MAN WHO MURDERED PREGNANT PARTNER WHILE FAKING LIVESTREAM AS ALIBI JAILED FOR 31 YEARS
A YouTuber who created a false alibi by broadcasting a video gaming session live online has been handed a 31-year prison sentence for the deliberate and methodical murder of his pregnant partner.Stephen McCullagh, aged 36 and from Lisburn in County Antrim, displayed no visible emotion as he received his sentence at Belfast crown court on Wednesday.
The conviction involved the killing of Natalie McNally, an incident that deeply shocked the community of Northern Ireland.
During the sentencing, Mr.
Justice Kinney, the presiding judge, expressed his profound dismay, stating that words were insufficient to convey his intense abhorrence of the savage assault.
McCullagh was found to have stabbed, strangled, and beaten McNally, 32, at her residence in Lurgan on December 18, 2022.
“You planned this murder in remorseless detail,” the judge said.
“You attacked someone you profess to love in a frenzied assault, which was characterised by its excessive and gratuitous violence.
Despite that frenzy, the killing was cold-blooded and calculated.” During the incident, a pre-recorded video of McCullagh playing Grand Theft Auto was streamed on his YouTube channel, creating the illusion that he was at his own residence 17 miles away.
This footage, recorded four days earlier, showed him wearing a Santa hat, snacking, drinking Guinness, and making jokes, with him stating, “I am not leaving the house tonight.” A prosecutor described the case as particularly disturbing.
Catherine Kierans, an assistant director at the Public Prosecution Service, stated, “I’ve never encountered a domestic murder case involving such extensive premeditation, planning, consideration of every detail, disguise use, forensic awareness, and framing of the ex-partner.” She called the alibi an “elaborate deception.” After McNally’s body was found, police detained McCullagh, but released him after discovering the livestream was pre-recorded.
He initially suggested that a former boyfriend was responsible for the murder.
McCullagh appeared visibly grief-stricken and was allowed to attend McNally’s wake, where he was given private moments by the coffin to say goodbye.
When authorities confirmed the livestream was not live but pre-recorded, they re-arrested and charged him.
Following a five-week trial, he was convicted in March, with evidence showing he had worn a disguise and gloves en route to McNally’s house.
The judge stated that McCullagh's intent extended beyond killing his pregnant partner, who was 15 weeks along, to include their unborn child.
He also believed that McNally’s face had been placed in a dog bowl after the assault as a means to punish and humiliate her.
The judge observed that in the days after the incident, McCullagh appeared at the family home pretending to be distraught and shocked.
“When he arrived at the house on Christmas Day during Natalie’s wake, the family welcomed him in and offered comfort.
They allowed him significant alone time with Natalie to grieve.” At one point, McCullagh left his phone at the McNally residence and returned later, claiming he had forgotten it; the device had been recording, likely to monitor whether the family suspected him.
Kierans, the prosecutor, said McCullagh’s effort to ingratiate himself and spy on the bereaved family was particularly insidious and shocking.
She paid tribute to McNally.
“She had everything to live for, a very intelligent woman, vibrant, full of life, full of excitement about her little baby coming.” Speaking outside court, McNally’s father, Noel, spoke of the family’s “unimaginable pain and grief” and thanked police and prosecutors for bringing the murderer to justice.
“Today is not a celebration of the sentence handed down, as Bernadette, my boys and myself are serving a life sentence since the murder of our beloved Natalie, but hopefully it will serve as a deterrent to help stop violence against women and girls in this country.”
