Judge Charges Jury in Natalie McNally Murder Trial

In the ongoing murder trial at Belfast Crown Court, the jury has begun receiving instructions from Mr. Justice Kinney on how to evaluate the circumstantial evidence against Stephen McCullagh, accused of killing his pregnant partner, Natalie McNally. The 32-year-old mother-to-be was beaten, strangled and stabbed to death in her home in Silverwood Green, Lurgan, County Armagh, on the evening of December 18, 2022, when she was 15 weeks pregnant with McCullagh's child.

McCullagh, 36, from Woodland Gardens in Lisburn, has denied the murder charge throughout the four-week trial. Prosecutors, led by Charles MacCreanor KC, argue that McCullagh fabricated an alibi by pre-recording a six-hour YouTube livestream of himself playing Grand Theft Auto four days earlier and presenting it as a live broadcast on the night of the killing. They contend this covered his movements between 6 p.m. and midnight, the window during which Ms. McNally was attacked. "That was the defendant's false alibi, of that there can be no doubt," MacCreanor told the jury in his closing speech, pointing to McCullagh's repeated claims to friends, family and police that he was streaming live.