‘They Are Dead’: Pennsylvania Woman Accused Of Using Chainsaw To Dismember Her Parents

A Pennsylvania woman is behind bars after her elderly parents were found dead and dismembered in their home, authorities said.

The son of the victims, Reid Beck, 73, and 72-year-old Miriam Beck, went to check on the couple at their home in Jenkintown on Jan. 17 since he hadn’t heard from or seen them for 10 days, WPVI-TV reported.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by the station, once inside the residence, the man saw what appeared to be a body covered with a blanket and confronted his sister, Verity Beck, 43.

Investigators said Beck allegedly told her brother the situation at the home she shared with their parents had been “bad” and she needed “more time” after he asked her to phone police.

Beck’s brother then left and phoned 911.

Officers responding to the call found the bodies of the two victims, and Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said “there were signs of extreme trauma present.”

According to Steele, officers recovered a chainsaw from the scene and the couple’s bodies were in “various stages of dismemberment” that appeared to happen "over a period of some time.”

"Verity used this chainsaw and put parts of her parents into trash bags and had covered them up,” Steele claimed, noting, “They were actually in two different trash cans.”

Police claimed they asked Beck where her parents were and she allegedly responded: “They’re dead.”

WPVI-TV reported an autopsy determined the Becks both were shot in the head. “We hope and pray that happened first,” Steele said.

“We are looking for what motive could have been behind this,” the district attorney said. “We did find evidence in the house of a safe that had attempted to be broken into.”

Beck was being held without bail at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on charges of first-degree murder and third-degree murder.