![\"Stephen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/001d4ae7-614.jpg\"\/)
\nStephen McCullagh had denied the murder<\/p>\n
The boyfriend of Natalie McNally has been found guilty of her murder.<\/p>\n
Stephen McCullagh, aged 36, of Woodland Gardens in Lisburn will now face a life sentence.<\/p>\n
He had been accused of murdering his 32-year-old girlfriend Natalie McNally in her home in Lurgan, Co Antrim, at Christmas in 2022.<\/p>\n
She was 15 weeks’ pregnant with his child.<\/p>\n
Family members hugged each other, cheered and cried when the verdict was delivered.<\/p>\n
The jury of six men and six women returned a verdict after two hours of deliberation.<\/p>\n
The public gallery at Belfast Crown Court was packed for the verdict. It was delivered after 18 days of evidence in the high-profile case.<\/p>\n
\nStephen McCullagh had denied the murder<\/p>\n
The prosecution had made the case that McCullagh had beaten, strangled and stabbed his former partner after discovering messages she had sent to other men.<\/p>\n
During the trial the jury had heard how Ms McNally had been messaging other men, including a former boyfriend, during her relationship with McCullagh.<\/p>\n
The trial heard how McCullagh had pre-recorded a six-hour video of himself gaming several days before the murder.<\/p>\n
The prosecution told the jury McCullagh had then published that to his YouTube channel at 6pm on Sunday 18 December 2022, presenting it as a live event.<\/p>\n
It said he had used the window afforded by the recording to travel from Lisburn to Lurgan by bus to carry out the murder.<\/p>\n
The prosecution claimed that McCullagh had taken a taxi from Lurgan back home after the killing.<\/p>\n
Watch: Natalie an ‘inspirational person’ who would have been ‘amazing mother’ – brother<\/p>\n
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It said he had been forced into that position because he had missed the last train which he had intended to take.<\/p>\n
Tracking data from the taxi company showed that the taxi had pulled up outside the house in Lisburn where McCullagh lived.<\/p>\n
The driver gave evidence that his passenger had gone into the house to get cash for the fare.<\/p>\n
McCullagh claimed it was part of an attempt by the real killer to frame him for Ms McNally’s murder.<\/p>\n
The trial had been told that McCullagh insisted a former boyfriend of Ms McNally’s had been responsible for the crime.<\/p>\n