Natalie McNally murder probe: ‘Double-gloved’ suspect captured on CCTV, say police

Details of movements which police believe were taken by Stephen McCullagh on the day in question were outlined at Lisburn Magistrates Court.

It is based on CCTV footage taken in various locations on the bus and in Lurgan.

McCullagh is alleged to have left his home in the Woodland Gardens area of Lisburn on the afternoon of Sunday December 18.

The journey police say the suspect took to and from Natalie’s Silverwood Green home was given in detail during a failed bail application by McCullagh (32).

The court was told that a man fitting the description of the suspect is seen walking from the Lisburn direction towards a bus stop at Kingsway, Dunmurry, where he waits for 15 minutes.

The man has the hood of his coat pulled down and a mask covering his face.

He is carrying a “distinctive” Asda bag for life which police believe contained a black bag later seen on CCTV.

The man drops change getting onto the bus and as he bends to pick it up removes a black glove that shows a yellow glove underneath.

“He is double gloved,” Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness told Lisburn Magistrates Court.

A Marigold glove print was found in blood at the scene of Ms McNally’s death.

During the journey the man is seen on the bus camera sitting motionless, only once lifting his mask from below to take a drink of Coca Cola, rather than pull it down.

The man exits the bus at Market Street in Lurgan and is captured at various points on CCTV.

He walks past the town’s war memorial and police station, still carrying the Asda bag.

He walks past Lurgan railway station into Lough Road and then is seen at 8.42pm walking past the junction leading to the Silverwood Green development where Natalie lived.

The person disappears out of sight for 10 minutes and then returns, without the bag for life.

The person is then seen carrying a black rucksack captured on CCTV at 8.52pm.

It is the police belief that this person enters Natalie’s address at Silverwood Green.

He leaves at 9.30pm but has changed clothing, although detectives believe the person — who they contend to be McCullagh — is recognisable by his “distinctive gait”.

The suspect is seen again at various points walking along Lough Road, William Street and into Lurgan town centre.

The suspect then approaches a Fonacab taxi that was ordered on the App by a person which is waiting at Fa Joe’s Bar.

The driver told police he was booked to take a fare to an address in Lurgan.

However, the person asks to be taken to Lisburn, claiming his mother is ill and there had been a change of plan.

Fonacab then received a call from the person who had booked the taxi, saying his cab had not shown up.

Police believe the person opportunistically took another person’s taxi.

The taxi’s GPRS tracking showed that the taxi dropped the person outside McCullagh’s home at 11.13pm.

Three minutes later McCullagh’s mobile phone, which had not been used in over five hours, is swiped open and activated.