Verity Beck case: Abington woman pleads guilty but mentally ill for killing and dismembering her parents

ABINGTON TWP., Pa. (WPVI) — The Montgomery County woman accused of fatally shooting her parents and dismembering their bodies with a chainsaw in the home they shared pleaded guilty but mentally ill to two counts of first-degree murder.

(The video in the player above is from previous reporting.)

After the plea deal, authorities said 45-year-old Verity Beck, a former teacher at Saint Katherine School of Special Education in Wynnewood, was sentenced to life in prison for each count of first-degree murder committed concurrently. She is receiving mental health treatment in prison.

The bodies of Reid Beck, 73, and Miriam Beck, 72, were found on January 17, 2023, after their son told Abington police he went to his parents' house to check on them because he was not on the phone had spoken to them since January 7th.

READ MORE: Woman charged with murder after parents found dead and dismembered in Jenkintown

He saw a body on the ground, covered with a bloody sheet, and a chainsaw nearby.

The man told police that he had spoken to his sister Verity and that when he asked if anything bad had happened to their parents, she answered “yes.”

Police say Verity Beck lived in the house and told her brother that things were “going bad” there.

Her brother told Verity that she needed to call the police, investigators said, and Verity responded that she needed “more time.” The brother left, returned to his home and called 911, police said.

RELATED: Police release new details on Jenkintown double murder

As the officers broke down the door and went inside, Verity walked down the steps with her hands in the air.

There was a chainsaw near one of the bodies and both victims were in “various stages of dismemberment.”

The coroner determined that both victims died from a gunshot wound to the head. They are believed to have been killed on or about January 7, 2023.

According to The Morning Call, prosecutors hinted at a motive, alleging that Beck was in financial trouble and when confronted by her elderly parents about stealing from them, she killed them.