Inside the Twisted Case of a Woman Who Killed Her Parents, Then Lived with Their Mummified Bodies for Years

A British woman killed her parents and kept their mummified bodies in their family home for years — and now her sister is speaking out for the first time.

Louise Hopkins told The Sun that she has forgiven her sister despite her gruesome crimes, “I have forgiven her for what she’s done. I am not drinking other people’s poison,” she said to the outlet. 

Hopkins told the UK outlet that she’s still coming to terms with the gruesome 2019 killings of her parents and will never visit her sister in jail. 

Virginia McCullough was sentenced on Oct. 11, 2024 for the killing of her parents, John, 70, and Lois McCullough, 71. According to Essex police, she is expected to serve a minimum of 36 years in prison before being eligible for parole. 

An investigation into the couple’s deaths began in September 2023 when their doctor raised concerns about John and Lois’ welfare after not seeing them for a while, Essex police wrote in a news release. 

Officers visited the couple’s home and found Lois and John’s remains in their home, according to the statement. Police said that John had been poisoned with prescription medication and Lois had been struck with a hammer and fatally stabbed in June 2019.

According to The Guardian, prosecutor Lisa Wilding said in court that Virginia “built a makeshift tomb” for her father. “John’s tomb” was kept in the bedroom and was covered in blankets and pictures while Lois’ body was wrapped in a sleeping bag and left in a wardrobe in the upstairs bedroom.

Essex police say Virginia tried to keep her family and friends away from the home throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and for years afterwards. 

“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parent’s money and accruing large debts in their name,” Nicola Rice, a prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said in a statement. 

The 36-year-old continued to live at her parents’ home and lied about where they were, cancelling family arrangements and frequently telling doctors and relatives that her parents were unwell, on vacation or away on lengthy trips. 

“The worst thing is that my parents were left to rot. The grief has haunted me,” Louise told The Sun, adding that she became estranged from her parents in 2018 due to her father’s drinking and mom’s behavior.

“I have bouts of thinking I must be to blame because I walked away from all that,” Louise said to the outlet. “I’ve had various flashbacks, just feeling really guilty if I don’t talk about it, it chews me up and I feel physically ill.”

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Louise told the outlet that she was invited to attend her sister’s trial but declined to attend. 

“I was invited to go but didn’t want to because I’d made my peace that I’d left the family and didn’t want anything more to do with them,” Louise said. “I forgive my sister but I would not visit her. I have created a life of peace and tranquility for me and my children.”