Female teacher, 45, admits killing her parents and dismembering them with chainsaw after fight about money

A former special education teacher in Pennsylvania admitted to killing her parents and dismembering them with a chainsaw.

Verity Beck, 45, murdered her parents Reid and Miriam, 73 and 72, in January 2023 after an argument over money she stole from them.

Beck shot her parents in the head and threw their body parts into trash cans after dismembering them. She was given a life sentence without parole on Monday for the gruesome murders.

Verity pleaded guilty and was deemed mentally ill during her stoic appearance in court. In January, her lawyers argued that she was legally insane when she killed Reid and Miriam, but Judge William R. Carpenter rejected that idea.

“This is a dangerous individual,” Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman said The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“She was healthy when she killed them. She knew what she did was wrong, and she will have to pay for it for the rest of her life.”

Carpenter agreed that Verity was mentally ill after the criminal psychiatrist evaluated the killer.

Although Verity declined to comment on her murder motives as she left the courtroom, text exchanges between her and her parents, among other evidence, revealed that her shaky financial situation caused her to lash out.

She told police she was $100,000 in debt. Her parents accused her of stealing a $600 rent check from a property they owned, along with buying items on Amazon with Reid’s money, including a necklace worth more than $1,000.

Verity was escorted to her hearing because she avoided answering questions about the murders

Verity’s brother, Justin, knew something was wrong when he hadn’t seen or spoken to his parents for several days.

He had only received text messages, which he discovered Verity had sent as if he were them.

When Justin finally went to their house to check on them, it was too late.

He drove past the house earlier in the day and saw that all the lights were off. Justin then drove back to his own house to get soup for Verity, who complained to him that he was sick.

When he later arrived at the house, he found Verity and a corpse covered in a bloody sheet.

Verity murdered her parents in their home in January 2023

Verity told Justin that things had “been bad” at home, according to the 2023 complaint. Investigators said she told Justin she needed “more time” when he said he needed to call the police.

Justin left the house after talking to Verity and called the police. He knew his sister had a gun.

Police arrived shortly afterwards and found the bodies of both Reid and Miriam severely decomposed.

They found a chainsaw and the house smelled terrible. A garbage can in a bedroom was filled with dismembered body parts.

Reid’s body was decapitated and wrapped in a duvet.

Verity pleaded guilty on Monday, but was mentally ill, so she will receive mental health care in prison

When the police entered the house, they asked Verity where her parents were. She allegedly replied, “They’re dead.”

Investigators said they found three guns with spent bullets – two registered and one unregistered – in Verity’s bedroom.

Verity’s lawyer, James Lyons, said this NBC10: ‘While everyone in the family realized she had mental health problems, no one recognized the severity of it or how serious it had become.’

Lyons also told the outlet on Monday that Verity “is remorseful” and “is much clearer now.”

Verity will receive mental health care while in prison. She is being held in the therapeutic wing instead of the maximum security area.