YouTube Removes Account of Convicted Murderer Stephen McCullagh
The YouTube account belonging to Stephen McCullagh, the content creator convicted of murdering Natalie McNally, has been removed by the platform.
Ms. McNally was 15 weeks pregnant when she was killed by McCullagh, her partner, at her home in Lurgan in December 2022.
On the night of Natalie’s death, McCullagh had pre-recorded and uploaded a six-hour gaming stream to his YouTube account, which he presented as being live. He used this stream as a cover to travel to her residence and commit the murder.
Following the incident, McCullagh used the gaming stream as an alibi when speaking to police and Ms. McNally’s family, while continuing to accuse a former boyfriend of Natalie of being responsible for her death.
Although the gaming stream, titled Violent Night, had already been demonetised, it remained on McCullagh’s YouTube account throughout the court proceedings.
Some individuals involved in the prosecution expressed concerns that numerous other sci-fi and gaming videos produced by McCullagh on the same account still had the potential to generate revenue for him.
After his conviction, a YouTube spokesperson confirmed the removal of his channels, stating:
"We terminated the channels owned by this individual for violating our creator responsibility policies."
McCullagh was informed in court that he faces a life sentence. He is scheduled to learn the minimum term he will serve in May.
