The mother of Natalie McNally broke down in court as she recalled the devastation she felt following the murder of her only daughter.
Ms McNally was 15 weeks pregnant when she was beaten, stabbed and strangled in her Silverwood Green home in Lurgan on the evening of Sunday December 18, 2022.
The father of her unborn child, 36-year old Stephen McCullagh, from Woodland Gardens in Lisburn, has been accused of and has denied murdering his 32-year old partner.
Members of her family including her parents have spent the last two days giving evidence at her murder trial at Belfast Crown Court.
When she took to the witness stand yesterday (Tuesday), Bernadette McNally spoke of McCullagh calling at her home the evening of December 25, 2022 when the family were waking her daughter in a room in the house.
She recalled McCullagh was wearing a suit and he told her he “wore it to Natalie’s birthday, that she liked it and she said he looked well in it and that is why he was wearing it.”
Asked by Crown barrister Charles MacCreanor KC how people were reacting, Mrs McNally said “We were all upset.”
She recalled McCullagh saying that he tried to contact her daughter on Monday, December 19 and that he thought Ms McNally had fallen out with him as he had been drinking while doing his live YouTube Stream and had promised he would not be drinking because of her pregnancy.
Mrs McNally spoke of McCullagh talking about how he went to her daughter’s home on the Monday evening and of giving her CPR after he called 999.
The witness also confirmed McCullagh spent some time alone with Ms McNally’s remains at the wake.
She said: “I think somebody said Stephen wanted some time alone with her. He said he didn’t want to go to the funeral as he didn’t want to be recognised.
“He started to tell me how he found Natalie in the house. He said she looked like she got a quare doing and he would like to get his hands on them, that sort of thing. He said her face was in the dog bowl and it was full of blood. That stuck in my head.”
Mrs McNally said both she and her husband spoke to McCullagh about him talking to the police.
She said: “We said ‘you need to talk to the police. You need to say what happened. You need to talk to them. They want to talk to you’.
“He was all negative. There was a negativity (with him) about the police. He said they traumatised him, they hadn’t treated him well. He said he had been locked up for so many hours on his own.
“He said two female police officers stripped him and took swabs from his genitals.”
She said he talked about plans he and Natalie had been making for their future, getting his house renovated and there was an integrated school beside him. She also recalled him showing her an engagement ring.
“We were very devastated for him and we were worried about him,” said Mrs McNally. “He was as devastated as we were. He was in our home at least three times in January.”
She said she remembered the defendant talking about an ex-boyfriend who he claimed was “harassing her…that Natalie had got an email from him in the summer months and he was abusive to her.
“I think he said that shortly before she died he was phoning her but she didn’t talk to him and put the phone down. She had him blocked but he still got through.”
Mrs McNally also recalled McCullagh showing a scan of the unborn baby and when Mr MacCreanor asked her how she was coping at the time, choked up with tears and emotion, Mrs McNally replied in a soft tone: “Not very good. It was devastating.”
The lead prosecution counsel said: “I am sorry.”
Her father Noel McNally also gave evidence and described his daughter as “a very strong girl” who loved animals, reading, music and sports.
Questioned first by Mr MacCreanor, Mr McNally confirmed his daughter had a Sunday dinner and watched the Argentina versus France World Cup Final in the family home on December 18 before returning to her own home that evening.
Mr McNally was also asked about events on December 25, when his daughter was being waked in the family home.
He said a female called at the door to tell him McCullagh was outside in a car and to ask if he could come into the house to pay his respects.
Mr McNally said that as McCullagh was “no longer a suspect”, the family felt it was “appropriate” to let him in.
He said that prior to this, he had only met McCullagh twice – once at the end of October when he was introduced as his daughter’s boyfriend and a second time a few weeks later when the family was told of her pregnancy.
Asked what happened after McCullagh was invited into his home, Mr McNally said he remembered him being “upset” and that other people at the wake “gave him hugs … consoling him.”
When asked by the Crown barrister if McCullagh said anything, Mr NcNally said “he started to tell us how he had found Natalie’s body and the lead-up to finding Natalie’s body”.
This, the witness said, included McCullagh saying he had been gaming and drinking on the evening of Sunday 18th and the concerns he had that she may have had a hypo due to her diabetes when she didn’t respond to his messages the following day.
Asked about the funeral the following day, Mr McNally said “the defendant suggested he wouldn’t go to the funeral and we respected his wishes.”
The Crown barrister then asked Mr McNally if McCullagh had spoken to him about being arrested.
He said that it may not have been the day of the wake but he recalled McCullagh saying a police officer at the murder scene had laughed in his face when he said he hadn’t killed Ms McNally.
Mr McNally said McCullagh also spoke of how badly he was treated by police following his arrest.
He said that following his daughter’s death, the McNally family initially treated McCullagh as “grieving partner and a grieving father-to-be … we treated him very very well, we always treated him with the greatest respect.”
When asked if McCullagh talked about his daughter during visits to their home, Mr McNally replied: “He would always say ‘my Natalie, my Natalie’ all the time which sort of annoyed me … because as far as I was concerned he only knew her for four or five months and she was my Natalie.”
Mr McNally was also questioned by the barrister representing McCullagh, who asked him questions about an ex-boyfriend of his daughter’s who had lived with her prior to their split earlier in 2022.
When asked by John Kearney KC if this ex still had a key to her home, Mr McNally replied “I have no idea” but said he could remember her changing the locks.
The defence barrister also asked if he was aware his daughter sometimes left her back door open for her pets, and he said, “I wasn’t aware of that, no.”
Telling the court she was “very good” at managing her diabetes, Mr McNally said he still worried about his daughter living on her own.
Mr Kearney also questioned him about his daughter’s pregnancy and he confirmed this was viewed by the McNally family as good news.
At this point Mr McNally broke down. Speaking of “disappointments in her life”, the grieving father spoke of her diabetes and said: “Whenever I found she was pregnant I was worried that she might lose the child.
“She was living on her own, something would happen to her … I was happy for her but worried.”
When asked by the defence barrister if Ms McNally and McCullagh both seemed “incredibly happy” when they announced the pregnancy, Mr McNally said “that’s correct.”
And when asked how his daughter seemed the last time he saw her on Sunday, December 18, Mr McNally confirmed his daughter remained happy about her circumstances, “seemed content” in her relationship and was “in good form” when she left to go home.
Two of Ms McNally’s brothers, an aunt and a cousin were also called to the witness stand over the course of the last two days
Yesterday her brother Declan McNally recalled that some time after the funeral had taken place, he took McCullagh to his sister’s grave.
Choking back emotion and taking a sip of water, Mr McNally said: “I walked into the graveyard with him to Natalie’s grave which was at the back of the graveyard as you walk in.
“I let him have some time alone at the grave before I went over. I went and stood over by the other graves for five to 10 minutes.
“I then went over to him and he was completely distraught. He was saying ‘how could anyone have done this to her?’ He was describing how happy him and Natalie had been together.”
Another brother, Brendan McNally, confirmed to the court that he met McCullagh on one occasion prior to her murder, which was on November 6, 2022, when he and Natalie announced to the family that she was pregnant.
Mr MacCreanor asked him: “What was your reaction?”
He replied: “I was deeply surprised and shocked by this news.”
Ms McNally’s aunt, Kathleen McStravick, gave evidence today (Wednesday) and recalled meeting McCullagh for the first time at her niece’s wake.
She also recalled McCullagh telling her about his live stream, that she felt sorry for him at the wake and that she told him Ms McNally’s mother “never suspected he was involved” in her death.
Also called to give evidence today was Ms McNally’s cousin Gavin Haddock.
Asked about a conversation he had with McCullagh at the McNally family home on January 7, 2023, Mr Haddock said McCullagh was already there when he arrived.
Mr Haddock said he and McCullagh went out the back for a smoke and that McCullagh took his phone out and started talking about “these stupid little video games”.
The witness said McCullagh was looking at his live stream from December 18 on YouTube then fast-forwarded it into the middle of the stream.
Mr Haddock said McCullagh then said to him “this is around the time that Natalie would have been murdered and I should have been there to protect Natalie. No man would have gotten past me.”
“I kept re-assuring him and saying ‘this isn’t your fault’.”
This witness also recalled seeing McCullagh at a rally held in Lurgan Park on January 28, 2023 and that he was wearing badges on his coat.
The witness said: “I asked him about the badges and he said ‘these were Natalie’s badges and I just wanted to wear them, to show them off’. He has a piece of Natalie with him.”
At hearing.
More from the murder trial:
- Man accused of murdering Natalie McNally told police ‘aggressive’ ex-boyfriend had been harassing her
- CCTV footage concerning ‘person of interest’ shown to jurors at Natalie McNally murder trial
- Cyber expert tells trial there was ‘extensive evidence’ live stream was pre-recorded
- YouTube ‘live stream’ made by man accused of Natalie McNally murder played for jury
- Natalie McNally subjected to ‘prolong assault’ and likely her unborn child ‘died as a result’, says pathologist
- Dog bowl beside head of Natalie McNally ‘almost like it had been used to collect the blood’, murder trial hears
- Constable ‘tried to console’ accused who was ‘distraught’ at scene
- Jury hears 999 call from man accused of killing pregnant partner
