The boyfriend of Ashling Murphy, who was tragically murdered, has shared how he had to restrain himself in the courtroom as her “evil” killer Jozef Puska made eye contact with him and smiled, reports The Mirror.
In the second part of our exclusive interview, a visibly emotional Ryan Casey recounted how the remorseless killer Puska stared and smirked at him and Ashling’s family during the November 2023 trial.
“He’d look over at us, he’d make eye contact and he’d grin his little teeth. Just nasty little things. Not an ounce of remorse. Unless you’re in the courtroom you don’t see that I suppose,” reports The Mirror.
Speaking exclusively on the podcast ‘Shattered Lives,’ brave Ryan explained how he had to walk out of the courtroom multiple times, unable to control his anger over Puska’s apparent arrogance and indifference.
“To sit there and look at a guy like that for six weeks knowing what he’s done to your partner. Don’t get me wrong there were a couple of times, you probably saw it, where I had to get out of there. I’ll be honest with you, me and my Dad, we had to get out of there. We didn’t trust ourselves,” he revealed, reports The Mirror.
“We didn’t want to jeopardise what the gardai had worked so hard to put together, what was a very strong and robust case. I’d be lying to you and everyone if I was to sit here and say I was able to keep things under control. It was very hard. Especially when he’s so close,” reports The Mirror.
Ryan also shared what it was like sitting through the most distressing evidence of the six-week trial, as the court heard how Puska had stalked Ashling while she was jogging along the Grand Canal Way in Cappincur, just outside Tullamore, Co Offaly, on January 12, 2022.
The jury was presented with graphic testimony of how the deranged attacker stabbed Ashling 11 times in the neck in broad daylight and viewed disturbing CCTV showing him trailing multiple women on a bicycle before the killing.
“Looking back at it now, we actually went into court and the immediate aftermath of it not prepared for what we were about to sit through,” Ryan told us, reports The Mirror.
“There’s another element to it too, that took a lot of us off guard – how the human element of it was removed. It was very factually based and evidence based. A lot of the human side of it was taken out of the question. That was one thing that was hard to accept at the beginning. It was just very matter of fact and it’s cold. It’s tough to sit through that for six weeks,” he said, reports The Mirror.
He also spoke about why it mattered deeply to him and Ashling’s family—including her parents, sister, and brother—to be present every day of the trial.
“I guess it was important for a sense to bring some sort of humanity into the courtroom. We wanted to be there and represent the person they’re discussing. I think it’s important, you know, to find that inner strength and to sit there. You know to be there and show to him (Puska) who’s sitting five or six metres away from you, we ain’t going anywhere. We know exactly what you done to her. A lot of it was about defiance but God damn it was tough to listen to,” reports The Mirror.
Ryan admitted he wasn’t ready to hear the gruesome account of Ashling’s murder but said he had to summon the strength to endure it, for her.
“I was definitely not prepared for that part. That was tough. It was just one of those things. It just felt like you had to be there for it. And I don’t know, you have to dig deep and show a bit of defiance. Show him and his family members who sat down the back and supported him, how the hell can ye guys support him and what he’s done. You want to sit through this and support him after this?,” reports The Mirror.
He also discussed Puska’s appearance on the witness stand, where he unexpectedly gave a new account—claiming he interrupted the actual killer and attempted to “help” Ashling.
“It was embarrassing and it was just downright disgraceful that he thought he could even spin something the way in which he tried to spin it and it just sums him up in my opinion – to drag a family through that knowing what he’s done and to try and spin a ludicrous story like he tried to pull. It’s crazy stuff,” Ryan said, reports The Mirror.
“It was infuriating. It was so disrespectful and it just sums him up. Anyone that sat in that courtroom knew, not even, it didn’t even have to go past a week, a lot of people knew. In my mind I wasn’t afraid that he wouldn’t get the verdict we were looking for. (But) verdicts and justice are two different things I suppose. How do you get justice for that really? There’s no real justice in a case like this,” reports The Mirror.
Now serving a life sentence at the Midlands Prison, Puska remains under Irish jurisdiction, though Ryan said he’s considered whether deportation might be more appropriate.
“There’s part of me that thinks keep your enemies close and keep him here under our supervision. Then you see the cost to the State,” he said, reports The Mirror.
When asked if he had anything to say to Puska or the relatives who stood by him, Ryan was resolute in his response.
“I’ve nothing to say to them. He was just a good for nothing low life who had nothing going on for himself and what he done that day and why he done it I don’t know. I don’t think we’ll ever know. He’s just a good for nothing coward really. And I’m not afraid to say it, the family that stood by and supported him and continues to support him, what are they made of? reports The Mirror.
“If and when the time comes, who knows what the future has in store for us all, I just know if I had a child some day and they came to me and said I’ve committed such a crime – I’d be the first person to drag you to the garda station, sit you down there and say I never want to see you again if you done what you said you done. How can they support that? reports The Mirror.
“They sat through that trial as well after listening to all the evidence as well. Come on. Is that what you really want in our society too?”
It was also revealed this month that two of Jozef Puska’s brothers, convicted for their actions following the murder, have chosen not to appeal their sentences.
Lubomir Puska Jr, 38, and Marek Puska, 36, along with their wives Viera Gaziova, 40, and Jozefina Grundzova, 32, are due to be sentenced in October after a jury found that the brothers misled gardaí by withholding key information in their witness statements, while their wives burned Jozef’s clothing to obstruct his arrest or prosecution, reports The Mirror.
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