innocent?'
The evidence against her is purely circumstantial apart from her confession, and there used to be a say: If you can't prove it without a confession, you can't prove it with. In other words, it is unreliable. There are so many questions the situation leaves unanswered.
I'll collect real evidence from the internet initially I think.
The evidence against her is purely circumstantial apart from her confession, and there used to be a say: If you can't prove it without a confession, you can't prove it with. In other words, it is unreliable. There are so many questions the situation leaves unanswered.
I'll collect real evidence from the internet initially I think.
Derek Smith said:
I'm going to open a thread called: 'Could Virginia McCullogh be Innocent?'
The evidence against her is purely circumstantial apart from her confession, and there used to be a say: If you can't prove it without a confession, you can't prove it with. In other words, it is unreliable. There are so many questions the situation leaves unanswered.
I'll collect real evidence from the internet initially I think.
I found the video stuff really chilling and quite bizarre. In your experience DS how unusual is it for a suspect to be so matter of fact about something like that? The evidence against her is purely circumstantial apart from her confession, and there used to be a say: If you can't prove it without a confession, you can't prove it with. In other words, it is unreliable. There are so many questions the situation leaves unanswered.
I'll collect real evidence from the internet initially I think.
Gad-Westy said:
I found the video stuff really chilling and quite bizarre. In your experience DS how unusual is it for a suspect to be so matter of fact about something like that?
In my experience.A high percentage of offenders have some form of mental problem. A common one, at least for lesser crimes, is depression. Many of the minor shoplifting offenders fall into this category. There's a reason for every action though, but often, even the offender doesn't know why. Never, ever, use logic when questioning why they acted the way they did.
One of the most serious offences, a series of offences going over about 6 years, I had was an uncle who abused his nephew. We brought him to the nick, got a detective sergeant of some ability to deal (a requirement due to the nature of the offence and method of trial) and he got a full and frank confession even before the juvenile liaison officer got into work. The DS reckoned he spoke too fast for him to write it down and the offender got a little irritated.
There's a family history in this case. I have no idea what it might reveal, but murders of members of the family don't happen in isolation. I'm not suggesting the parents were at fault in any way or had 'it' coming of course. I would assume she gave reasons, but I don't reckon you can trust her point of view. She might tell the truth as she sees it, but it is probably a distorted view.
After 30 years in the job, the one conclusion I came to that is irrefutable is that everyone is weird in their own way, and that's not only offenders, but everyone else, including me and you, as well. It's all down to degree.
I watched a programme on autism, the first thing of note being that the term is like the word fish. It means nothing specific and cannot be defined. But one question that was asked was how do we know they are the odd ones. Many are 'normal', but different to what is accepted by the rest. But look around you at some of those in this normal group and work out if those with autism are nearer you than they. My time in the job makes this a difficult question to answer.
tting hell.I expect the circumstances and motive will be mundane. Greed, solipsism, narcissism maybe, familiarity breeding contempt, long-term petty resentment, nobody caring enough about the old couple to check until it's too late.
Absolutely tragic for the old couple.
I don't understand the purpose though of this new trend of publishing body-cam footage of arrests. transparency of the process I hope rather than freak-show voyeurism.
Absolutely tragic for the old couple.
I don't understand the purpose though of this new trend of publishing body-cam footage of arrests. transparency of the process I hope rather than freak-show voyeurism.
Miocene said:
This. Really weird. Think she was happy to be caught?
I suspect as she has been living with it for years it must have crossed her mind that at some point someone is going to come knocking to look for her parents, living with that in her head every day for years. Probably a relief in some respect it has happened.
Sociopath through and through. The acknowledgment of guilt was without emotion, and there was no emotional response to being told she was being arrested. Most people would be in shock at having the door kicked in and being red dotted by a police officer with a taser. I doubt she genuinely believes she's done anything wrong.
When I was plod we had a chap come to the front desk and he confessed to killing his wife as she'd been nagging him. I did cell guard with him and while conversation was kept to a bare minimum (you have to write it all down in your pnb) it was clear that he was remorseful and he ended up hanging himself whilst on remand. After that shift I remember actually feeling sorry for the bloke as well as his wife. I believe most murders are heat of the moment incidences with regret afterwards. This woman however hasn't an ounce of remorse and will likely spend the rest of her days at our expense.
When I was plod we had a chap come to the front desk and he confessed to killing his wife as she'd been nagging him. I did cell guard with him and while conversation was kept to a bare minimum (you have to write it all down in your pnb) it was clear that he was remorseful and he ended up hanging himself whilst on remand. After that shift I remember actually feeling sorry for the bloke as well as his wife. I believe most murders are heat of the moment incidences with regret afterwards. This woman however hasn't an ounce of remorse and will likely spend the rest of her days at our expense.
Gecko1978 said:
Something is odd. She is 1 of 5 and the other 4 did not see parents since 2019, she kept the bodies in the house etc, didn't try an leave the country etc.
Yes - this is very strange. People fall out with one or sometimes both parents, but it seems unbelievable that four children would not have any contact with either parent for five years.Derek Smith said:
I'm going to open a thread called: 'Could Virginia McCullogh be Innocent?'
The evidence against her is purely circumstantial apart from her confession, and there used to be a say: If you can't prove it without a confession, you can't prove it with. In other words, it is unreliable. There are so many questions the situation leaves unanswered.
I'll collect real evidence from the internet initially I think.
The two bodies in the house she lived in is pretty good evidence. ...and the fact she knew where the murder weapon was hidden The evidence against her is purely circumstantial apart from her confession, and there used to be a say: If you can't prove it without a confession, you can't prove it with. In other words, it is unreliable. There are so many questions the situation leaves unanswered.
I'll collect real evidence from the internet initially I think.
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