Stephen McCullagh has been handed a life sentence with a minimum tariff of 31 years at Belfast Crown Court for the murder of Natalie McNally. The 36-year-old, from Lisburn, staged a fake gaming livestream to provide an alibi while he killed his pregnant girlfriend in her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh, in December 2022.
Ms McNally, 32, was 15 weeks pregnant when she was subjected to what judge Mr Justice Kinney described as a “brutal and frenzied attack”. McCullagh was found guilty by a jury earlier this year, and showed no reaction as the sentence was passed. Her family and friends, filling the public gallery, hugged each other as he was led away.
The judge said the staged livestream of McCullagh playing computer games was an “integral” part of his murder plan. Police experts discovered the six-hour stream had been filmed four days before and broadcast as live on December 18. McCullagh had denied the murder, claiming he was livestreaming at the time she died, but the judge said the stream had been “carefully curated” to provide a “complete alibi”.
McCullagh then made a “concerted effort” to shift blame to Ms McNally's ex-boyfriend, the judge said. He also spent time with her family after her death, presenting as “devastated, distraught and shocked”. The judge noted that the family allowed him time alone with Natalie during her wake, ostensibly to grieve.
Setting the tariff, Mr Justice Kinney assessed McCullagh's culpability as “extremely high”. He said it was “difficult to find words” to describe the abhorrence of the murder, adding that the unborn child, named Dean, also died as a result of the attack. The judge said he was satisfied that Ms McNally's face had been put in a dog bowl after the attack, describing it as intentional punishment and humiliation.
The judge told McCullagh he had committed a “brutal and senseless murder”, planned in “remorseless detail” and carried out in a “cold-blooded and calculated” manner. He said the 31-year term “cannot possibly reflect the value of Natalie's life”, but represented the justice due for her death.
