He was the YouTuber who worked for a local newspaper in Northern Ireland and ended up making the headlines himself after being found guilty of murdering his pregnant partner Natalie McNally in 2022.
Stephen McCullagh, 36, built an online persona of a self-described “internet man child” who reviewed Marvel figures, Doctor Who merchandise and Robot Wars.
He appeared to live a quiet life in the suburb of Dunmurry working shifts on a newspaper website as well as earning money from his YouTube channel Votesaxon07, which had more than 1,500 followers.
On Sunday December 18, McCullagh put on a show in which he appeared to livestream playing video games while drinking all evening at his home, while 20 miles away in Lurgan Ms McNally was brutally murdered in her home just a week before Christmas.
In reality he had disguised his appearance and got a bus to Lurgan before making his way to Ms McNally’s house, and later changed his clothes and got a taxi back to his home.
He continued playing the role he plotted, sending text messages asking Ms McNally why he hadn’t heard from her, as well as texting a friend, even asking her advice in terms of her lack of response, before his distressed sounding 999 call on the following Monday evening as he claimed to have found her body.
As police examined the scene, McCullagh was quick to point the finger at Ms McNally’s ex-boyfriend, claiming he had been harassing her.
The show went on as McCullagh visited Ms McNally’s family and wake talking about his devastation, and later left his phone in their home recording their conversations after he left.
McCullagh kept up his act as a grieving partner and father into 2023, even attending a vigil and rally organised in her memory in Lurgan Park on January 28 2023, wearing pink and blue for her.
At that stage he was refusing to co-operate with or speak to the police, despite Ms McNally’s family urging him to, listing a series of grievances he had about his initial arrest as a reason for his refusal.
His plan had seemed to be working, but having previously been declared not a suspect, just days after the rally, McCullagh was re-arrested for Ms McNally’s murder, after his livestream alibi had been rumbled.
His trial, which opened before a jury at Belfast Crown Court in February 2026, went on to expose how he had planned, calculated, and pre-meditated murder.
McCullagh showed little emotion as day by day he sat in the dock flanked by prison staff while Natalie’s family and friends filled the the public gallery behind him.
As the trial unfolded, the jury heard the prosecution puncture McCullagh’s version of events, exposing how his alibi had in fact been pre-filmed as live days before, and that he had carried out the “brutal and frenzied” attack which killed both Ms McNally and their unborn son.
It heard from an ex-girlfriend of McCullagh how he had hit her, threatened to burn “sentimental” belongings, and secretly recorded counselling sessions about a stillbirth.
It also emerged during the trial that despite being pregnant with McCullagh’s child, Ms McNally was considering ending the relationship, describing how she was feeling a bit uneasy, and that she had been continuing relationships with other men.
McCullagh was described as having had access to Ms McNally’s phone and appearing to have been aware of some of her messages.
After just under two months, the jury took a few hours to unanimously find McCullagh guilty, a verdict greeted by cheers and sobs from Natalie’s family and friends in the public gallery.
A sentencing hearing in May was told that McCullagh made “self-contradictory” and “incredible” statements to his probation officer.
McCullagh initially claimed to have no memory of the night of the murder, and insisted he was not guilty, but told his probation officer that when the jury returned a guilty verdict, he began to suspect that he must be responsible.
He went on to describe the murder as “horrible, evil and vicious” and referred to himself as a monster, saying he was sorry for what he did to the family and to Natalie and to their unborn son.
Despite this, McCullagh maintained that he had started his YouTube broadcast and was drinking heavily in his own house, and remembered having a bath around 1.32am. However he also acknowledged that he might have left his house.
He again showed little reaction in court on Wednesday as he learned he would serve 31 years before he can be considered eligible for release by the Parole Board.
There was silence in the public gallery filled with Ms McNally’s family and friends as they watched McCullagh being led from the dock following the hearing.
As the door closed behind McCullagh, many in the public gallery turned and hugged each other.
