Jan. 19 (UPI) — A Pennsylvania woman has been arrested and charged with the grisly murder of her elderly parents, who were found Tuesday shot in the head and dismembered.
Verity Beck, 49, has been charged with murder in the first and third degree for the deaths of her parents, 73-year-old Reid Beck and 72-year-old Miriam Beck, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement Wednesday.
She was arrested Tuesday night at the Abington, Pa., home she lived at with her parents after police arrived at the residence in response to a call from family requesting a wellness-check be performed on the elderly couple whom they had not heard from in more than a week.
Kevin Steele, the county’s district attorney, told reporters during a Wednesday press conference that officers on entering the residence were confronted with the distinct smell of decomposition and the sight of Reid Beck’s body tightly wrapped in a white bed sheet and evidence that Miriam Beck was dead somewhere else inside the home.
“There were signs of extreme trauma, and I’ll tell you that a chainsaw was found and both Reid and Miriam were found in different stages of dismemberment,” he said.
Steele explained that the state in which the bodies were found is one reasons why the press conference was held so late in the day.
“These were not easy autopsies to conduct based on the fact that Verity used this chainsaw and then had put parts of her parents into trash bags and had covered them up and they were actually in two different trash cans,” he said.
The autopsies show that Reid and Miriam Beck each died of a single bullet to the head shot at close range.
Evidence suggests they were killed on Jan. 7, the last time any family member had heard their voices, he said.
“I say that specifically because it seems like the daughter may have had access to their phones and may have been texting on their behalf but no one had heard their voices since the seventh,” he added.
Investigators are looking for a motive, he said, but evidence of an attempt to break into a safe located in the house had been found.
Steele said it was a hard day for those working the case, but you can’t overlook the tragedy felt by the family of the victims.
“They’re going to be going through a really difficult time,” he said. “This is a tragic situation.”
