Pennsylvania woman charged in chainsaw murder of elderly parents: ‘They’re dead’

A chainsaw was found near one of the bodies at the home in Montgomery County, police say

Pennsylvania woman Verity Beck allegedly murdered her parents and dismembered their bodies with a chainsaw, according to authorities. (Montgomery County District Attorney's Office)

A Pennsylvania woman allegedly murdered her parents and dismembered their bodies with a chainsaw, according to authorities.

Police say that Verity Beck, 43, killed her mother and father at the home she shared with them in Montgomery County.

District Attorney Kevin Steele said that police discovered 73-year-old Reid Beck and 72-year-old Miriam Beck in their Jenkintown home on Tuesday.

The alarm was raised after the couple’s son visited the property and found a body hidden under a blanket.

Police say that when he confronted the suspect, she told him that things at the home had “been bad”, according to WPVI.

The brother returned to his own home and called 911. When officers arrived at the scene and asked the suspect where her parents were, she told them: “They are dead.”

A chainsaw was found near one of the bodies and both victims were in “various stages of dismemberment”, according to the prosecutor.

“Verity used this chainsaw and put parts of her parents into trash bags and had covered them up,” he said in a statement obtained by Fox News.

Both victims had been shot in the head and had been dead since at least 7 January, the coroner stated.

“It was one shot to each of their heads,” Mr Steele told reporters. “We hope and pray that that happened first.”

Ms Beck is charged with first-degree murder and third-degree murder and is being held without bail. No motive for the killings has been made public.