A Pennsylvania woman stands accused of shooting both of her parents in the head and dismembering them with a chainsaw, according to an official statement released Wednesday.
Verity Beck, 43, received first- and third-degree murder charges for allegedly killing her parents, Reid and Miriam Beck, in their home, according to a Facebook post from Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office. Police believe that Beck shot her mother and father, both in their early 70s, and used an electric chainsaw to dismember their bodies.
Investigators noted that the victims were shot once each in the head, CBS News reported.
“There were signs of extreme trauma, and I’ll tell you that the chainsaw was found,” Montgomery County district attorney Kevin Steele said, according to CBS. “Both Reid and Miriam were found in different stages of dismemberment, and that was one of the reasons that it’s taken the time today for us because these were not easy autopsies to conduct.”
Steele noted that the body parts were put in trash cans, suggesting that Beck was trying to dispose of evidence, CBS reported.
Police were called to Beck’s residence by her brother, Justin Beck, who has not spoken to his parents since Jan. 7, 2022, and believes they may have been killed on that date. When he visited the home, he claims he saw a dead body covered with a bloody sheet and spoke to his sister for roughly 30 minutes before going home to call law enforcement, according to a criminal complaint cited by 6ABC. (RELATED: REPORT: Coroner Says He Cried, Couldn’t Eat For A Week In Most Heinous Crime He’s Ever Seen)
When police arrived at the property, they called out for Beck, who appeared from the kitchen, CBS reported. When asked where her parents were, she told officers that they were dead. No motive was provided for the double homicide. Beck is being held without bail at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility,