In April, Jozef Puska’s wife and two of his brothers will stand trial for allegedly withholding information from gardaà looking into Ashling Murphy’s murder, reports Sunday World.
Three years ago tomorrow, on January 12, 2022, Ms. Murphy, a 23-year-old primary school teacher, was stabbed eleven times in the neck by Puska when she was out on an afternoon run in Tullamore, County Offaly.
The liturgy on her third anniversary will be held at St. Brigid’s Church in Mountbolus tomorrow at 10 a.m, reports Sunday World.
Tomorrow afternoon, there will also be a walk in remembrance.
After a trial at the Central Criminal Court, Puska, of Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, was convicted of her murder in November 2023, reports Sunday World.
For the crime, he was given the obligatory life sentence.
Puska’s wife, Lucia Istokova (35), and brothers, Marek Puska (35), and Lubomir Puska (36), whose addresses are prohibited by court order, are charged with failing to provide information to gardaà at Tullamore Garda station on an undisclosed date between January 12th and January 27th, 2022, reports Sunday World.
Viera Gaziova (39) and Jozefina Grundzova (34) are both charged with obstructing someone’s arrest or prosecution.
All five defendants received free legal assistance for both junior and senior lawyers.
According to the Sunday World, the five defendants’ trials are set to begin in the Courts of Criminal Justice on April 28, reports Sunday World.
Jozef Puska is presently housed at the Midlands Prison’s E-Division sex offenders ward.
Puska was not found guilty of a sexual crime, and it is believed that his placement on the wing was motivated by safety concerns, reports Sunday World.
Puska received legal help in April of last year to challenge his conviction for the murder of Ashling, a school teacher.
Puska is entitled to the same legal team that represented him during his trial at the Central Criminal Court, which included two junior solicitors, a senior solicitor and a solicitor, reports Sunday World.
Puska’s attorneys objected to many of the prosecution’s planned pieces of evidence before a jury was sworn in to hear his case.
The defence contended that Puska’s confession to the gardaà two days after the attack shouldn’t be heard by the jury.
They claimed that Puska’s confession was involuntary since he was experiencing the aftereffects of abdominal surgery and was under the influence of the medication oxycodone, reports Sunday World.
They also took issue with the prosecution’s use of CCTV evidence showing Puska stalking two ladies in the heart of Tullamore before making his way to the canal and finding Ashling Murphy wandering by himself.
Puska’s appeal is expected to be based on the trial judge’s decisions to allow those and other pieces of evidence to be shown to the jury, reports Sunday World.
On January 12, 2022, Puska entered a not guilty plea to the murder of Ms. Murphy in Cappincur, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.
He was found guilty by a unanimous jury, reports Sunday World.
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