A pregnant Co Armagh woman was killed in a “prolonged assault”, a murder trial has heard. Natalie McNally, 32, was killed at her home in Lurgan a week before Christmas in 2022.
Stephen McCullagh, 36, of Woodland Gardens in Lisburn, has denied murdering his girlfriend, Miss McNally, who was 15 weeks pregnant with their child.
McCullagh sat in the dock at Belfast Crown Court between two prison guards on Tuesday during the second day of his trial.
Following a break for lunch, the state pathologist for Northern Ireland was called to give evidence.
Dr James Lyness confirmed he carried out a post-mortem on Ms McNally’s remains at the Northern Ireland Forensic Mortuary on December 21, 2022 and conducted a second examination the following day.
He told the jury of six men and six women that he believed Ms McNally was subjected to a “prolonged assault” and that it was “likely” the 15-week male foetus she was carrying “died as a result of the assault.”
When asked by Mr MacCreanor what he considered to be the cause of Ms McNally’s death, Dr Lyness replied: “The cause of death in this case was given as compression of neck, stab wounds of neck and blunt force trauma of head.”
The pathologist then gave a detailed forensic descriptions of the multiple injuries Ms McNally sustained which included three stab wounds to her neck as well as compression injuries to her neck “suggestive of having been caused by fingertips.”
He also outlined five lacerations to her head and said this blunt force trauma was likely to have been caused by a weapon.
Dr Lyness noted other areas of multiple bruising to her scalp and face caused as a “result of blunt blows such as punches.”
In addition, the medical witness spoke of other injuries to her wrists and forearm which he said “could have been caused by blunt blows including if she had raised her arms to protect herself.”
He added: “Additional bruises on the backs of the hand may have been caused if she had punched a hard surface but could also have been the result of blunt blows in an attempt to protect her body.”
When asked to summarise his findings, Dr Lyness said it was a “complex case” and that it was “difficult to be certain of the exact fatal sequence from the autopsy findings.
“Both the neck compression and the stab wounds to the neck could have caused her death on their own.”
Also citing the seriousness of the head wounds, Dr Lyness told the court, “it would seem reasonable to conclude that the compression of the neck, the stab wounds to the neck and the blunt force trauma to the head all contributed to the fatal outcome.”
Earlier on Tuesday, a police officer who attended the scene of Natalie McNally’s murder described how he saw a dog bowl filled with blood beside her head.
After being called to give evidence at Belfast Crown Court, the police officer confirmed he attended Ms McNally’s address on the evening of December 19, 2022.
He said that when he arrived at Silverwood Green, members from the Ambulance Service were at the scene along with other police officers.
Under questioning from Crown barrister Charles MacCreanor KC, the witness confirmed he then entered Ms McNally’s home.
The officer said he saw McCullagh in the hallway who was “very upset, he was crying.”
He said that after McCullagh was “led out” and taken to a police car by another officer, he walked up the stairs and observed Ms McNally’s feet at the top of the staircase.
When asked if he saw Ms McNally at the top of the stairs, the sergeant replied “I did” then said “she was lying on her back.”
He continued: “Her head was in the living room which was on the first floor. She was lying on her back with her feet protruding over the stairs.
“She was slightly raised on the left-hand side by a cushion, and her left arm was up against the wall.”
When the police officer was asked if blood was visible, he said: “Yes, there was blood visible around her neck. I noticed a puncture wound.
“There was bloo,d which was in a dog bowl. It looked almost like it had been used to collect the blood.”
Mr MacCreanor then asked the sergeant if he observed a small black-handled knife in the living room and he confirmed he saw this item lying on the floor “some distance away from the deceased’s head.”
He added that he also saw some blood “on the wall closest to the knife” then confirmed he “went no further than the top of the stairs” before exiting the property.
Mr MacCreanor then asked the witness if he was aware of the arrest of McCullagh at the scene at 11.40pm.
The sergeant confirmed this was the case and that McCullagh was taken into custody to Banbridge PSNI station.
The trial continues.
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