YouTuber Jailed for Life after Using Fake Livestream as Murder Alibi
A Northern Ireland YouTuber has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 31 years after murdering his pregnant girlfriend and attempting to cover up the crime with a fake gaming livestream.
Stephen McCullagh, 36, was convicted of killing 32-year-old Natalie McNally at her home in Lurgan in December 2022. Prosecutors said he carefully planned the attack and used a pre-recorded six-hour YouTube broadcast to create the impression that he was at home playing video games at the time of the murder.
Investigators initially accepted the apparent alibi, but cybercrime experts later determined that the livestream had been recorded several days earlier and was broadcast as if it were live. CCTV footage and digital evidence subsequently linked McCullagh to the scene.
The court heard that McCullagh continued to deceive McNally’s family after the killing, attending her wake and presenting himself as a grieving partner while attempting to gather information about the investigation.
During sentencing, the judge described the murder as «cold-blooded and calculated,» citing the extensive planning behind both the attack and the fake livestream. McNally was 15 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.
