Stephen McCullagh was convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend despite his attempts to create an alibi.
While driving to her house to kill his Girlfriend, this YouTuber had a livestream running as an alibi. Now he is convicted of her brutal murder.
The Case
The 32-year old Natalie McNelly was found dead in her home in Lurgan in December 2022. She was 15 weeks pregnant. Her boyfriend, Stephen McCullagh (36) was among the first suspects and promptly brought to trial. His defense: He was livestreaming on YouTube during the relevant point in time in his home in Lisburn.
A livestream is a pretty obvious alibi – if it wasn't for one thing: His livestream was pre-recorded, as IT-forensics showed. The streamer broadcasted himself playing Grand Theft Auto and Robot Wars for six hours. The lack of chat-interaction was explained by him having an old computer and technical issues. He recorded this session on the nights of 14 and 15 December and played it on 18 December to create the impression that he was home while in reality, he drove to his girlfriend's house to commit her murder. His smartphone data showed him suspiciously inactive during the time, The Guardian reports. Moreover, CCTV-footage show a man in both Lisburn and Lurgan on the evening of the murder and a male who got into a taxi in Lurgan and dropped off at 11:13 pm at McCullagh’s address, who is now accepted to be McCullagh, The Irish News states.
Natalie McNally, who was 15 weeks pregnant, was subjected to a prolonged assault that included stab wounds to the neck, strangulation and heavy blows to the head, a state pathologist, Dr. James Lyness, told the court.
After the murder, McCullagh went home to shut off his livestream and delete the recording. Just a few hours after everything went down, the murderer uploaded a video of himself reviewing a toy lightsaber. The next day he drove to his girlfriend's house and made a distressed 999 call to say that he had found his girlfriend dead.
Due to his livestream act, the murder of McNally seems to have been planned and premeditated.
The Conviction
After being confronted with the IT-forensics' findings, McCullagh confirmed that the livestream was pre-recorded, but still insisted on his innocence. He said he slept during the time his recording was running.
McCullagh was on trail for more than four weeks. On March 23, after two hours of deliberations, the jury found him guilty of the brutal murder of Natalie McNally, according to the BBC. He now faces a potential life sentence.
His channels are now offline.
