A jury has watched a police interview with the man accused of the “premeditated” murder of Natalie McNally.
In a video played at Belfast Crown Court, detectives put it to Stephen McCullagh that they believe he was the man in CCTV footage from the night Ms McNally was killed.
McNally (32) was 15 weeks pregnant when she was killed at her home in Lurgan on December 18th, 2022.
Her partner, McCullagh (36), of Woodland Gardens in Lisburn, is on trial for her murder at Belfast Crown Court.
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He has denied the charge.
On Friday afternoon, extracts from police interviews with McCullagh were read to the court. In the interviews he replied “no comment” to a series of questions.
The jury then watched a video of McCullagh’s final interview with police on February 1st, 2023, when he was accompanied by his solicitor.
In the footage, he was shown GPS maps of a taxi journey from Lurgan to Lisburn on the night Ms McNally was killed.
He was then told that a male got into a taxi in Lurgan and travelled to his address at Woodland Gardens.
The detective asked: “Is that you?”
McCullagh replied: “No comment.”
The detective was then seen telling him that the person is seen on CCTV getting out of the taxi outside his house.
He responded: “No comment.”
The detective then said police believed the person in the taxi is the person who killed Natalie McNally.
McCullagh said: “No comment”.
The detective then said McCullagh had been “telling the world” he would be livestreaming a video gaming session between 6pm and midnight on the night Ms McNally was killed.
She said: “You gave the appearance of being at home playing Grand Theft Auto.”
In the video, she then told McCullagh his devices had been examined and there was no user generated activity between those times.
McCullagh answered: “That is literally impossible because you can see it on YouTube.”
He then responded with “no comment” when asked to explain why there was no activity on his computers.
The detective then told McCullagh that three minutes after a person is seen getting out of a taxi and entering his home, his mobile phone becomes active again.
The detective said the male on the CCTV had gone to “extensive lengths” to plan the murder and said it appeared to be “premeditated”.
She told him a male got a bus from Dunmurry to Lurgan, walked to McNally’s house and went inside for 39 minutes.
The detective said: “In those 39 minutes, Natalie is killed by injuries consistent of compression of the neck, stab wounds of the neck and blunt force injuries to the head.”
She said the male then leaves the house, walks back into Lurgan and takes a taxi to McCullagh’s house.
She said: “Everything from our inquiries tells us you are the male in the CCTV and we believe that male in the CCTV is the person who murdered Natalie.”
Asked if he can provide any explanation for McNally’s injuries, McCullagh replied “no comment”.
Following the conclusion of the police interview, the jury was told McCullagh provided a statement to police in which he said the case against him was “entirely circumstantial”.
He denied in the statement he was the male in the CCTV footage.
The jury was earlier told McCullagh had created a note on his mobile phone on November 8th which said McNally had been speaking to her mother about what to do with her house if she moved in with him.
It read: “Could tell she is apprehensive as it is such a big change, wants to be close to her family.
“Sees this place as my house and not hers. I told her she can do to this place whatever she likes as I trust her.
“Didn’t acknowledge that I am putting work in to making space for both her and the baby.”
The trial will resume on Monday. – PA
