A YouTuber who staged a fake gaming livestream to provide an alibi while he murdered his pregnant girlfriend has been handed a life sentence with a minimum tariff of 31 years. Stephen McCullagh, 36, was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court for the murder of Natalie McNally in her home in Lurgan, County Armagh, in December 2022.
Ms McNally, 32, was 15 weeks pregnant when she was subjected to what the judge described as a “brutal and frenzied attack”. McCullagh had denied murder, claiming he was livestreaming on his YouTube channel at the time of her death. However, police discovered the six-hour stream had been recorded four days earlier and broadcast as live on December 18.
Justice Kinney said the staged livestream was “carefully curated to appear as if it was streaming live and to provide the defendant a carefully planned complete alibi to the murder”. The judge also noted that McCullagh had mounted a “concerted effort” to blame Ms McNally’s ex-boyfriend for the killing.
In the aftermath of the murder, McCullagh spent time with Ms McNally’s family, presenting himself as “devastated, distraught and shocked”. The family allowed him to spend time alone with her body during her wake. The judge described McCullagh’s culpability as “extremely high” and said the killing was “cold-blooded and calculated”.
The judge also stated he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Ms McNally’s face had been placed in a dog bowl after the attack, calling it “part of her punishment and humiliation”. McCullagh had referred to himself as a “monster” in his engagement with probation services.
Ordering McCullagh to stand, Justice Kinney said the sentence “cannot possibly reflect the value of Natalie’s life, or indeed that of her unborn child, Dean”. He added: “Stephen McCullagh, you have committed a brutal and senseless murder. You planned this murder in remorseless detail.”
