YouTuber receives life sentence for murdering pregnant girlfriend before staging fake livestream for alibi
Topics: UK News, Crime, Social Media
Rhiannon Ingle
Featured Image Credit: Police Service of Northern Ireland
Topics: UK News, Crime, Social Media
Warning: This article contains discussion of domestic violence which some readers may find distressing.
A YouTuber has received a life sentence for murdering his pregnant girlfriend while staging a fake gaming livestream in order to provide an alibi.
Stephen McCullagh, 36, will serve at least 31 years in prison for the murder of Natalie McNally, 32, in her home in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, in December 2022.
Ms McNally, 32, had been 15 weeks pregnant when she was subjected to what judge Mr Justice Kinney described as a 'brutal and frenzied attack'.
Advert
According to Justice Kinney, McCullagh's staged livestream on the night he killed Ms McNally was an 'integral' part of his murder plan.
McCullagh denied the murder to detectives, claiming that he had been livestreaming on his YouTube channel at the time she died.
However, police experts discovered the six-hour stream had actually been filmed four days before and broadcast as live on December 18.
The judge said the staged livestream had been 'carefully curated to appear as if it was streaming live and to provide the defendant a carefully planned complete alibi to the murder'.
He added that McCullagh then mounted a 'concerted effort' to pass the blame for murdering Ms McNally to her ex-boyfriend.
During the sentencing, Justice Kinney outlined that McCullagh spent time with Ms McNally’s family after killing her.
He said that McCullagh presented to the family as being 'devastated, distraught and shocked'.
"When he first arrived at the house on Christmas Day, during Natalie’s wake, the family brought him in and comforted him," Justice Kinney explained.
"They allowed him to spend extensive time alone with Natalie, ostensibly to grieve for her."
The judge said it was 'difficult to find words' to describe the 'abhorrence' of McCullagh's heinous murder of Ms McNally.
"The defendant did not just kill Natalie McNally; her unborn child also died as a result of the murderous assault," he stated.
"The defendant was fully aware that Natalie was pregnant. He intended to kill her, and he knew that her baby, at such an early stage of the pregnancy, would have no chance of surviving the attack."
Ordering McCullagh to stand before he set the 31-year prison term, Justice Kinney said the sentence passed 'cannot possibly reflect the value of Natalie’s life, or indeed that of her unborn child, Dean' or meet the family’s sense of 'grief and loss'.
"Stephen McCullagh, you have committed a brutal and senseless murder," he said.
"You planned this murder in remorseless detail. You attacked someone you profess to love in a frenzied assault, which was characterised by its excessive and gratuitous violence.
"Despite that frenzy, the killing was cold-blooded and calculated, as evidenced by the extensive planning leading up to the murder and your actions afterwards.
"Your behaviour towards the McNally family showed your absolute determination to cover your tracks."
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247, available 24/7, or via live chat, available 10am-10pm, Monday to Friday.