A streamer has been found guilty of murdering his pregnant girlfriend after trying to use a video game stream as an alibi.
The victim, a 32-year-old woman named Natalie McNally, was 15-weeks pregnant when she was killed by her boyfriend, Stephen McCullagh, who she had met months earlier through a dating app. McCullagh was an Irish YouTuber with 37,000 subscribers on his channel, which featured content about toys, pop culture, and reviews.
The night of the murder, December 18, 2022, McCullagh set up a fake livestream that he used as an alibi in order to make it seem like he was busy playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Robot Wars.
“I am not leaving the house tonight,” he said in the video, as reported by The Guardian. He also claimed a technical glitch was preventing him from interacting with viewers.
While the stream was being broadcast to his audience, the victim was watching from her own home, with no idea that he was actually traveling seventeen miles to find her and kill her. She suffered stab wounds to the neck, strangulation, and heavy blows to the head, according to court proceedings.
McCullagh was originally let go after providing his alibi. He was even given time alone with McNally’s coffin and was comforted by her family. However, investigators have since determined that his livestream was actually pre-recorded. McCullagh admitted this was true, but claimed he was sleeping at the time of the murder. The court also heard from his former girlfriend, who testified that he hit her and covertly recorded her counseling sessions.
After a five-week trial at Belfast crown court, he was found guilty and faces a mandatory life sentence.
Natalie McNally was reportedly looking forward to becoming a mother. Her family called her a kind, generous, and fiercely independent woman.
