Entering My Criminal Era

To my great surprise, I got the invite to join People Magazine’s investigative crime team for a quintet of stories in the new special issue TRUE CRIME: A KILLER IN THE FAMILY, a spate of fascinating and lurid stories about how family members, driven by greed, jealousy and pure hatred, bumped off their loved ones.

TRUE CRIME: A KILLER IN THE FAMILY

Generations have been taught about stranger danger and the unknown boogeyman lurking in the shadows, waiting to commit the most heinous crimes.

Family members, it turns out, can be just as dangerous.

“For most Americans, regardless of where they live, the risk of being murdered is much greater in their own homes than on any main street,” according to forensic psychologist and attorney Charles Patrick Ewing. 

Humans really are capable of some very spooky things, maybe none more so than Virginia McCullough, who killed her parents for their money—and then lived with their bodies for four years. 

In 2023, police found the body of her father encased in what The Guardian called a “makeshift tomb” of cinder blocks and blankets. They found the body of her mother stuffed into a sleeping bag in a closet.

If this kind of macabre stuff floats your boat like it does mine, nab a copy here.