Natalie McNally murder: Police hunting killer of pregnant woman in Northern Ireland seize car
Police hunting for the killer of a pregnant woman in Northern Ireland have seized a car, as officers are set to return to the murder scene.
Natalie McNally, 32, was stabbed to death in her home in Lurgan, County Armagh, on 18 December when she was 15 weeks pregnant.
Two men were arrested but one was freed unconditionally and the other was released on bail for further inquiries.
Ms NcNally’s parents told Sky News they fear the killer may have fled the country and that women in the community “must be terrified that there’s a monster still out on the streets”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
CCTV of Natalie McNally murder suspect
On Saturday, detectives investigating the murder seized a car from an address in the Lisburn and Castlereagh area for further examination.
Officers have also carried out house-to-house inquiries in the Lisburn area.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is due to revisit the murder scene on Sunday – three weeks after the killing – in a bid to encourage anyone with information to come forward.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness said Ms McNally was “brutally murdered in her own home” and officers will be speaking to motorists and pedestrians “in a determined attempt to jog memories”.
“The deaths of Natalie and her unborn baby have left unimaginable heartache to a loving family, whose world has been turned upside down,” he said.
“Amidst their pain, Natalie’s devoted family have, somehow, found the strength to appeal publicly for anyone with information to do the right thing and speak up.
“And, likewise, we remain absolutely steadfast in our determination to bring the killer to justice.”
Detectives have said the main line of inquiry was that Ms McNally was killed by someone she knew and was comfortable allowing into her home.
They also believe they have recovered the weapon used in the murder.
CCTV has been released of a man seen arriving at and leaving the street where Ms McNally lived, on the night of the murder.
Natalie McNally’s parents Noel and Bernie
Ms McNally’s mother Bernie told Sky News: “This was an innocent girl and her baby’s life and I have to think God, in her last few minutes, was she pleading for her life? Was she pleading for her baby’s life?
“This all comes into your head. What were her last few minutes like?”
The victim’s father, Noel McNally, said: “Somebody’s bound to know the killer and if you kill somebody that way, you can’t just go home and act normally.
“If they could just find it in their heart to give up loyalty and just go straight to the police.
“You can’t be loyal to someone that has done this to a wee girl because he could do it to someone else and you wouldn’t want that.”
The crash involving a cargo ship and oil tanker off the East Yorkshire coast is bad news for the sea, fish and air in the area. What we don’t know yet is quite how bad it will be.
That depends on a few things – but the speed of the collision, clouds of filthy black smoke from the fires and the leaked fuel are certainly worrying.
Firstly, it matters what was on board those two massive vessels.
Follow live: Jet fuel spilling into sea after tanker collision
Analytics firm Vortexa estimates the 183m-long tanker was carrying about 130,000 barrels of jet fuel (kerosene), which is now leaking into the sea.
Jet fuel is not as sticky or viscous as heavier types of oil, thankfully, so it’s less likely to clog the feathers and fur of birds and seals. It can also be broken down by natural bacteria.
But it can still poison fish and kill animals and plants on the shoreline if it makes its way into the soil there.
The Marine Conservation Society has pointed out the site in the Humber estuary is close to some protected areas and is important for seabirds and harbour porpoises.
And both ships will have been powered by a dirtier, heavier kind of oil – likely marine gas oil or heavy fuel oil, though we don’t know the details yet.
Heavy fuel oil is nasty stuff.
Pic: Bartek Smialek/PA
Cheap, thick and tar-like, it can smother animals and is very dangerous if they consume it, and is extremely difficult to clean up. Let’s hope this isn’t creeping around the North Sea already.
We don’t know how much of either the jet fuel or the oil powering the ships has leaked, or how much will be burned off in the violent fires – which themselves are ploughing black smoke and filthy air pollution into the surrounding atmosphere.
And we don’t know for sure what was on the Solong cargo ship and if, or what, will go into the sea.
Cargo ship ‘had sodium cyanide on board’
It was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide among other cargo, according to a report from maritime data provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
The container vessel was also transporting an unknown quantity of alcohol, said the casualty report – an assessment of incidents at sea – citing a message from the local coastguard.
Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down, and potentially can choke or trap animals.
Many of us have seen that uncomfortable viral video of a turtle having a straw yanked out of its nose. Previous accidents on cargo ships have seen plastic Lego pieces wash up in Cornwall 25 years later.
Read more:
How UK North Sea platforms dump gas
Secondly, the impact depends on the sea and weather conditions around it.
Things like the wind and currents affect how an oil spill spreads in the sea. Scientists can draw up computer models to simulate how the oil could behave.
Thirdly, it matters how quickly this is all tackled and then cleaned up, if necessary, and if it can be.
Usually the slower the response, the worse the impact.
The coastguard has said the incident “remains ongoing” and it has started assessing the “likely counter pollution response” that will be required.
Such a response might need the help of numerous public bodies: the government environment department, the transport department, the Environment Agency and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
So for now the best we can hope for – aside from the welfare of the people involved – is that not all the oil is spilled or burnt, that conditions are calm and that rescuers and those cleaning up can work swiftly.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports11 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway