'You are the epitome of pure evil': Jozef Puska gets life for Ashling Murphy's murder
The Branded By Sentencing Judge Was Evidence Puska's 'indescribable' Jozef
Jozef Puska has been given the mandatory life sentence in prison for the murder of schoolteacher Ashling Murphy in Co Offaly last year.
Puska, 33, with an address at Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Murphy at Cappincur, Tullamore, Co Offaly on January 12, 2022.
A jury convicted him of the murder last week, finding that he stabbed Ms Murphy 11 times in the neck and slashed her once with the edge of a blade before leaving her to die in the thick thorns and brambles by the side of the canal towpath between Tullamore town and Digby Bridge, where a monument in her memory is now placed.
At the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said there was only one sentence available, and it was “deserved”.
He said Puska’s evidence had been “indescribable” and the “one thing we don’t know about this case is the why”.
At a hearing this afternoon before the sentence was handed down, the court heard statements from Ms Murphy's sister Amy, mother Kathleen, and Ms Murphy's boyfriend Ryan Casey. Ms Murphy's father Ray and brother Cathal were also present in court.
Ryan Casey told the court that it doesn't make sense to him that someone “so insignificant, the lowest of the low, a burden to society, can completely destroy so many lives by taking a person who is the complete opposite”.
Mr Casey described Ashling's warmth, compassion, respect and detailed their plans for the future — to get married, build a home together and raise a family.
He said they had talked about how many kids they would have, and imagined they would be “little hurlers and camogie players and even better – musicians”.
Mr Casey turned towards Puska to tell him: “I don’t care where you end up, nor what happens to you after today. You smirked, smiled and showed zero remorse during your trial which sums you up as the person you really are, the epitome of pure evil.
“But you will never ever harm or touch another woman ever again... when your day of reckoning comes, may you be in hell a whole half hour before god even knows you are dead.”
Amy told the hushed courtroom that their lives were “enormously enriched because of Ashling”, who she described as charismatic and compassionate with an infectious laugh.
“She never sought to be the centre of attention but she could strike up a conversation with anyone and make everyone feel they had a friend in her.”
The mother of Ashling Murphy said her “heart was ripped” from her body the moment she learned her daughter had been killed.
In a victim impact statement read out in court by a detective garda, Mrs Murphy said her “heart broke the moment I heard the bad news Ashling was murdered”.
“There is such a void in our home,” she said.
She said that the actions of Jozef Puska, who was given a life sentence for Ms Murphy’s murder on Friday, “must have consequences” and said “he should never see the light of day again”.
She said that before her daughter left the house, she had begged her not to go along the canal, to which Ms Murphy replied “Ah mum, I’m 23 years old” before giving her mother a hug.
She gave her “a big hug and said ‘I love you, you’re the best mum in the world’ and walked out the door”, the court heard.
After the speeches were completed, Mr Justice Tony Hunt told Puska that there is only one sentence to hand down, which he said is “richly deserved”. He lamented that he does not have the power to impose a minimum period to be served and said if he had the power, a whole life-term would have to be considered in this case.
He said that before Puska is considered for release the person making that decision would have to take into account that we still don't know why Puska murdered Ashling.
Mr Justice Hunt concluded by saying, “very well, you may take him away”, before six prison officers led Puska to the cell area.