The wife of convicted murderer Jozef Puska has reportedly remained loyal to him from the moment he confessed to killing Ashling Murphy, visiting him nearly every week in prison, we can reveal.
Prison sources claim Lucia Istokova, 36, forgave him for the murder of the 23-year-old teacher. Puska believes he has a strong chance of succeeding in his upcoming appeal. The mother of three, 36, was sentenced on Wednesday for failing to provide critical information to the Garda about the brutal crime, reports The Mirror.
It is reported she visited him almost weekly and occasionally brought their children to see their father. The family lives roughly half an hour away from Tullamore – the town where Puska stabbed Ashling eleven times.
She admitted to concealing from police that Puska had told her on the night of January 22, 2022, “he didn’t need to kill that girl” and that he needed to leave their home, reports The Mirror.
Lucia only informed the gardai about this two weeks after the shocking murder. By then, detectives had matched Puska’s DNA and obtained a partial confession from him in hospital. Her lawyers told the initial sentencing hearing that her life had been shattered by her partner’s actions and that she wasn’t truthful with police because she wanted to protect her children.
TheLiberal.ie won’t quit
Please support us with a small donation on PayPal!
She was struggling to process how the man she had seen as a loving partner and devoted father could be a murderer. But it has now come to light that she continues to stand by her husband and visits him at Midlands Prison whenever possible, reports The Mirror.
A prison source said: “She is in and out of here all the time and is a regular face in the visitor rooms. She has made it clear to us that she is standing by her man even if he is locked up for life. She keeps him updated on all the family and what is going on at home. He seems to think that he will win his appeal and that a lot of the evidence that was heard during the murder trial should not have been admissible in court. His wife is very supportive of him despite what has happened and the seriousness of his crime,” reports The Mirror.
Puska has been attending school most days in the Midlands Prison, studying English at the expense of Irish taxpayers. He was initially in a single cell but is now sharing with another inmate due to overcrowding at the facility.
No date has been confirmed for Puska’s appeal, though it was at one point expected before the end of the year. The prison source added: “He is going around telling everyone he is innocent and will be freed soon,” reports The Mirror.
His two brothers and their spouses also received jail sentences for attempting to shield him after the murder. Marek, 36, and Lubomir, 37, were each sentenced to two-and-a-half years for withholding information about Puska on the night of the killing and for his return to the family home before fleeing to Dublin.
Viera Gaziova, 40, was sentenced to two years and one month, while Jozefina Grundzova, 35, received one year and nine months for burning the clothes Puska had worn during the murder, reports The Mirror.
All six, including Puska, had lived together in one home with 14 children under 16. All 14 children have been taken into care by Tusla.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
