The State has been granted extra time to submit its response to Jozef Puska’s lengthy appeal against his conviction for the murder of schoolteacher Aishling Murphy, after a court heard that the killer’s legal team were more than a month late filing their submissions, reports Breaking News.
Puska killed Murphy (23) on January 12, 2022, repeatedly stabbing her in the neck while she was exercising along the canal towpath outside Tullamore, Co Offaly. He was later convicted of her murder and is currently serving a life sentence, reports Breaking News.
Last December, Court of Appeal President Judge Caroline Costello scheduled April 23 and 24 as the dates for hearing Puska’s appeal against his conviction.
At that time, Puska’s legal team told the court that their submissions were at “an advanced stage” and noted that two Court of Appeal judgments relevant to his case were still awaited, reports Breaking News.
Puska, who told detectives he stopped working in 2017 after suffering a slipped disc in his back, has been granted legal aid for the appeal on the same basis as during his trial at the Central Criminal Court, where he was represented by a solicitor, a senior counsel and two junior counsel.
At the Court of Appeal on Friday, Kevin White, representing the Director of Public Prosecutions, said Puska’s submissions were due to be filed by January 16 but were only received by the State in early March, reports Breaking News.
The barrister asked the court to set a deadline “as close to the hearing date as possible” for filing the DPP’s responding submissions, noting that the appellant’s documents were “very long”.
A barrister appearing on behalf of Puska’s legal team apologised for the late filing of the paperwork, explaining that the delay was caused by a “mix up”, reports Breaking News.
He also made an application requesting a Slovakian interpreter.
Judge Isobel Kennedy said the delay had caused “difficulties” for the DPP and granted an extension for the State to file its reply submissions until April 14, while confirming that the April hearing dates would remain unchanged, reports Breaking News.
The judge also approved the request for a Slovakian interpreter.
Before a jury was sworn in for Puska’s trial in 2023, his lawyers raised several objections to evidence the prosecution intended to present. The defence argued that the jury should not hear Puska’s confession to gardaí two days after the killing, reports Breaking News.
They claimed Puska was recovering from abdominal surgery and was under the influence of the painkiller oxycodone at the time, meaning his confession was not voluntary.
The defence also opposed the prosecution’s use of CCTV footage showing Puska following two women in Tullamore town centre before heading to the canal where he encountered Ashling Murphy walking alone, reports Breaking News.
The trial judge’s decision to allow that and other evidence to be presented to the jury is expected to form part of the basis for Puska’s appeal.
Puska (35), of Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Murphy at Cappincur, Tullamore, on January 12th, 2022, reports Breaking News.
The jury found that Puska stabbed Murphy 11 times in the neck and slashed her once with the edge of a blade before leaving her to die among thick thorns and brambles beside the canal towpath between Tullamore town and Digby Bridge. A monument now marks the location where she died.
Puska was linked to the scene by his distinctive green and black bicycle, which was found only a few feet from Murphy’s body, reports Breaking News.
CCTV footage had captured him cycling the same bike around Tullamore earlier that afternoon, following two women before heading toward the canal.
His DNA and fingerprint were discovered on the bicycle, while his DNA was also found under Murphy’s fingernails. Prosecutors said the DNA beneath her nails showed that Ashling had scratched her attacker while fighting for her life, reports Breaking News.
When gardaí spoke with Puska the day after the killing, scratches were visible on his face and hands that were consistent with crawling through the thorns and briars near the towpath where Murphy was murdered.
During his testimony at the trial, Puska claimed he had been cycling along the towpath when he was attacked and stabbed by a masked man. He said the same individual then attacked and stabbed Murphy before running away, reports Breaking News.
In what prosecution counsel Anne-Marie Lawlor SC described as a “foul and contemptible fabrication”, Puska claimed that he tried to assist Ashling by pulling her scarf up around the wound on her neck.
He told the court he realised he could not help her and crawled through nearby briars into an adjoining field, where he said he lost consciousness for around four hours, reports Breaking News.
The jury rejected his account of events. No motive for the killing has ever been identified, and lawyers involved in the case along with Murphy’s family have repeatedly stressed that there was no connection between Puska and Murphy, despite rumours online.
In June 2025, two of Puska’s brothers were convicted of withholding crucial information from gardaí investigating Aishling Murphy’s murder, while their wives were found guilty of burning the killer’s clothing, reports Breaking News.
Puska’s brothers, Marek (36) and Lubomir (37), were each sentenced to 30 months in prison. Lubomir’s wife, Viera Gaziova (40), received a 24-month sentence, while Marek’s wife, Jozefina (32), was sentenced to 21 months.
Jozef Puska’s partner and the mother of his children, Lucia Istokova (36), received a 20-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to withholding information in May last year, before the trial of her relative began, reports Breaking News.
All five had been living with Jozef Puska and 14 children at the house in Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, when the offences took place in January 2022, reports Breaking News.
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