Police Defend Investigation in Murder Case

0:00On April 2, Natalie McNally, a 32-year-old woman 15-week pregnant, was brutally murdered in her lurgen home on December 18, 2022. Steven McCullough, 36, from Lisburn, got convicted of the crime just last month. Early on, he threw police off with a fake alibi from a YouTube gaming stream he said was live during the attack, and they even dropped him as a suspect for a bit. At a recent policing board meeting, PSNI Chief Constable John Boucher stood firm defending his team's early work on the case. He called it outstanding detective work, pushing back against questions about whether they properly checked that alibi, or just took his word. Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister raised real concerns, asking if forensics were skipped, or if it was a case of believing the guy too quick, and if this could happen again. Boucher explained how tough those first hours are with clever criminals spinning lies, stressing that checks were done right by the telecoms liaison.

1:00Union, deeper forensics, later blew that alibi apart, proving the stream was bogus. A detective chief inspector, trusted by the McNally family, made the call to declassify him initially, but the team's diligence led straight to his, arrest and conviction. In the end, Boucher praised his officers for nailing it under pressure, saying they might not click instantly, but they delivered justice. He shrugged off media jabs, confident the PSNI's track record holds strong moving forward.