An artist wept in court today as she admitted murdering her parents five years ago.

Virginia McCullough, 36, killed John, 74, and Lois, 75, at their home in Chelmsford, Essex, between June 17 and June 20, 2019.

After killing them, McCullough concealed their bodies in the house continued to live there until she was arrested last September. She was pictured for the first time today.

To cover her tracks, she repeatedly lied about their whereabouts, telling doctors and relatives her parents were unwell or were away on lengthy holidays.

McCullough was arrested on September 13 last year after her parents’ bodies were found in a top-floor bedroom at their three-storey house in Pump Hill.

Essex Police said in the moments afterwards, she confessed to poisoning her father with prescription medication and stabbing her mother shortly afterwards.

Mr McCullough, a former lecturer at Chelmsford College of Further Education, and Lois are believed to have had four daughters, with Virginia being the youngest.

Artist Virginia McCullough, 36, (pictured) ‘confessed to poisoning her father with prescription medication and stabbing her mother’

Virginia McCullough, 36, killed her parents John, 74, (right) and Lois, 75, (left) at their home in Chelmsford, Essex, between June 17 and June 20, 2019

McCullough (pictured in court) was arrested on September 13 last year after her parents’ bodies were found in a top-floor bedroom at their three-storey house in Pump Hill 

Pictured: Police work the scene at a home in Chelmsford, Essex on September 18 this year

McCullough admitted murdering John and Lois McCullough when she appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court today.

She appeared in court via video link from HMP Peterborough wearing a purple top and necklace with long blonde hair.

McCullough rubbed tears form her eyes as Judge Christopher Morgan told her: ‘You will understand there is a single sentence that can be passed upon you in these circumstances.

An inquest opening has heard Lois died from ‘stab wounds to the chest’ while John’s cause of death was ‘pending further investigation’. Pictured: Police and forensics at the scene 

Mr McCullough, a former lecturer at Chelmsford College of Further Education, and Lois are believed to have had four daughters, with Virginia being the youngest 

Essex Police said it began an investigation after receiving reports of concern for the well-being of the two people aged in their 70s

In a statement issued through Essex Police, the family of John McCullough and Lois McCullough earlier said: ‘We are deeply shocked by their deaths and ask for privacy at this difficult time.’ Pictured: Police at the scene 

‘What must be determined is the minimum term.

‘You will remain in custody.’

She will face a two-day sentencing hearing on 10 and 11 October.

In a statement issued through Essex Police, the family of John McCullough and Lois McCullough earlier said: ‘We are deeply shocked by their deaths and ask for privacy at this difficult time.’

Police had attended the end-of-terrace house on 18 August 2018, after McCullough alleged she was assaulted in her back garden.

A female officer had interviewed McCullough in a first-floor living room – unaware of the bodies upstairs.

A review has been carried out by Essex Police over the prior contact with Ms McCullough and concluded the female officer did not do anything wrong.

An Essex Police spokesman said: ‘We have not made a referral to the IOPC in relation to this case, as it does not fit the criteria for either a mandatory or voluntary referral.’

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.’

Ms George added: ‘Clearly this was a hugely complex investigation from the outset.

‘Officers were met with an incredibly challenging scene and worked at the address over the course of several days to carry out forensic enquiries.

A forensics team steps underneath police tape cordoning off the scene of the double murder 

The 37-year-old artist will face a two-day sentencing hearing on 10 and 11 October. Pictured: A policeman at the scene of the murders

‘This involved expertise and insight from several teams across the force and it is thanks to the work of dozens of dedicated officers and staff that we were able to bring this tragic case to court and, now, a satisfactory conviction.’

Locals living around Pump Hill in September last year described McCullough as ‘quite chatty’ and a ‘little bit odd’.

A worker at a nearby shop, who asked not to be named, said McCullough had told him her parents had moved to be by the seaside.

He said he had not seen them since before the Covid-19 pandemic, but that previously ‘I would see them two or three times per week’.

The worker said he did not really chat with her parents but they ‘seemed nice, normal people’.

‘We were told they had moved to be beside the seaside,’ he said, adding that it was McCullough who told him.

‘We’re all shocked, we didn’t think she was capable of this.’

He said that McCullough would speak to workers in the local shops and buy them things.

‘If anything she was just like a pest,’ he said.

‘She would be talking about the problems she had in the street.’

He said she was a ‘little bit odd sometimes’, adding: ‘She would come in and go ‘do you want a coffee’ then five minutes later there would be a coffee sitting there.’

He said she had told him she was pregnant, and he did not know whether to believe this.

Neighbour Phil Sargent said McCullough was ‘quite chatty’ and ‘would always come and descend on you’.

‘It would be a fair comment to say she was slightly irrational with her thinking,’ he said.

‘She didn’t appear to be a threat of any kind.’

He said McCullough ‘would buy you things, gifts and leave them outside your door – stuff from the Chinese takeaway, on a regular basis’.

‘She would all of a sudden appear at 10pm and want to talk,’ he said.

‘If you were going out she would spot you and come out.

‘You would get this story or other on what’s happening to her and her world, most of it was just made up.’

Another neighbour, who did not give his name, described McCullough as ‘pleasant’, ‘generous’ and an ‘artist’, adding that he had not seen her parents for at least two years.

Neighbour Dave Oldershaw said McCullough had been ‘carrying on, going up to the Chinese (takeaway) like nothing has happened’.

He said he ‘thought she lived on her own’ at the house, adding: ‘I only knew her to say hello to – she wasn’t trouble.’

McCullough will be sentenced on October 10 and 11.