Featured Image Credit: Police Service Northern Island
Warning: This article contains discussion of violence and scenes which some readers may find distressing.
Just over two years after the body of Natalie McNally was found at her home in Northern Ireland, the case has moved to court as her ex-partner is accused of her murder. McNally was 15 weeks pregnant when he body was discovered at a Lurgan residence in December 2022.
36-year-old Stephen McCullagh denies murdering McNally, although it's alleged that he used a pre-recorded Grand Theft Auto livestream to create a fake alibi for his whereabouts on the night of her murder.
As reported by Armargh I, first responders have been called forward to give evidence in court, with one senior paramedic from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service describing the horror of what he witnessed when he and two other colleagues attended the scene on December 19.
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Saying he was the first through the door and announced that he was from Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, a voice reportedly told him, "Up here."
When climbing the stairs, the paramedic claims he was greeted by the scene of a woman lying on her back on the landing, saying that she was "unresponsive and not breathing."
Noting that the scene looked 'suspicious', he explained that her left arm was elevated and rigor mortis had already set in. Due to her "lips and hands" being 'blue', "There was no hope of resuscitation."
A man was reportedly administering CPR, but when the paramedic told him stop, "He got quite upset about that." She was pronounced dead at 10.10 pm.
Going into further detail about the scene, he said, “It was obvious a lot of blood had been lost. This was to the top of her body between her head and shoulders.”
When asked by senior prosecutor Mr. MacCreanor whether there was anything in particular he noticed about McNally's body, he noted there was a "small puncture wound" on the side of her neck.
His testimony was expanded on by a female police constable who arrived on the scene just after 10 pm.
She went on to describe how the front door was open, and there was "quite a foul smell” coming from inside the property. She confirmed that McCullagh was removed from the premises while paramedics tended to the scene, concluding: "He was very upset, he was distraught. I just tried to console him."
Elsewhere, the BBC reported on state pathologist Dr James Lyness, who carried out McNally's autopsy and confirmed she was 15 weeks pregnant at the time of her murder.
It's said that there were 'dozens' of injuries to her head, face, neck, chest, and other limbs, with Lyness reiterating that they included stab wounds, lacerations, and bleeding around her brain.
Injuries to her hands were consistent with the victim "throwing a punch."
While neck compression and stab wounds could be potential causes of death on their own in this 'complex case', Lyness said it's "difficult to completely exclude the possibility that the multiple head injuries she sustained" could have been the deciding factor.
A male police sergeant who attended the scene testified to seeing a blank-handled knife, as well as a silver dog bowl that was close to McNally's head and "looked like it had been used to collect blood."
Footage from a police bodycam was shown to the court, and when being arrested on suspicion of murder, McCullagh can be heard saying, "Murder - why?"
