New CCTV footage from a bus taken on the night a pregnant woman died caused police to re-arrest a suspect in the case, a court has heard.
Stephen McCullagh, 32, from Woodland Garden in Lisburn, Northern Ireland is charged with the murder of Natalie McNally at her home in Silverwood Green in the town of Lurgan on Sunday, December 18.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness, who has been leading the murder investigation, said he believed there was "sufficient evidence" to link Mr McCullagh to the charge, according to BelfastLive.
Natalie was 15 weeks pregnant when she was stabbed at her home. The 32-year-old had told family members that she was going to call the baby Dean if it was a boy.
The court heard how new evidence allegedly shed doubt on the alibi which had removed McCullagh as a suspect in the case on 24th December.
McCullagh had told police that he had been live streaming on YouTube between 6pm until shortly after midnight on the night of the killing.
McCullagh's computer was seized following his arrest and analysis on it allegedly showed that was in fact a pre-recorded video, recorded around the 13th and 14th December, and broadcast as if it were live.
McCullagh could be heard at the start of the stream saying he couldn't interact with those watching as he was having trouble with his setup, DCI McGuinness said.
Numerous times throughout the recording, McCullagh mentions what time it is, something police said was deliberately to try and keep the timeline for his alibi straight.
DCI McGuinness also outlined how new CCTV evidence had emerged that caused police to review Mr McCullagh's previous status as a witness and to instead make him a suspect.
CCTV footage showed a man board a bus in Lisburn on the day of the murder, with his hood pulled down and scarf pulled up so that his face was concealed.
Footage from the Translink bus that he boarded showed the man taking his change at which point he removed a black glove he was wearing.
DCI McGuinness said that then revealed a second glove underneath, yellow in colour, which he believed was consistent with a Marigold glove and that he had recovered a glove print at the murder scene with blood on it.
The man is also carrying a green 'bag for life' and the senior officer said a black bag could be seen inside it.
The CCTV footage police have gathered shows the man leaving the bus and 10 minutes before the CCTV footage previously released of a man entering Silverwood Green, the suspect is shown walking along Lough Road past the junction with Silverwood Green.
The suspect is seen on the CCTV footage without the green bag, but carrying the black bag.
Previous CCTV footage showed a man after 9.30pm, with a black bag on his shoulders.
Police believe it is the same man who was on the bus footage and that he had changed his clothes.
A short time later, the man then gets into a taxi outside Fa Joe's Bar in Lurgan.
The court heard the taxi driver thought he was picking up a fare to Lurgan but the driver told police the man who got in asked to be taken to Lisburn as his mum was apparently unwell.
Police believe the man opportunistically took the taxi ordered by another man, who is not a suspect in the case.
GPRS analysis from the vehicle later obtained for the taxi shows it stopped off outside the address of Stephen McCullagh.
It was also revealed that McCullagh's phone had been seized when he was arrested and it had been off network between 6pm and 11.16pm.
The court was told the phone was manually activated at that time, which was around three minutes after the taxi had stopped at McCullagh's house.
DCI McGuinness described this as "strange behaviour" at a "significant time" for his investigation.
McCullagh later said in a written statement that his YouTube broadcast had not been live, but said he had been at home drinking and had fallen asleep, which was why his phone was not in use.
He said he had woken at some point and swiped up to activate the phone.
McCullagh denies the murder and said someone else may have been dropped off in a taxi near his home.
A Public Prosecution lawyer had urged the judge to refuse bail, insisting there were no conditions that would alleviate concerns about releasing the murder accused.
She said: "The defendant has in this case hatched a sophisticated, calculating and cool-headed plot to kill Ms McNally.
"Every detail had been carefully thought through and it's only due to painstaking police work and sophisticated cyber evidence that he hasn't got away with it and the plan has cracked.
"He will be desperate at this point. Over the last six weeks he has behaved in such a way that he displayed a confidence that he had got away with this.
"He was liaising with the family. He was at their home. He will be absolutely desperate now. He has shown he is capable of deception beyond imagination.
"There are absolutely no bail conditions that could alleviate the risks posed here."
Judge Watters refused bail having listened to the submissions made by those in court and remanded McCullagh into custody. He will appear at Craigavon Court via video link on February 24.
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