Reasons why children are driven to kill their parents as Virginia McCullough jailed - expert

Virginia McCullough poisoned her father before brutally stabbing her mother - and then lied about it for years. She isn't the only adult to be convicted of killing a parent

What pushes children to kill their parents is complex - but there are common factors involved, a psychologist tells the Mirror.

A woman has been jailed today for murdering her elderly parents in cold blood at their family home in Essex. Virginia McCullough, 36, has been sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court to life with a minimum term of 36 years after pleading guilty to killing her mother, Lois, and father, John, in June 2019.

Inquests into their deaths heard that Lois, 71, died from stab wounds to the chest and John, 70, died from poisoning. McCullough then hid her parents' bodies at the property and continued to live there for four years, lying to doctors and police about their whereabouts.

It was the couple's GPs who raised concerns over missed medical appointments, and in September 2023, officers found the mother and father's remains. As McCullough faces the rest of her life behind bars, we take a look at what parricide is and children's possible motives to kill.

Parricide - the killing of a parent, spouse or close relative - is an extremely rare crime which accounts for a small fraction of murders, according to criminologist and psychologist Alex Iszatt. She told the Mirror: "Familial bonds are complex. There may be longstanding conflicts, intense feelings of betrayal or abuse, or a deep sense of frustration stemming from a perceived lack of autonomy."

Alex, who works in forensics and behavioural criminology, explained there are many factors that influence whether a child acts on their feelings of wanting to kill - such as severe mental health issues, a history of domestic abuse or financial gain. "The decision to commit parricide is often contingent on the individual's psychological state at a given moment," she said.

"In some cases, underlying mental health issues such as depression, personality disorders, or psychosis can distort an individual's perception of reality, leading to violent actions as a misguided means of escaping unbearable circumstances," Alex explained. "Additionally, substance abuse may exacerbate existing vulnerabilities, lowering inhibitions and clouding judgment."

When adult children resort to killing a parent, it's usually because they cannot see an alternative, Alex explained. She said: "The extreme stress of familial pressures or crises, coupled with the inability to cope, can lead to a breaking point where individuals perceive murder as their only escape."

The psychologist added: "Ultimately, the motivations behind parricide are rarely straightforward and often reflect a tragic culmination of emotional turmoil, psychological instability, and complex familial dynamics."

The court heard that McCullough "had been thinking about killing her parents since March 2019 and had been planning for it". Prosecutor Lisa Wilding KC said the defendant, who had been unemployed for many years, "engaged in online gambling" and spent £21,193 in transactions related to gambling between June 1 2018 and September 14 2023.

She had "made arrangements to ensure that she continued to enjoy the benefit of the pensions that continued to be paid in their names" after the deaths of her parents. The prosecutor said McCullough "benefited from" £59,664.01 from the state pension and £76,334.58 from Mr McCullough’s Teacher’s Pension between June 18 2019 and September 15 2023. Ms Wilding said money appeared to have been "frittered away and the investigation has not revealed any expenditure on expensive, luxury or extravagant items".

In recent months, parricide has been a talked-about topic with Netflix documentaries, What Jennifer Did and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, following true stories of children murdering their parents. Jennifer Pan, 24, was convicted of first-degree murder and jailed in 2015 after being accused of conspiring to have her parents killed in a fake home invasion.

In 2010, three armed men broke into her family home in Ontario, Canada, and killed her mother, Bich Ha Pan, and shot her father, Huei Hann Pan. She denied any involvement, but when her dad woke from his three-day coma, he told police: "Find out what Jennifer did." He claimed his daughter was never tied up and that he'd seen her talking to one of the gunmen.

Brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of slaughtering their own parents, José and Mary Louise 'Kitty' in 1989. The duo, who were dubbed the 'trust fund brat brothers' during their high-profile trial, splashed out on property and luxury cars after subsequently receiving their $14 million (£10.5 million) inheritance.

However, they claimed the double murder wasn't financially motivated, and they feared José would kill them after allegedly subjecting them to years of sexual abuse. Both brothers, who were aged 21 and 18 at the time of the murders, were convicted during a joint retrial in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.