A witness has testified in the trial involving Jozef Puska’s family members, describing how school teacher Ashling Murphy was “kicking out hard” in a desperate attempt to fight off her attacker, who appeared furious at being “interrupted”, reports Breaking News.
On Thursday, the Central Criminal Court also heard how gardaí examined ashes in the fireplace at Jozef Puska’s residence in search of potential evidence that the clothes he wore while murdering 23-year-old Ms Murphy had been destroyed.
Detective Sergeant Anthony Quinn told the court that six days after the murder of Ashling Murphy, gardaí received information suggesting that the suspect may have burned his clothes in the fireplace of the Puska family home in Mucklagh, Tullamore, Co Offaly, reports Breaking News.
Sgt Quinn explained that he went to the house with another officer, introduced himself, and photographed anything of interest. The fireplace, he noted, appeared undisturbed and the grate contained a pile of ashes. He and his colleague sifted through them in search of items like buttons, zippers, or clasps, but didn’t uncover anything significant.
The ashes were collected and preserved for forensic testing, reports Breaking News.
Also on Thursday, the court heard from Jenna Stack, who witnessed Ms Murphy, a 23-year-old schoolteacher, fighting for her life after suffering numerous stab wounds to the neck.
Ms Stack told prosecution counsel Anne-Marie Lawlor SC that she had been jogging with her friend Aoife Marron along the canal towpath near Cappincur Bridge in Tullamore on January 12th, 2022, when she noticed a striking luminous green bicycle in the hedge, reports Breaking News.
She found it strange to see such a good bike abandoned by the canal and paused briefly before continuing her run. Just a few metres further down the path, she heard a loud rustling from the hedges and stopped once more.
Ms Marron called out, but the only response was the continued “loud rustling” coming from thick vegetation, Ms Stack testified, reports Breaking News.
As she moved closer, she saw a man’s back. When she asked what he was doing and he turned around, she saw a woman on the ground. Ms Stack said: “She was kicking her legs, that was the sound we had heard. She was raising her legs and kicking out really hard.”
Ms Stack demanded the man “get off her”, but he yelled back at her with clenched teeth and in a foreign accent, “get away”. His face, she said, appeared “angry that he had been interrupted”. She feared he was attempting to rape the woman, reports Breaking News.
She continued: “He made a sudden movement, maybe to frighten us. I knew the girl was struggling and in danger and we were very frightened.”
Ms Stack shouted that she was calling the gardaí and fled with Ms Marron to Cappincur Bridge to get assistance.
Jozef Puska’s brothers, Marek (34) and Lubomir Jnr (35), are on trial accused of failing to disclose critical information, reports Breaking News.
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