Insanity Plea Expected In Montco Double Murder Case

ABINGTON TOWNSHIP, PA — The Rydal woman who authorities said killed and dismembered her parents is expected to plead insanity when her case goes to trial in April.

Verity Beck, 44, of Abington's Rydal neighborhood, is charged with two counts each of first- and third-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and possession of an instrument of crime in connection with the deaths of her parents, Reid Beck, 73, and Miriam Beck, 72.

Authorities allege Beck shot and killed her parents in their Jenkintown home on or after Jan. 7, 2023, and dismembered their bodies with a chainsaw.

Beck was scheduled to stand trial in early February, but court records show the trial has been delayed to April 1.

The trial date shift could be related to Beck and her team's plan to claim insanity in the case.

The Pottstown Mercury reports Beck's defense in a court filing said that she "was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act she was doing, or that she did not know that what she was doing was wrong" at the time of the crime.

The situation unfolded the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023 when Abington Township Police were contacted by Justin Beck, Verity Beck's brother.

He said he hadn't talked with his parents since Jan. 7, 2023. He did, however, text with them and his sister, Verity Beck, between Jan. 7, 2023 and Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023.

At about 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, he drove past their house and saw their vehicles outside.

His sister reportedly complained to him of feeling ill, so he decided to bring her soup, police said.

At about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, he showed up to his parents' Beverly Road home.

There, he went to a downstairs bedroom to check on his parents.

That's where police said he found a body lying on the bedroom floor. The body was covered in a blood stained sheet and a chainsaw was nearby, police said.

Justin Beck assumed the body was his father's, police said.

He then spoke with his sister for about half an hour.

During that conversation, Verity Beck said that things had "been bad" in the home she shared with their parents, police said.

When if something bad had happened to their parents, Verity Beck told her brother yes, authorities said.

Justin Beck told his sister they needed to call police, but she said she "needed more time," police said.

At that point, police said Justin Beck assumed his mother was dead, too.

He left the home and called 911. When speaking with authorities, he told police there were at least two firearms in the home that his sister may have access to.

Police showed up at the home at about 10:30 p.m.

They tried to make contact with Verity Beck, but were unable to.

Then at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, two officers made it into the home through a side door.

After getting into the home, they were hit with a strong odor of decomposition and announced themselves as Abington Police officers, police said.

Verity Beck was taken into custody and while being handcuffed told the officers her parents were dead.

In the home, police saw a human foot with a bloody blanket covering the rest of the body, according to the affidavit for probable cause.

Additionally, they found a chainsaw near the body, blood on the bedroom door, and two trash cans in the bedroom.

Police said one of the cans was mostly full, with a white sheet covering the can's contents.

County detectives showed up later to process the scene, and they found a decapitated man's body wrapped in a sheet. That body was later identified as Reid Beck.

Reid Beck's body was also on a floor dolly, which authorities believe Verity Beck used to transport the body.

The trash can in question was filled with white bags containing severed body parts, police said.

And the chainsaw was found to have "biological material" in the chain, which authorities believe was used to dismember Reid and Miriam Beck.

Detectives later found more severed body parts in a trashcan in the home's garage, police said.

Outside the home were unread newspapers from Jan. 7, 2023, police said. This lead authorities to believe the couple was killed on Jan. 7, 2023, the same day Justin Beck last heard his parents' voices.

According to authorities, a safe in the second floor master bedroom appeared to have been tampered with, as investigators found tools nearby and drill marks on the safe's surface.

Detectives also found two .38 caliber handguns, registered to Verity Beck in her bedroom. One had been fired once and the other fired twice, police said.

Authorities also found an unregistered .38 caliber handgun that had been fired twice.

A forensic pathologist determined the deceased male to be Reid Beck, who was found with a single gunshot to the head.

The pathologist also determined the body parts found in a trashcan were those of Miriam Beck, who was also found with a single gunshot to the head.

Their causes of deaths were determined to be gunshot wounds and the manner homicide, police said.

Authorities said they believe a pillow was placed between the victims and the gun, as they found a pillow with gunpowder burns and a hole in it in the home.