"Bad guy caught"

This murder case shocks even experienced investigators

The 36-year-old was convicted of the murder of her parents.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/Essex Police)

A 36-year-old woman from the UK has been sentenced to life imprisonment after murdering her own parents and hiding them in her home for four years. According to the police, the case shocked even experienced investigators.

In 2019, the woman poisoned her 70-year-old father with medication and then beat her 71-year-old mother to death with a hammer. She then hid the bodies in the house they shared. According to the BBC, she hid her father's mortal remains in a "self-built mausoleum" made of bricks in his study. Her mother's body was found wrapped in a sleeping bag in a closet upstairs.

The gruesome double murder was only uncovered four years later, in the summer of 2023. British TV stations released a bodycam video of her arrest on Friday, in which she calmly answers questions from police officers and explains where the bodies can be found. 

 "Bad guy caught"
"My father's body is in there," she replies impassively. When asked where her mother is, she describes to the police officer: "A bit more complicated ... there are about five cupboards upstairs, she's behind the bed, right at the back, next to the sink. It's the second one."

Then she tells the officers: "I knew it would be like this at some point. It's right that I serve my sentence." She adds: "Cheer up, at least you caught the bad guy."

The details of this case shock even the most experienced homicide investigators.

Ein Sprecher der Polizei in Essex

Doctors and relatives lied to
As the British news agency PA reported according to dpa, the perpetrator must serve at least 36 years behind bars. In order to cover up the crime, she had lied to doctors and relatives for years. She told them that her parents were ill, traveling or on trips, while she continued to receive their pensions and accumulated large debts in their names.

The doctors became suspicious when the parents missed several appointments. The police then began to investigate and arrested the woman a year ago. At the trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, the judge described the crime as having been planned for months.

A spokesman for Essex Police expressed horror at the scale of the deception. "The details of this case shock even the most experienced murder investigators," he said. The case has caused quite a stir in the UK, partly because of the bodycam video of the arrest.