The courtroom at Belfast Crown Court was thick with tension on Monday, March 23, 2026, as the jury filed back in, faces drawn with the weight of a five-week trial. After just two hours of deliberation, they delivered a unanimous verdict: Stephen McCullagh, a 36-year-old YouTuber from Woodland Gardens in Lisburn, was found guilty of the murder of his pregnant partner, Natalie McNally. The verdict brought a wave of emotion from McNally’s family and friends, who filled the public gallery. Cheering, hugging, and even tears marked the moment justice was served for the 32-year-old, who had been 15 weeks pregnant with the couple’s son when her life was brutally taken in her Lurgan home on December 18, 2022.
According to The Independent, McCullagh’s conviction capped a trial filled with chilling details, elaborate deception, and the unraveling of a carefully constructed alibi. The prosecution’s case painted McCullagh as a calculating murderer who went to extraordinary lengths to cover his tracks. On the night of the murder, he broadcast a six-hour YouTube video of himself playing Grand Theft Auto, giving the impression to his 42,000 subscribers that he was live at home. In reality, this so-called “Violent Night Christmas Live Gaming Stream” had been meticulously pre-recorded four days earlier. Barrister Charles MacCreanor KC told the court, “His claim that between 6pm and midnight he was going live was a complete fabrication. He repeatedly and to different people lied that he was doing a live show.”
Jurors heard how McCullagh disguised himself with a heavy coat, face mask, and even a wig before taking a bus from Lisburn to Lurgan. He walked a mile and a half to McNally’s home on Silverwood Green, where he carried out a prolonged and violent attack—beating, strangling, and stabbing her. The scene was harrowing: McNally’s body was found face down in a dog bowl, her injuries including stab wounds to the neck, evidence of strangulation, and heavy blows to the head. After the killing, McCullagh changed into fresh clothes, deleted the pre-recorded video from his computer, and took a taxi home—leaving a trail he later tried to explain away as an attempt by someone else to frame him.
In a particularly chilling twist, the YouTube video included a fleeting four-second image of a James Bond movie poster, “No Time to Die,” displayed at the very moment McCullagh was committing the murder. The prosecution argued this was a sinister nod to his actions, and investigators later proved the video was pre-recorded by analyzing his computer’s activity. McCullagh had even explained the poster’s presence as a keyboard mishap, but forensic analysis showed the keyboard hadn’t been touched during the stream—a small but damning detail.
McNally and McCullagh’s relationship had begun just months earlier, after meeting on the dating app Bumble. By October 2022, McNally was pregnant, and the couple affectionately referred to their unborn child as “Baby Squish.” Despite plans to spend Christmas together and talk of moving in, McNally had not fully committed to the relationship. According to RTÉ, she maintained contact with a former boyfriend and exchanged messages with other men—some of which were sexual or discussed her pregnancy. In the week before her murder, she confided to a friend, “I wouldn’t do it before Christmas, that would be mean. I will see how I feel in the New Year. I’ll make no rash decisions.” In another message, she wrote, “There is no point in acting like happy families if it’s not what I want. I like my independence so right now I’m doing my own thing. I am not rushing into this family set up if it’s not what I want.”
The prosecution presented evidence suggesting McCullagh, who had the passcode to McNally’s phone, accessed these messages and was left feeling “deceived, hurt, angry and enraged.” This, they argued, fueled his cold and calculated plot. McCullagh’s previous relationship had also ended badly, involving allegations of assault after he discovered intimate images on his partner’s phone—a pattern of controlling and violent behavior, the court heard.
After the murder, McCullagh set about covering his tracks and manipulating those around him. He attended McNally’s wake on Christmas Day, where her grieving family welcomed him as a bereaved partner and father-to-be, even giving him time alone with her remains. He continued to spread rumors that McNally’s ex-boyfriend was responsible for her death, and at one point, secretly recorded 40 minutes of conversation in the McNally family home, trying to glean information about the police investigation. He even helped digitize family videos for a tribute played at a rally in Natalie’s memory, which he also attended—just days before his re-arrest.
The investigation soon unraveled McCullagh’s narrative. Police cyber-crime experts established that there had been no live stream on the night of the murder. When confronted with this evidence during a police interview on January 31, 2023, McCullagh admitted in a prepared statement that the video had been pre-recorded. He claimed he had been drunk and asleep at home while the video played, but offered no further explanation and declined to testify in his own defense.
Throughout the trial, McCullagh’s defense team attempted to cast suspicion on McNally’s former boyfriend, describing him as “walking, talking reasonable doubt.” However, Judge Patrick Kinney instructed the jury to focus solely on the evidence against McCullagh. “The defendant is Stephen McCullagh, you must determine if Stephen McCullagh is guilty of the murder of Natalie McNally,” the judge told them. Ultimately, the evidence was overwhelming.
The jury’s verdict brought a measure of closure to McNally’s family, who had endured months of uncertainty and public scrutiny. Judge Kinney praised the family for their dignity and the jury for their diligence, commitment, and patience during what he called a “very difficult trial involving some very traumatic evidence.” He released the jurors from any future jury service, acknowledging the distressing nature of the case.
McCullagh was sentenced to life imprisonment, with the minimum term to be set at a later date. As the court proceedings drew to a close, the community in Lurgan and beyond reflected on the profound loss of a young woman described as modern, self-reliant, and deeply loved by her family and friends. The case stands as a stark reminder of the dangers of intimate partner violence and the lengths to which some will go to conceal their crimes—yet also of the relentless pursuit of justice that can, eventually, bring the truth to light.