Latest news with #LubomirPuska
Irish Times
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Jozef Puska revealed three stab wounds on night of Ashling Murphy murder, court hears
Jozef Puska's brother denied to gardaí that he told someone to dispose of the knife used to murder schoolteacher Ashling Murphy, the Central Criminal Court has heard. The jury also heard Lubomir Puska jnr (37) denied he asked anyone to dispose of the clothes Jozef Puska wore when he murdered Ms Murphy. Jozef Puska (35) attacked Ms Murphy (23) on the canal towpath at Cappincur in Tullamore on January 12th, 2022. She died having suffered 12 sharp force injuries to her neck, 11 of which were stab wounds. He was convicted of her murder. His brothers Lubomir Puska jnr and Marek Puska (36) are charged with withholding information while knowing or believing it might materially assist in apprehending, prosecuting or convicting Jozef Puska for a serious offence. READ MORE Both men have pleaded not guilty. Jozefina Grundzova (31), who is married to Marek Puska, and Viera Gaziova (38), who is married to Lubomir Puska jnr, are accused of assisting in burning clothing without reasonable excuse, intending to impede the apprehension or prosecution of Jozef Puska, knowing or believing him to have committed murder or a similar arrestable offence. They have pleaded not guilty. All the accused have an address at Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Tullamore, Co Offaly. The jury previously heard Lubomir Puska jnr said in his first statement to gardaí that he saw his brother Jozef Puska in the early afternoon on the day of the murder. He seemed 'a bit sad, not in a good mood' , Lubomir Puska jnr said. However, he later returned to the Garda station and apologised for lying, saying Jozef Puska arrived home on the night of January 12th looking like he had been struck on the forehead. The jury on Wednesday watched video footage of Lubomir Puska jnr's interview with gardaí on January 18th, 2022, in which he said he returned home on the day of the murder to find his brother Jozef Puska looking 'like he was beaten by someone'. Through a Slovakian interpreter, Lubomir Puska jnr said Jozef Puska was 'swollen on the forehead' and his cheek was red like he had been scraped. He said his brother had 'a weird walk, kind of broken'. He told gardaí his brother, who was just out of the shower, opened his towel to reveal three stab wounds. He told gardaí he asked Jozef Puska what had happened to him, and his brother replied that he had wanted to kill himself and had done a 'horrendous thing'. 'He said when he was stabbing himself, there was a girl running or exercising, she went towards him,' the accused told gardaí. 'She said: 'What are you doing? Don't do it, you are too young.' He said to her, 'Leave me alone, it's my life, my business.'' The accused said Jozef Puska 'probably wanted to push her away to leave him alone', but he thought he 'cut her'. After telling the gardaí this, the accused said it had been 'very heavy, very hard to say'. [ Brother of Ashling Murphy murderer told gardaí back medication was affecting his memory Opens in new window ] He told gardaí he could not believe what his brother was telling him, so he asked him again what he had done. He said his brother told him: 'I don't know whether I hurt her so much, but I think I did ... it must have been an accident, I didn't want to do this, but I just switched my hand as she was coming near me.' The accused said he told his brother to tell their parents immediately what he had done, to which Jozef Puska said he would tell them after they brought him to Dublin. The accused said he told his brother 'don't make any secrets'. The trial continues on Thursday before Ms Justice Caroline Biggs and a jury of seven men and five women.
Irish Times
7 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Jozef Puska ‘not in a good mood' on day of Ashling Murphy murder, court told
Earlier on the day that Jozef Puska murdered Ashling Murphy , he was 'a bit sad' and seemed like he had a 'problem he didn't want to share with anyone', the Central Criminal Court has heard. Lubomir Puska jnr (38) told gardaí two days after the murder that his brother, Jozef Puska, was 'not in a good mood' and the family became concerned when he left that afternoon and didn't return. He said he didn't see his brother again that day. Two days after that first statement, Lubomir jnr returned to Tullamore Garda Station and apologised for lying. He said he had, in fact, seen Jozef again that night, soon after 9pm. He said Jozef arrived at the house they shared in Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, just outside Tullamore, looking like he had been beaten up. The trial previously heard that Jozef Puska has been convicted of murdering Ms Murphy, a 23-year-old schoolteacher, on the afternoon of January 12th, 2022. Ms Murphy was exercising by the canal near Tullamore when Jozef Puska stabbed her repeatedly in the neck. READ MORE Jozef, Lubomir jnr and another brother, Marek (36), lived at the house in Lynally Grove with their wives Viera Gaziova (38) and Jozefina Grundzova (31) and 14 children. Lubomir jnr and Marek are accused of withholding information that was crucial to the investigation into Ms Murphy's murder in January 2022. Ms Grundzova and Ms Gaziova, are accused of impeding Jozef's apprehension or prosecution by burning the clothes he wore when he murdered Ms Murphy. Each accused has pleaded not guilty. Det Gda Joanne O'Sullivan on Tuesday told prosecution senior counsel Sean Gillane that Lubomir jnr made voluntary statements at Tullamore Garda Station on January 14th and 16th, 2022. In his first statement, Lubomir jnr said he first saw his brother in the early afternoon that day. He seemed 'a bit sad, not in a good mood', Lubomir jnr said. He added: 'He seemed to me like a person who doesn't want anyone to know what is biting him inside. Some kind of problem he didn't want to share with anyone.' In his second statement, after Lubomir jnr apologised for lying, he said that when Jozef arrived home on the night of the 12th, it looked like he had been struck on the forehead. When Jozef complained of a pain in the stomach, Lubomir jnr said he looked and saw three lacerations on his brother's abdomen. Jozef insisted that nothing had happened, Lubomir jnr said, and didn't say where he had been. He said their parents arrived a short time later and took Jozef to their home in Dublin. When gardaí asked why he had not told the truth in his previous statement, he said: 'It felt strange to tell on my brother. I never had to do it before.' He said he came back to tell the truth, adding: 'I feel better now that I told the truth. I feel better now.' The trial continues before Ms Justice Caroline Biggs and a jury of seven men and five women.
BreakingNews.ie
19-05-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Jozef Puska family members accused of withholding information and burning his clothes after Ashling Murphy murder
The trial has begun of two brothers and their wives, who are accused of withholding information or assisting Jozef Puska after he had murdered 23-year-old school teacher Ashling Murphy in Tullamore three years ago. Ms Justice Caroline Biggs at the Central Criminal Court swore a jury of five women and seven men to hear the trial, which is expected to last up to five weeks. Advertisement Ms Justice Biggs told the jury that Jozef Puska (35) murdered Ms Murphy in January 2022, close to a canal in Tullamore. He was tried and convicted of her murder. Ms Justice Biggs said this trial relates to the alleged actions of Jozef Puska's family members in the immediate aftermath of that murder. On trial are Jozef Puska's brothers Marek (34) and Lubomir (35) and their wives Jozefina Grundzova (31) and Viera Gaziova (38), who have addresses in Mucklagh, Tullamore, Co Offaly. Lubomir Puska is charged with withholding information by failing, without reasonable excuse, to tell a member of An Garda Síochána as soon as was practicable that Jozef Puska returned home to Mucklagh on the night of January 12th, 2022, with visible injuries and admitted to "cutting" a female with a knife. It is further alleged that he failed to disclose that Jozef Puska travelled to Dublin that night. Advertisement Marek Puska is also charged with withholding information about Jozef Puska's visible injuries, that he had admitted to "killing or seriously injuring" a female with a knife and that he travelled to Dublin that night. Marek Puska is further alleged to have been aware of an arrangement to burn clothing worn by Jozef Puska at the time of the murder. The charges against both brothers state that they knew or believed that the information they allegedly withheld might be of material assistance in securing the apprehension, prosecution, or conviction of Jozef Puska for a serious offence involving loss of human life or serious personal injury to another. Ireland Ashling Murphy's boyfriend condemns 'lowest of the... Read More Both men have pleaded not guilty to the offences, which are charged under the Offences Against the State, Amendment Act 1988. Jozefina Grundzova, who is married to Marek Puska, and Viera Gaziova, who is married to Lubomir Puska, are accused of assisting in burning clothing between January 12 and 14th, without reasonable excuse, intending to impede the apprehension or prosecution of Jozef Puska, knowing or believing him to have committed the offence of murder or some other arrestable offence within the same category or of a similar nature. Advertisement Ms Grundzova and Ms Gaziova pleaded not guilty to the offences, which are charged under the Criminal Law Act 1997. The trial will begin with an opening statement by the prosecution on Tuesday.
Irish Times
19-05-2025
- Irish Times
Four go on trial accused of assisting Ashling Murphy's killer Jozef Puska
The trial has begun of two brothers and their wives, who are accused of withholding information or assisting Jozef Puska after he had murdered Ashling rphy in Tullamore three years ago. Ms Justice Caroline Biggs at the Central Criminal Court swore a jury of five women and seven men to hear the trial, which is expected to last up to five weeks. Ms Justice Biggs told the jury that Jozef Puska (35) murdered Ms Murphy, a 23-year-old school teaschoolteachera 2022 close to a canal in Tullamore. He was tried and convicted of her murder. Ms Justice Biggs said this trial relates to the alleged actions of Jozef Puska's family members in the immediate aftermath of that murder. READ MORE On trial are Jozef Puska's brothers Marek (34) and Lubomir (35) and their wives Jozefina Grundzova (31) and Viera Gaziova (38), who have addresses in Mucklagh, Tullamore, Co Offaly. Lubomir Puska is charged with withholding information by failing, without reasonable excuse, to tell a member of An Garda Síochána as soon as was practicable that Jozef Puska returned home to Mucklagh on the night of January 12th, 2022 with visible injuries and admitted to 'cutting' a female with a further alleged that he failed to disclose that Jozef Puska travelled to Dublin that night. Marek Puska is also charged with withholding information about Jozef Puska's visible injuries, that he had admitted to 'killing or seriously injuring' a female with a kwomannd that he travelled to Dublin that night. Marek Puska is further alleged to have been aware of an arrangement to burn clothing worn by Jozef Puska at the time of the murder. Jozef Puska (31): jailed for the murder of Ashling Murphy who was found dead after going for a run along the Grand Canal in Tullamore, Co Offaly. The charges against both brothers state that they knew or believed that the information they allegedly withheld might be of material assistance in securing the apprehension, prosecution, or conviction of Jozef Puska for a serious offence involving loss of human life or serious personal injury to another. Both men have pleaded not guilty to the offences, which are charged under the Offences Against the State, Amendment Act 1988. Jozefina Grundzova, who is married to Marek Puska, and Viera Gaziova, who is married to Lubomir Puska, are accused of assisting in burning clothing between January 12th and 14th, without reasonable excuse, intending to impede the apprehension or prosecution of Jozef Puska, knowing or believing him to have committed the offence of murder or some other arrestable offence within the same category or of a similar nature. Ms Grundzova and Ms Gaziova pleaded not guilty to the offences, which are charged under the Criminal Law Act 1997. The trial will begin with an opening statement by the prosecution on Tuesday.
