A Crime That Shattered Ireland: The Harrowing Case Of Ashling Murphy

Today’s case takes us to a small town in County off in Ireland called tore in 2022 it was home to 23-year-old Ashley Murphy intelligence motivated and hardworking her dream from a young age was to be a teacher and she was over the moon when she got a job as a primary school teacher at Duro national school just a couple of months after graduating she took to it like a duct to water and her colleague said it was like she’d always been there and part of their team her father said she never stopped and crammed everything she could

into her life one to try and better and push herself and also to make sure she was getting the most out of every day she pushed her students to challenge themselves but was never one to ask anyone to do something she wouldn’t do herself she even bought a set of illan pipes one of the most difficult instruments to learn but she was determined to prove to herself that she could do it if she put her mind to  it music and the creative arts was a big passion for her in general and always had been she had taken after her musical

mother Kathleen and in school she had been in the choir the orchestra the kogi team and the traditional music group but playing the fiddle had stuck with her since she was little she was eventually in the top 5% of fiddle players in the country and had played at the tmore tradfest traditional music festival as well Ashling was a family girl through and through and would always make time for dinner and drinks with her dad Ray mother Kathleen Sister Amy and and brother cooh she was also in a great relationship with her partner Ryan the

pair had first met each other at a disco when they were 15 they had dated for a couple of years but they were very young and went their separate ways they did keep in contact though and a couple of years later they reconnected and were inseparable from that point on they had started making plans to build their dream house together get married and start a family Ryan said she had the most comforting smile and infectious laugh and no matter how low you felt she could always always pick you up on January the 10th 2022 Ashling went

to Ryan and his family’s house to drop some groceries off at the door they were all isolating as there was Co in the home and Ryan said he really wanted to give her a hug but they just said hi and by at the door knowing they would be seeing each other properly in 10 days time to go on a trip together 2 Days Later Ashling finished teaching as usual and got ready to go for a jog she worked out whenever she had time and a quick run down by the canal to clear her head was a normal thing for her to do do before she left she told her mom where

she was going but Kathleen was worried saying she should jog somewhere else she hugged her mom and said ah Mom I’m 23 years old love you before heading out the door she was soon out and jogging down by the Grand Canal a lovely area for some peace and quiet where you can often find people working out and walking their dogs at 3:15 on Fiona’s way a walkway named after a missing woman called own appender two women were also jogging down by the bank and saw and heard something odd they noticed a bicycle on the side and then heard what sounded

like a woman crying from the wooded area next to the pathway they thought she had fallen off her bike and was hurt so went to go and help they saw a man cowering over her and pinning her down a small necklace hung around the woman’s neck the name on it was Ashling the man heard them turned around and threw gritted teeth at and snarling told them to go away the jogger said the woman was moving every part of her body twisting and turning trying to get away but she wasn’t making a sound anymore neither woman had a phone on

them and there was no one else around so they both shouted at him that they were call the guardi and then ran to the nearest house to get help authorities were soon there and found Ashling Murphy lying there motionless her attacker was long gone despite the best efforts of the paramedics Ashling died at the scene she had been strangled and stabbed 11 times in the neck dying of blood loss her keys were close to her and it was clear she had tried to fight off her killer using them experts said Ashling had clearly fought so incredibly hard to

get away and tried everything she could until the very end 12th of January 2022 shortly after 400 p.m. gy from toore G station attended to an incident at the Grand Canal Way at Capen car in tonore following a call from a member of the public at the seeing G they discovered a young woman with serious injuries medical attention was provided but despite the best efforts of the medical team who attended this young lady passed away this area here where the crime occurred is popular among tmore residents and is widely used for

recreational purposes the victim of this crime is Ashley Murphy a 23-year-old local lady from the blue b area of tmore our thoughts and prayers are with Ash’s family at this time and indeed The Wider Community for teaching colleagues and the children she taught who are without their teacher today immediately following the discovery of this crime a fullscale murder investigation was launched Personnel from the national specialist units including the National Bureau of criminal investigation have been assigned to the investigation no

stone will be left unturned in bringing this perpetrator of this crime to Justice at this stage there is no information that the victim and her killer were known to each other from inquiries we’ve carried out we believe this crime was committed by one male who acted alone we’re appealing for Witnesses who may have seen any person who behaving unusual in that area any information you have however insignificant you think it may be we need to hear from you the joggers had given a description of the man as best they could his jacket

was distinctive a Navy padded bomber jacket with unique stitching on the back the bicycle that was near the scene believed to have been his was a falcon stor mountain bike with straight handlebars and green on the frame gy have issued a very specific appeal for information relating to a mountain bike what can you tell us yeah the Gan commissioner held a press conference here in the last half hour now we understand they have seized that bike but it’s crucial to the investigation they say and they want to know about the

movements of that bike H not just yesterday but in the preceding few days they also want to know if anybody owned it or if it had been stolen H and where it has been over the last couple of days a number of people who were in the area around that time contacted the authorities but there was nothing concrete accessing the data on her fitbits they were able to get a clearer timeline to try and narrow things down her workout had started at 2:51 p.m.

 30 minutes later it tracked erratic movements just a couple of minutes later at 3:31 p.m. her Fitbit was was no longer recording her heartbeat the guardi issued a statement announcing that they believed they were only looking for one person and they felt confident that whoever this was was totally random and not known to Ashling they said he would probably have wounds Cuts or bruising on him given the way Ashling had fought back and used her keys the person who attacked Ashling here was disturbed by two women who were

then able to give a description to the g e it fitted a man who was already well known in the area for violent criminal acts a 40-year-old man was subsequently arrested and is still being questioned this evening the detectives would get a lead based off of the descriptions and just a few hours after Ashling was found they made an arrest of a 40-year-old man but he was soon released without charge the man was taken to Safe accommodation when his name and pictures were shared on social media resulting in him receiving death threats even though he

was innocent more than 24 hours after to the brutal murder of a young woman out jogging along the banks of the Grand Canal widely used for recreation tmore and The Wider area is this evening numb with shock and grief throughout the day in tore there’s been just one topic of conversation in the close-knit tapestry of communities in and around toore people have been remembering Ashling Murphy the sense of shock is particularly acute for young women in the area many of them regular users of the water side amenities here it just

makes young people like us think you’re not really safe anywhere we have two little girls and we’d bring them walking along that Canal but I I’d second can guess it now no shocking to say she was out for a daily Jog and just life gone from her now as locals gather the Murphy family into their Collective Embrace tonight Treasured Memories of a valued member of the community abound to say the town is numb and everyone around here it’s hard to believe it was been frightened and shocked all into one nervous frightened and shocked I know

that people are feeling uh shocked uh but also angry and I share that anger This Is A Woman’s Worth Nightmare and I say that um because while no woman should have to take measures when they’re going out and about uh to stay safe Ashling was out during the day it was bright uh there was a lot of people about and she was in an area that local people felt was always safe and yet this has happened to her it is every woman’s worst nightmare it is every family’s worst nightmare uh and so everything will be done to ensure that the gy have

the support that they need to bring about Justice and that whoever is responsible for this will face the full rigors of the law detectives are still trying to establish a motive for the murder they’re examining all possible lines of inquiry if it was robbery if there was a sexual motive and they say they’re keeping an open mind ashling’s case was huge and everyone was talking about it and trying to help and offic report it was soon on every news station and flooding social media both in Ireland and abroad as

always when crimes like these happen ones that receive such media attention people are quick to give their opinions online and sadly in this case many seemed focused on the fact that she was out for a run in a slightly secluded area activist Laura Bates wrote an emotional response to this pointing out that focusing on this is a complicated form of victim blaming I understand why people are posting she was going for a run I get why she was just walking home and she did all the right things trended after Sarah everard died she posted in

part I know it comes from a place of grief and rage but it doesn’t matter what they were doing we say she was just doing this or she was just doing that it suggests that the case wouldn’t have been quite so awful or tragic if she had been doing something else it had now been 48 hours since Ashling was killed and many a vigil was being held all over including ones held by big political names across the country thousands and thousands of people were turning out for  them the principal of the school she taught at said everyone was so shaken by

what had happened it’s very very hard to think that she was here in school yesterday as a teacher and and teaching her first class students and today they have come in with little Tears in their eyes and their teacher not there on January the 14th 100 people stood outside the Irish parliament in Dublin for Ashling and by 400 p.m.

 the number had grown to 1,000 and soon the tshock the Republic of Ireland’s primee minister at the time mikol Martin and the future leader Leah vatka would be there too Leo verka said the murder of Ashling had United the nation in solidarity and revulsion the investigation was moving quickly although the guardee were keeping their cards close to their chests on January the 17th they said that significant progress had been made as although they didn’t announce this to the public they had actually received a troubling email

which read in part To Who It May Concern I am the person responsible for ashling’s murder I am so sorry the email was sent at 10:44 p.m. and detectives quickly managed to identify where it come from they tracked down the person the account had belong to the man that had sent it said he suffered from mental health problems and drank too much blacking out and having little recollection of what he’ done when he was drunk but sober he said he didn’t know why he had sent it and that he had nothing to do with ashling’s murder

officers initially felt so confident with this lead but more checks would rule this man out completely and they were back at square one but they then got another tip which would turn into the major breakthrough that they so desperately needed they had been closely watching a man who had walked into a hospital quite a distance from where Ashling was killed just 2 days after that fateful day the 31-year-old had turned up looking to treat some bad cuts bruises and scratches to his face given how quickly the news of what had happened to Ashling

had traveled the guard were called in by the nurses at the hospital wondering if there was a link the man couldn’t explain his injuries and was keeping quiet but he was in quite bad shape when detectives got there they too were suspicious and carried out a background check on him following this they went to seas and search two cars and searched two properties as well one over an hour away in Dublin and one just 8 minutes away from where Ashling had been killed they interviewed the 31-year-old in hospital and he told them he had been

attacked by a man in a blue face mask a hard thing to pick out given the fact that the pandemic was still ongoing and most people were in masks he claimed he couldn’t really remember it at all as it had happened so quickly detectives weren’t convinced and showed him a picture of Ashling he said he had never seen her before not even on the news I look at the news but don’t speak English can’t understand it he said they knew there was more to this story but left him to Stew over what they had said ready to come back and talk to him

later a short time after he spoke to the detectives again this time he told them the man that had attacked him also attacked Ashling as they were all on the same path he claimed he had tried to save Ashling and not hurt her but then his story changed again he suddenly blurted out I did it I murdered I am the murderer he was immediately cautioned and was told he did not need to say anything else but he couldn’t stop talking he said I’m sorry I see girl I never see before knife I use for chain when she passed I cut her I cut her neck

she panicked I panicked he then started crying and asked will I go for 10 years he pointed to his stomach which had three puncture wounds wounds likely inflicted by ashling’s keys he gave a DNA sample and sure enough the DNA from under ashling’s fingernails was a match to him as detectives continue to piece things together on January the 18th hundreds of people gathered for ashling’s funeral I am with you she was the light of their lives and the murder of 23 year- Old ashleen Murphy has stunned Ireland the president

and his wife comforted her parents brother sister and boyfriend as they arrived for her funeral it was attended by the then P shark mle Martin President Michael D Higgins and his wife Saina a minister for justice Helen McKenzie schools around the country observed a minute silence at 11:00 a.m. in her m as well her young students would also pay tribute to the 23-year-old lining up holding pictures of Ashling as the funeral procession came past Ryan was beside himself and he gave a huge speech on behalf of his and

ashling’s families he said she is the greatest love of my life I will cherish the last 5 years we spent together my entire life I hope that someday God willing we can be reunited once more and continue the great plans we have made for each other goodbye for now but not forever darling as you will live on in all of our hearts and memories it was already a deeply emotional day and things were about to take another turn this was also the day that the gy announced the man they had been closely monitoring in hospital had

been arrested and charged with ashling’s murder we start this hour with that breaking news uh the arrest made uh on suspicion of murder a man in his 30s this is regarding the murder of Ashley Murphy the school teacher uh who was murdered last week in County offy we can speak to our correspondent David blevens now uh and David this arrest took place shortly after ashling’s funeral today yes police are providing very little detail at this stage for operational reasons other than to confirm that detectives investigating the murder of

the 23-year-old primary school teacher last Wednesday have arrested a man in his 30s he’s currently being detained at telmore Gard station under section four of the criminal justice act 1984 uh and that questioning could go on for some time the andar Theona the Irish Police Service are adamant that they will not be making any further comment at this stage but it is nonetheless a significant development and as you say it comes just a matter of hours after the small Village of Mount Bolis County off came to a complete stand for the

funeral of ashleen Murphy there can be no question whatsoever about the esteem in which she was held literally hundreds upon hundreds of people turned out also there the Prime Minister ANUK mihal Martin and that’s because really the murder of this young woman has had an enormous impact both at home and abroad people are not just just saddened by it they are very angry about the fact that after all this time women are still being subjected to violence and there have been all sorts of vigils and calls for a change in Attitude for this to be

the watershed moment and I think that’s the important thing to remember today while the murder investigation continues behind the scenes and while there has been this arrest this is a day when ashen’s family and friends want to remember a very beautiful young woman who was so cruy snatched away in Unthinkable circumstances they would finally identify him as Joseph pushka he was a builder and had moved over to Ireland from Slovakia in 2015 living in tmore with his wife and five children that evening he appeared in

tmore District Court and the outside was packed with members of the public and media  [Applause]   on  the gy received more information about Joseph’s actions in the hours before he killed Ashling and it was truly shocking anmarie Kelly first saw Joseph on his bike she had stepped aside to let him pass and he went past really slowly

staring at her in a menacing way a way that had really unsettled her anarie then saw Joseph again at the canal this time he was walking behind her and pushing his bike she could feel him staring at her and picked up her Pace fortunately she spotted a man in a van pull up and jogged over towards him Joseph quickly took off he also followed three other women that day even being caught on camera a few times after this he would find Ashling authorities believe he was absolutely on a mission to hurt or kill someone they also

described him as a phantom individual someone that had never been on their radar for any reason until this point despite his own confession he entered a plea of not guilty stating that he couldn’t remember admitting to anything in the hospital he was now back to the story where he alleged he was trying to save ashling’s life from another man as he sat in custody the investigation continued on the 13th of June 2023 five people appeared in court earlier today charged in connection with the investigation into the murder of Ashling

Murphy in January of last year all five were arrested in Dublin yesterday and they appeared before tmore District Court five of the people were arrested and charged with withholding information or impeding an arrest in relation to ashling’s Case marrick pushka lamir kushka and Lucia rakova were charged with withholding information and yosina grenova and Vera gaziova were accused of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of an alleged offender by the time his trial started on October 17th 2023 the prosecution had

CCTV DNA and witness evidence as well as his own confession his defense team was still running with the story that he had been attacked by a man hence his injuries and after the man had attacked him he had killed Ashling before running away they said the two women jogging had actually seen Joseph trying to stop the bleeding not that he had been hurting her former NHS emergency and intensive care consultant Dr Johan grun was the Final witness for the defense the jury has heard Mr pushka told gordi that he killed her but in his evidence

to the court he said he did not recall these conversations giving evidence via video link from the UK Dr grundling said he had concerns about whether the engagement by gardi with Mr pushka on the evening of the 14th of January last year was reliable due to a multitude of factors Dr grundling said Mr push’s recent surgery the oxycodone medication he was given the unfamiliar environment he was in and the Lang barrier cast doubt over his Fitness to be interviewed he said he would have expected medical practitioners to have been consulted

before Gordy spoke to Mr pushka after Mr pushka to have been checked for signs of subtle delirium or confusion the doctor agreed with Prosecuting Council Amry Lawler that Mr pushka had been regularly checked by medical staff during his Hospital stay and there was no record of him being disorientated or confused at any point he also agreed with Miss Lawler that Mr pushka would have had at most just over 8 milligram of Oxycodone in his system at the time he made the confession the prosecution called his lies foul and contemptible they said the

fact he was trying to play some sort of Good Samaritan was disgusting the only victim was Ashling the jury in the trial of ysf pushka who is accused of the murder of Ashling Murphy will hear closing speeches tomorrow after that Mr Justice Tony hunt will summarize the evidence and the relevant law they’re likely to begin their deliberations on Wednesday on the 9th of November 2023 after just 2 hours of deliberations he was unanimously found guilty of murder guilty of murder after 13 days of evidence and more than 60 Witnesses his

story of another unidentified Man attacking both him and Ashling before escaping not believed by the jury as the verdict was read out he sat in silence putting his hands over his face judge Mr Justice Tony huntt did not hold back in his statements after he told the jury we have evil in this room there is no doubt about that there will be a day of reckoning for pushka he said that he agreed with the jury’s decision and was glad that they didn’t spend any more time than they needed to on what he called Joseph’s nonsense he acknowledged

that this was no reflection of his legal team however saying what they had in their hands was poor stuff indeed he described what happened to Ashling as enough to make you physically ill and given what the jury had had to sit through he Exempted them from jury service for 20 years as the jury left the room everyone erupted into Applause Friday the 17th of November 2023 was the day of Joseph’s sentencing Mr Justice Tony hunt told Joseph that there was only one sentence to hand down which he said was richly deserved Joseph pushka was handed a

mandatory life sentence Ryan addressed Joseph and said you have noide idea the love we had for each other because of you I will never get to marry my soulmate because of you I have to somehow carry on without her you smirked you smiled and you showed no remorse which sums up the kind of person you are the epitome of Pure Evil when your Day of Reckoning comes may you be in Hell a whole half hour before God even knows you are  dead Joseph did not make eye contact with anyone who spoke including the judge Mr Justice Tony hunt said that if

he had the power a whole life order would have been considered in this case he said that before Joseph could be considered for release the person making that decision would have to take into account that we still don’t know why he murdered Ashling he has never shown any remorse or empathy and has done nothing but lie about what happened and this will all be taken into consideration shortly after he was sentenced he was transferred to a padded cell in another prison and put under 24-hour surveillance a sources claim he had made

an attempt to take his own life while on trial and other in mates said they would be looking for him in prison Joseph’s family still believe he is innocent I would like to pay tribute to Ashley’s family a mother Kathleen Our Father Ray or Sister Amy brother kah and indeed her Bend Ryan the Courage the dignity the resilience and the strength that they have showing during this ordeal has been exemplary I want to assure them on behalf of onard honor that we will continue to support them going forward and give them all the supports we can

where necessary at this moment in time and on behalf of the Murphy family I would like to take this opportunity to express our deep gratitude to all of our family friends and Community for their unwavering support since our ashleen was stoning from US 22 months ago on the 12th of January 2022 from day one the outpouring of love and support was felt in abundance from the Irish people both on a national and international level she was not only an integral part of our family but she was also a huge Shining Light in our community a community in

which year in year out she gave back to as best she could words cannot express the Gratitude to all members of engard Shia who conducted in peace together a robust and thorough investigation we wish to formly thank the prosecution legal team Justice hunt and also our family liers and officers Sergeant Lucy mlin and detective guard Alan work we’d like to also thank the victim support at core team who are always there for us always waiting to help us at any given moment we would like to also thank the members of the jury for reaching this verdict

sitting through the hiring evidence of this trial was not an easy task and will be forever grateful for their patience and resilience throughout this incredibly difficult process it is simply imperative that this vicious monster can never harm another woman again thank you it is clear to see how much Ashling meant to so many people and how much her death had outraged not just her small community but Ireland as a whole some important conversations were started about safety education and continuing to tackle violence against women and girls

people banded together and United in such a huge way every case is horrific and it goes without saying they all affect vast amounts of people at a time but sometimes certain cases are so emotionally charged that they Ripple through the nation and further a field leaving a lasting impact in ways we have not experienced before Sarah everard in the UK cases like anac creasel and Jill Mah in Ireland and Australia and now Ashley Murphy her partner Ryan said the painful thing to come to terms with is that he will have

to remember her for longer than he’s known her Amy said we are consumed by what can only be described as nightmares that we weren’t there to save her Ashley did so much for absolutely everybody yet no one was there when she needed the most as a big sister I could not protect her while she was alive all I can do now is protect her memory and as a family we will continue to set the table for  five thank you all for tuning in if you’d like to support our Channel and help us to continue to make content please don’t forget to like comment

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