A YouTuber accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend told her family at her wake about finding her body, a court has heard.
Stephen McCullagh, who is accused of the murder of Natalie McNally in December 2022, attended the wake in the family home for Ms McNally on Christmas Day.
Ms McNally, 32, was stabbed at her home in Silverwood Green, Lurgan, on the night of December 18, 2022 when she was 15 weeks' pregnant.
McCullagh, 35, from Woodland Gardens, Lisburn, denies murder.
Belfast Crown Court heard on Tuesday from Ms McNally's father Noel and mother Bernadette, and her brothers Declan and Brendan.
They told the court McCullagh told them at the wake that he went to Ms McNally's home after becoming concerned when she did not reply to his texts.
The court has previously heard that McCullagh appeared to be live broadcasting himself playing Grand Theft Auto at his home in Co Antrim when Ms McNally was killed.
Prosecutors say the livestream was pre-recorded and broadcast as live on December 18, while McCullagh disguised himself and took a bus to Lurgan and walked to Ms McNally's house where he killed her.
They say he later got a taxi home before returning to Ms McNally's house on the night of December 19, when he made a 999 call.
A court has heard how Stephen McCullagh is said to have pre-recorded a six-hour gaming broadcast and streamed it as if live on the night Natalie McNally was killed.
Appearing in court on Tuesday, Noel McNally said: 'I think he started to tell us he was doing the gaming, to (when) he found the body - it was just one long story, I don't think anyone interrupted him during that time.'
Mr McNally said this was his third time meeting McCullagh.
He said he had been released from police custody and as police had told them McCullagh was 'no longer a suspect', they felt it was 'appropriate he come to our house'.
He said McCullagh told the family that when he got no reply from Ms McNally, he thought she was mad at him for drinking or had diabetic hypoglycemia.
Mr McNally recalled McCullagh saying he bought a bottle of Lucozade on the way to her house and when he got there he texted her to say it was ok if she was 'mad' at him. He then asked her to come to the window to let him know she was okay.
The witness told the court McCullagh said when he went into Ms McNally’s house he then saw Ms McNally lying at the top of the stairs.
He said he then phoned the emergency services, told them Ms McNally was pregnant and he said he was told to put a cushion under her.
Defence barrister John Kearney KC said the defendant had contended it was not 'an accurate recall' to say he had texted Ms McNally when at her house asking her to come to the window.
He said McCullagh said he 'never' said that to Mr McNally, but may have said he intended to ask her this.
'Is that possible?' Mr Kearney asked. Mr McNally replied: 'No. He said he texted Natalie to see if she was ok and she didn’t reply.'
MrMcNallyalso saidtheyweretoldbypoliceMcCullagh‘wasn’tco-operatingwiththem’andpolicehadaskedthefamilytospeakwithhim.
McCullagh supposedly said he did not want anything to do with the police because of how badly they treated him when he was arrested.
He said McCullagh had said that while at the police station, he was ‘stripped’, his genitals were swabbed and he was put in a cell for hours.
Mrs McNally later told the court McCullagh had told them he had not been treated ‘well’ by police, and two female police officers had stripped him.
Mr McNally said McCullagh said when he was arrested, he told one of the policemen ‘I never killed Natalie’ and the policeman had ‘laughed in his face’.
Asked by Mr Kearney about a statement he gave, and how it compares to his recollection of what McCullagh said about his encounter with police, MrMcNallyagreeditwas’a’slightlydifferentversion’.
Askedifitwaspossibleifhehadinstead‘challengedthebasisofhisarrest’,MrMcNallysaid:‘Henversaid“whyareyouarrestingme”,asfarasIcanrecallhesaid“IneverkilledNatalie”’.
Under further questioning from Mr Kearney, Mr McNally was asked about whether Ms McNally’s pets - a dog named River and two cats - had escaped before and whether the back door was ‘regularly’ left open.
Mr McNally said he was not aware of that.
He also said he did not know about contact over the phone between Ms McNally and her ex-boyfriend.
Declan McNally said McCullagh ‘mentioned several times’ that when he was in bed with Ms McNally, her phone rang and she hung up straight away, and he said MsMcNallysaidherexwas‘alwaysharassing’hers.
HealsotoldthecourtMcCullaghsaidatonepointavideohadcomeuponhisphoneaboutnarcissistsandnarcissism,andthatnarcissismwasaboutcontrol.
HesaidMcCullaghsaidhebelievedthatwaswhathappenedtoMsMcNally,andthathebelievedherex-boyfriendhadgontoherhouse,shehadsaidshesepregnantandherexhadgot‘intoarageandkilledher’.
MrKearneysaidthedefendant‘doesn’trecallthis’butalso‘doesn’tdisputeit’.
BrendanMcNallysaidMcCullaghsaidatthewakethathehadtextedMsMcNallyat6pm onSundaythathewasabouttostarthislivestream.
HesaidonMondayhetextedheronWhatsAppthroughoutthedaybutwasgettingnoresponse,andsaidhismessageswerereceivedbutnotread，thecourtreported。
BrendanMcNallysaiMcCullaghsaiwhenhearrivedatherhousehenoticedherbedroomlightwason。
HesaidMcCullaghsaihetextedMsMcNallyagaintogotothewindowsothathecouldcheckshewasokay，and當這沒有發生時，他決定進入房屋。
他還說他提到了一份“ grievances ”的清单，麦卡拉与警方的关系：“他说他被搜身，两个女警搜了他的生殖器，他说他一个人被留在黑暗的房间里。这就是我能回忆起来的全部。”
当被问及Kearney是否可能表示被告表示打算给MsMcNally发短信时，他表示无法回忆起确切的措辞。
当被控方律师CharlesMacCreanorKC询问McCullagh是否表示已向MsMcNally发送短信，或是否考虑向她发送短信时，MrMcNally表示据他所知“他确实说过他给Natalie发过短信”。
MrMcNally还表示，在圣诞节当天的追悼会上，McCullagh提到自己一直在关注媒体以及该事件在网站上的突出程度。
他说McCullagh表示，当他注意到该事件在“最受关注”部分下滑时，“心 sank ”。
“他说如果他在工作，他会确保这个故事在最上面，”MrMcNally说，并回忆起他在情绪激动时说这个故事应该成为“国际新闻”。
周三，法官解除对本案的报道限制后，周二听取的证据被公布。
审判仍在继续。