- Stephen McCullagh used a six-hour pre-recorded livestream as an alibi after murdering his pregnant girlfriend
- Natalie McNally was fatally stabbed, beaten, and strangled in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, in December 2022
- McCullagh attended McNally’s wake acting as a grieving boyfriend before police uncovered the fake livestream
An Irish YouTuber used a six-hour pre-recorded YouTube stream as an alibi to mislead the investigators after murdering his pregnant girlfriend. Stephen McCullagh, 36, fatally stabbed his 32-year-old girlfriend, Natalie McNally, in her home in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, on December 18, 2022. To hide the death, he set up a fake livestream of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Robot Wars on the evening of the murder that had been recorded four days earlier.
For more than a month after the murder, McCullagh believed that he had been dismissed as a suspect in the case. He attended McNally's wake, as well as a service celebrating her life, acting as the grieving boyfriend. However, the police arrested him after analysis of the supposed livestream found it had been pre-recorded, according to a report in BBC.
McNally died of stab wounds to her neck, multiple blows to her head and strangulation. While his pre-recorded video was running, McCullagh left his house with CCTV showing a man wearing a face covering and black gloves travelling from Dunmurry to Lurgan.
It is believed that McCullagh murdered McNally while the stream was on. Just after midnight on Dec 19, the gaming broadcast was manually stopped. To further improve his odds of not getting caught, he texted McNally's phone and his friend Anne. The messages suggested that McNally may have been angry with him for drinking during her pregnancy.
On the evening of Dec 19, he returned to McNally's house to check on her after no one had heard from her for almost 24 hours. Afterwards, he called 999, informing the emergency services about the death, stating there was "blood everywhere" while sobbing.
McCullagh told the police that an abusive ex may have been behind the murder while revealing that he was live-streaming the previous night. Despite being arrested initially, he was released.
He was arrested after the Police Service of Northern Ireland's cybercrime unit debunked his claim of having been at home playing video games. On Monday (Mar 23), he was convicted of her murder by a jury at Belfast Crown Court, following a five-week trial.
Though the motive remains unclear, as McCullagh didn't take a stand during the trial, the court heard that in the months leading up to the murder, McNally was texting other men.
Some of the messages were sexually explicit, with McNally stating that she was considering breaking up with McCullagh in the New Year. The court heard it was believed McCullagh had accessed McNally's phone and read these messages.
A tariff hearing to determine the minimum amount of time McCullagh must spend in jail will be held in May.
