Overview
- A Belfast court convicted Stephen McCullagh of the December 18, 2022, murder of his partner and sentenced him to life with a 31‑year minimum term.
- The victim, 32‑year‑old Natalie McNally, was around five months pregnant and died from multiple stab wounds, strangulation, and severe assault while her unborn child also died.
- Police cybercrime investigators showed that an approximately six‑hour Grand Theft Auto stream McCullagh presented as live had been prerecorded four days earlier and relabeled to serve as an alibi.
- Investigators found McCullagh returned to the scene after the killing, phoned emergency services to pose as a distraught partner, and tried to shift suspicion to the victim’s former partner.
- Prosecutors and the judge called the killing cold‑blooded and carefully planned, and the case highlights both how live formats can be abused and the growing role of digital forensics in modern investigations.