Murder accused was 'inconsolable' the night Natalie McNally was killed, friend says

A friend of Stephen McCullagh has told Belfast Crown Court about the moment he phoned her to tell her Natalie McNally had been killed.

McCullagh, 36, from Woodland Gardens in Lisburn, County Antrim, has denied murdering Natalie who was killed in her Silverwood Green home in Lurgan on 18 December.

Natalie was 15 weeks pregnant when she died.

Anne McCullough said McCullagh was "really upset" and "screaming - she's gone, she's gone, Natalie's gone". She said at this point she "honestly thought she'd left him".

However, a female police officer took the phone and told her the 32-year-old had died. Ms McCullough said: "He was so loud. He was howling, crying and screaming."

She said: "I was trying to get him to calm down."

He was "inconsolable".

Ms McCullough told Belfast Crown Court that she and the defendant had known each other since they were 18 and were in college together, studying film-making.

She said: "We were really good friends. Best friends."

Ms McCullough told the court that McCullagh was "overjoyed and so excited" about having a baby.

She said: "He was learning to cook. Reading up on parenting. Reading up about diabetes. He seemed to be prepping to become dad."

Prosecution barrister Charles MacCreanor KC asked her to describe their relationship.

Ms McCullough said they were "very lovely, very positive".

"It was the happiest I'd ever seen him," she said.

She told the court that she thought Natalie "was fantastic" and that she "challenged" McCullagh.

Ms McCullough told the court that she drove to Natalie's home on the night she was killed to support McCullagh.

As she was travelling to Lurgan she said she got another phone call from her friend.

She said: "He was much calmer. He was zoned out. I would say he disassociated."

She said he "started talking about how she was gone. He said when I got there I couldn't hug him or touch him. He said his clothes were evidence."

Ms McCullough told the court: "He said 'there's blood on my clothes'."

She said she was "in shock", saying: "My friend and her baby were dead."

Ms McCullough told the court that she had considered Natalie to be "a friend" and that she had bought her a Christmas present.

When McCullagh was arrested on the evening of 19 December, Ms McCullough told the court she was "worried about him" and his "mental health".

She told the court, once he was released she went to visit him at his home in Lisburn.

She said he "went into detail" about how he "found Natalie".

"He said he saw her feet first. He found her lying down in a dog bowl. He said the house was in a state and that there looked to have been some kind of argument."

She said "something" had happened to the Christmas tree and there was "blood in places".

"He had turned her over and stuff was coming out of her mouth. She was cold," Ms McCullough told the court.

She said she was "upset" to hear this information and "it was a lot to process".

"I thought I was being a good friend. I didn't want to hear this. I have had nightmares since."

She said: "I didn't think he had anybody else to talk to. I took it on the chin and then had nightmares about it."

McCullagh was arrested for the second time in January 2023 and Ms McCullough told the court that she had seen a news alert to say "a man had been re-arrested".

"I was excited that they had found the guy that killed my friend. I called Stephen and got no answer. I thought it was weird."

"Then I realised he was the person re-arrested," she said.

"I never considered for a second there was a reason why. He had his alibi to show he couldn't have done it."

She told the court that McCullagh had told her he was "going live" on the evening of 18 December.

She said he told her on 17 December that this was "something that had not yet happened".

Previously, the court has heard McCullagh later admitted to police that it had been pre-recorded days before.

Ms McCullough told the court: "I can't understand why he wouldn't have told me it was pre-recorded. I've no idea why he would lie to me."