A so-called YouTube live stream made by the man accused of murdering Natalie McNally was played to a jury today (Wednesday).
The six men and six women were also shown items removed from Ms McNally’s home in the aftermath of her murder, included a small black-handled knife located close to her head in the living room of her Lurgan home.
The pregnant 32-year old was beaten, strangled and stabbed in her Silverwood Green home and it’s the Crown’s case that she was murdered between 8.50pm and 9.30pm on 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 her murder.
During day three of the murder trial at Belfast Crown Court, the jury was played a recording of a so-called ‘live stream’ made by McCullagh.
Entitled The Violent Night Christmas Live Gaming Stream, it appeared on McCullagh’s YouTube channel between 6pm and midnight on Sunday December 18.
The jury has already heard that following his arrest on suspicion of murder on December 18, McCullagh provided this so-called live stream as an alibi.
The 12 members have also heard that after a forensic examination of McCullagh’s computer, experts from the PSNI’s cyber crime team determined that this six hour stream was not in fact live at all but had been recorded some days before.
When this evidence was put to McCullagh early in 2023, in a pre-prepared statement he admitted to police he had recorded the stream on the night of December 14th and into the early hours of the 15th then put it out on YouTube on Sunday 18th.
He claimed that on the evening of Sunday 18th he had consumed Buckfast, Guinness and Bailey’s and that Ms McNally would be disappointed in him as he promised he wouldn’t drink until their baby was born.
Sections of the recording were played to the jury and on several occasions McCullagh – who was wearing a red Santa hat- said the stream was live and that he couldn’t look at the live chat comments “for some bloody reason.”
In the stream, McCullagh played Grand Theft Auto Vice City and Robot Wars on his Xbox and referred to it as “Xbox gamey goodness.”
Drinking Guinness and Baileys and smoking a vape, McCullagh talked throughout the stream and at one point said “I’m going to get drunk during this live stream. I did promise people I wouldn’t get drunk. To those people I apologise.”
Saying “I’m a very angry gamer by the way”, he also put on various accents including American, Spanish and Cockney whilst playing the games.
He also said “next year my efforts will be involved elsewhere in my life. I’m making the most of my free time.”
In another part of the stream, he said “I’ve just realised I’m a very angry drunk but in real life I’m an absolute sweetheart.”
Before the stream ended at 12.02am, McCullagh wished everyone a Merry Christmas and said the festive season was about having some time off and “spending time with people that you love.”
In addition to the stream being played, the jury and Mr Justice Kinney were also shown three items removed from Ms McNally’s home.
These items, wrapped in forensic evidence bags, were a silver dog bowl, a small black-handled knife and sheet of paper containing information about diabetes.
The jurors also heard information regarding some evidence agreed by the Crown and defence.
This included a series of WhatsApp messages exchanged between McCullagh and Ms McNally on the afternoon and evening of Sunday December 18, 2022.
In the exchange, the couple discussed decorating her Christmas tree, food and a World Cup football match between Argentina and France.
At 5.57pm, McCullagh messaged Ms McNally and said ‘Right, I’m off to stream the night away. Wish me luck.’ Two minutes later she replied and said ‘Good luck. I might sneak a peak at your live stream later.’
Branding the live streaming as “a cover story” with McCullagh “peddling a false alibi”, it’s the Crown’s case that instead of live streaming from his home, McCullagh got the bus from Dunmurry to Lurgan then walked to Ms McNally’s house where he murdered her.
The Crown also say that following this, he got a taxi from Lurgan back home to Lisburn.
The jurors also heard further agreed evidence in the form of WhatsApp messages that McCullagh sent to Ms McNally’s phone throughout Monday December 19, 2022 – all of which went unanswered.
The first message he sent was at 12.08am asking if she had seen any of the stream when he was drinking Guinness and Bailey’s.
Later that day, he sent a series of messages asking how her day was going, apologising for breaking his promise not to drink and saying ‘I love you and I don’t want to do anything to hurt or upset you.’
In a message sent to Ms McNally’s phone at 5.25pm, McCullagh said ‘Getting a little worried here. I don’t want to annoy you but can you please let me know you are safe.’
At 9.07pm he sent another message where he said he was going to call to her house after work followed by a message at 9.31pm which said ‘On my way.’
Details of a series of messages between McCullagh and a female friend on Facebook Messenger were also read to the jury.
This exchange started at 12.10am on Monday December 19, 2022 and continued into that evening.
In the chat, McCullagh spoke of Ms McNally being annoyed at him for drinking on the stream.
As the day progressed he messaged his friend expressing concerns for Ms McNally as he hadn’t heard back from her, said they were going for a scan the following day and discussed baby names.
In one message at 2.35pm McCullagh told his friend ‘Natalie is officially mad at me’ and in another he spoke of ‘silent treatment’ and that he had a ‘feeling that something superbad is about to explode.’
In other messages to the same female friend later that day and into the evening, McCullagh said ‘worry has become panic’ and expressed concerns that as she was diabetic Ms McNally may have ‘taken a hypo.’
One of the last messages he sent to his friend was at 9.27pm when he said he was going to Ms McNally’s home and that he was bringing a sheet about hypos with him ‘just incase.’
The jury has already heard that after arriving at her home, McCullagh made a 999 call at 9.59pm when he hysterically told the operator “please come as soon as you can.”
Earlier this week, the 999 call was played and a sobbing McCullagh could be heard telling the operator “she’s cold” and “there’s blood everywhere”.
At hearing.
