Murder trial told Ashling Murphy stabbed 11 times in attack in Tullamore, Co Offaly

The trial of a man accused of murdering Ashling Murphy while she was out running in Tullamore, Co Offaly in January 2022 has been told Jozef Puska admitted it. In opening their case the prosecution told the jury Mr Puska told Gardai through a translator: "I did it, I murdered, I am the murderer ... I cut her neck. She panic. I panic."

The jury was told the 23-year-old was stabbed 11 times in the right side of the neck.

Josef Pusk, 33, of Lynally Grove Mucklagh denies murdering the school teacher. The court heard the pair had no prior connection, they did not know each other. The prosection also told the court it's accepted that Mr Puska's bicycle was found beside Ashling Murphy's body and they claim his DNA was detected underneath Ashling's fingernails. The court also heard the evidence the prosecution will present during the trial. Outlining the case to the jury at Dublin’s Criminal Courts of Justice on Tuesday, senior counsel for the prosecution Anne-Marie Lawlor said “quite a number” of maps, CCTV footage and witness testimony would feature in the case.

She said Ms Murphy was stabbed 11 times to the right side of her neck, and had other injuries that may have been defensive injuries. She told the court there was no prior connection “of any kind” between Ms Murphy and Mr Puska. She said the jury would be shown pictures of Mr Puska’s hands with cuts and scratches, taken by Gardai while Mr Puska was receiving treatment in St James’s Hospital in Dublin. She said he “made up a pack of lies” to Gardai about being involved in a stabbing in Blanchardstown. Judge Tony Hunt outlined the obligations a jury has and that the defendant needed to be viewed as protected by the presumption of innocence.

The trial is expected to last five weeks.

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