Even The Judge BROKE DOWN! What He Did To This 23-Yrs-Old lady Was So HORRIFIC Police Needed THERAPY 

I know that people are feeling shocked but also angry and I share that anger. This is a woman’s worst nightmare. >> [music] >> County Offaly, Ireland, a quiet stretch of canal path where people go to clear their heads and where on an ordinary Wednesday afternoon in January 2022, two strangers out for a jog would stumble into something that stopped a nation cold.

This is a true crime documentary about 23-year-old Ashling Murphy, a primary school teacher with a whole life ahead of her and the few minutes that ended it. If you’re just finding this channel, drop a comment and let us know where in the world you’re watching from and hit subscribe because we cover cases like this every week.

Ashling wasn’t just any teacher. Becoming one had been her dream since she was a kid and she landed her first job at Durrow National School only a couple of months after graduating. She took to it like a duck to water. Colleagues said it was like she’d always been there, always been part of the team. Her father put it simply, she never stopped.

 She crammed everything she possibly could into her life, always pushing herself to do a little better, to make the most of every single day. She pushed her students to challenge themselves, too, but never asked anything of them she wasn’t already asking of herself. That drive was the same reason she picked up a set of Uilleann pipes, one of the hardest instruments in the world to learn, just to prove to herself that if she put her mind to something, she could do it.

>> [music] >> Music was woven into her whole life. She got that from her mother, Kathleen, who was musical herself. And growing up, Ashling was in the school choir, the orchestra, the camogie team, and the traditional Irish music group. But it was the fiddle that stuck with her the longest, going all the way back to childhood.

 By the time she was grown, she was ranked among the top 5% of fiddle players in the entire country. And she’d performed at the Tullamore Trad Fest, a serious achievement in a tradition that doesn’t hand out praise lightly. She was a family girl through and through. Dinners, drinks, just being together. She made time for her dad Ray, her mother Kathleen, her sister Amy, and her brother Cathal, no matter how busy life got.

And she had a great relationship with her partner, Ryan. The two of them actually met years earlier at a disco when they were just 15 years old. They dated for a couple of years, then drifted apart the way teenagers do. Young, still figuring themselves out. But a few years later, their paths crossed again, and this time it stuck.

They became inseparable, and they’d already started talking about the future. Building their dream house together, getting married, starting a family. Ryan later said she had the most comforting smile and the most infectious laugh he’d ever known. And that no matter how low you were feeling, Ashling could always find a way to lift you back up.

On January 10th, 2022, Ashling stopped by Ryan’s family home to drop off some groceries at the door. The household was isolating after a COVID case inside. Ryan said all he wanted in that moment was to give her a hug. But they kept their distance. Just a quick hello and goodbye through the doorway. It didn’t matter.

They already had a trip planned together in 10 days time. So this was just a short gap. Nothing to worry about. Two days later, on January 12th, Ashling finished up a normal day of teaching and got ready for a run. Working out whenever she had a spare moment was just part of who she was. And a quick jog along the canal to clear her head was something she did all the time.

Nothing out of the ordinary. Before she left, she told her mother where she was headed. Kathleen, ever the warrior, suggested she run somewhere else instead. Ashling just laughed, gave her mom a hug, and said, “Come on, Mom. I’m 23 years old. Love you.” before heading out the door. Not long after, she was jogging along the Grand Canal, a peaceful, scenic stretch where you’d normally expect to see people out walking dogs or getting their steps in.

The kind of place nobody thinks twice about. At 3:15 that afternoon, on a walkway along the canal, two women who were also out for a jog noticed something that didn’t sit right. A bicycle had been left on the side of the path, and coming from the wooded area right next to it, they heard what sounded like a woman crying.

Their first thought was that someone had come off their bike and gotten hurt, so they went to help. What they found instead was a man standing over her, restraining her. Around her neck was a small necklace with a name engraved on it, Ashling. The man noticed the two women, turned, and aggressively told them to get away.

They could see Ashling struggling, trying to fight him off before she suddenly went quiet. Neither of the joggers had a phone on them, and there wasn’t another soul in sight, so they shouted that they were calling the guards and took off running toward the nearest house for help. By the time authorities reached the scene, Ashling was motionless, and her attacker was already gone.

Paramedics did everything they possibly could. It wasn’t enough. Investigators later determined that Ashling had put up a real fight to protect herself, and believe she tried to use her own keys as a weapon in her final moments. >> 12th of January, 2022. Shortly after 4:00 p.m., Gardaí from Tullamore Garda Station attended to an incident at the Grand Canal Way at Cappincur in Tullamore, following a call from a member of the public.

At the scene, Gardaí 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 Tullamore residents and is widely used for recreational purposes.

 The victim of this crime is Ashling Murphy, a 23-year-old local lady from the Blueball area of Tullamore. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ashling’s family at this time and indeed the wider community, her teaching colleagues, and the children she taught were without their teacher today. Immediately following the discovery of this crime, a full-scale 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’s no information that the victim and her killer were known to each other. From our queries we’ve carried out, we believe this crime was committed by one male who acted alone.

We’re appealing to witnesses who may have seen any person who was behaving unusual in that area. Any information you have, however insignificant you think it may be, we need to hear from you. >> The two joggers gave the best description they could manage under the circumstances. His jacket stood out. A navy padded bomber jacket with unusual stitching across the back.

 The bicycle left behind at the scene, believed to belong to him, was a Falcon Storm mountain bike with straight handlebars and green detailing on the frame. >> Gardaí have issued a very specific appeal for information relating to a mountain bike. What can you tell us? >> Yeah, the Garda 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 and not just yesterday, but in the preceding few days. They also want to know if anybody owned it or if it had been stolen and where it has been over the last couple of days. >> In the hours that followed, a number of people who’d been in the area came forward with tips, though nothing solid came of it right away.

Investigators turned to Ashling’s Fitbit, and the data helped them piece together a timeline. Her workout had started at 2:51 p.m. 30 minutes later, the device recorded a sudden burst of erratic movement. Just a couple of minutes after that, at 3:31 p.m., her Fitbit stopped tracking activity altogether.

 Guards issued a public statement saying they believed they were looking for a single individual, someone completely random with no prior connection to Ashling whatsoever. Given how hard she’d fought back, they expected her attacker would likely be carrying visible injuries. >> The person who attacked Ashling here was disturbed by two women who were then able to give a description to the garda.

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. >> Detectives got a lead based on the witness descriptions, and just a few hours after Ashling was found, they arrested a 40-year-old man. He was released without charge soon after once it became clear he had nothing to do with it.

But by then, his name and photo had already spread across social media, and despite being completely innocent, he received death threats and had to be moved into secure accommodation for his own safety. >> More than 24 hours after the brutal murder of a young woman out jogging along the banks of the Grand Canal widely used for recreation, Tullamore and the wider area is this evening numb with shock and grief.

>> Throughout the day in Tullamore, there’s been just one topic of conversation. In the close-knit tapestry of communities in and around Tullamore, 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 waterside amenities here.

>> It just makes young people like us think you’re not really safe anywhere. I’ve two little girls and we bring them walking along that canal, but I’d I’d second-guess it now. It’s shocking to see 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.

>> I say the town is numb and everyone around here it’s hard to believe >> Nervous and 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 worst nightmare, and I say that because while no woman should have to take measures when they’re going out and about 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 Guardi 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. >> The case was already exploding into international news, and the real suspect was still out there.

Ashling’s story didn’t just make headlines in Ireland, it spread across the world within hours. Every news station, every social media feed, was talking about her. And as so often happens with cases that draw this level of attention, people were quick to offer their opinions online. Sadly, a lot of that focused on the fact that she’d been out running in a somewhat secluded area.

>> Activist Laura Bates wrote an emotional response, pushing back on that narrative, calling it a complicated form of victim blaming. She said she understood exactly where the impulse came from, grief and rage, but that it didn’t matter what Ashling had been doing that day, saying she was just doing this or she was just doing that only implies it would have somehow been less tragic if she’d been doing something else.

48 hours after Ashling was killed, vigils were being held all across the country, some attended by major political figures, with thousands upon thousands of people turning out to show their support. The principal at her school said everyone was shaken to the core. That Ashling had been standing in front of her first class of students just the day before, and now those same children were walking in with tears in their eyes.

Their teacher’s seat sitting empty. On January 14th, 100 people gathered outside the Irish Parliament in Dublin in Ashling’s memory. By 4:00 p.m., that crowd had grown to 1,000. The Taoiseach at the time, Micheál Martin, and future leader Leo Varadkar, were both there among the mourners. Varadkar said publicly that Ashling’s murder had united the entire nation in a shared sense of solidarity and grief.

Behind closed doors, the investigation kept moving fast, even as guards kept the details close to the chest. On January 17th, they announced that significant progress had been made. Privately, they’d received a troubling email that read, in part, “To whom it may concern, I am the person responsible for Ashling’s murder.

I am so, so sorry.” The message was sent at 10:44 p.m., and detectives moved quickly to trace it. The man behind the account admitted he struggled with mental health issues and drank heavily, often blacking out with little to no memory of what he’d done. But he insisted that sober, he had no idea why he’d sent the message and that he had nothing to do with Ashling’s death.

Investigators were hopeful at first, but after further checks, they ruled him out completely. They were back to square one. But the real break in the case was already forming, 2 days out and miles from the canal path, inside a hospital emergency room. 2 days after the attack, guards had been watching a man who’d walked into a hospital some distance from where Ashling was killed.

The 31-year-old arrived with several visible injuries to his face. Given how quickly news of Ashling’s death had spread, the nurses on duty made the call to alert the guards, wondering if there might be a connection. The man couldn’t explain his injuries and largely stayed quiet. But the injuries themselves were hard to ignore.

Detectives grew suspicious, ran a background check, and moved quickly to secure warrants to search two vehicles and two separate properties. One over an hour away in Dublin, and one just 8 minutes from where Ashling had been attacked. When detectives sat down with him at the hospital, his account came out slowly.

He claimed he’d been attacked by a man in a blue face mask. A plausible enough story on the surface, since masks were still everywhere given the pandemic. He said it all happened too fast for him to remember clearly. When they showed him a photograph of Ashling, he claimed he’d never seen her before in his life, not even in the news coverage, insisting he didn’t speak English well enough to follow what was being reported.

Detectives weren’t convinced. They knew there was more to the story, and they gave him time to think it over. A short while later, when they came back to question him again, his story had already shifted. Now, he claimed the man who’d attacked him had also attacked Ashling. And he insisted he’d actually tried to save her, not hurt her.

 As the second interview went on, his account changed yet again. Eventually, he admitted responsibility for Ashling’s death, growing visibly more distressed as he spoke, investigators also noted injuries to his abdomen that they believed may have occurred during the struggle with Ashling. A DNA sample was taken on the spot, and it matched evidence recovered from the scene.

 The case was about to break wide open. On the very same day Ireland would gather to say goodbye to Ashling. On January 18th, hundreds turned out for Ashling’s funeral. >> [singing] [music] [music] >> She was the light of their lives, and the murder of 23-year-old Ashling Murphy has stunned Ireland. The president and his wife comforted her parents, brother, sister, and boyfriend as they arrived for her funeral.

>> In attendance were Taoiseach Micheál Martin, President Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina, and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee. Schools all across the country observed a minute of silence at 11:00 a.m. in her memory. And her own young students paid their own tribute, lining the funeral procession while holding pictures of their teacher.

Ryan gave a speech on behalf of both families. He said Ashling had been the greatest love of his life, that he would cherish the years they’d spent together for the rest of his own, and that he hoped one day they’d be reunited to carry on the plans they’d made for each other. He told her he was saying goodbye for now, not forever, that she would go on living in all of their hearts and memories.

It was already an unbearably emotional day, and then it took another turn. That same afternoon, guards announced that the man they’d been quietly monitoring in the hospital had been arrested and formally charged with Ashling’s murder. >> We start this hour with that breaking news of the arrest made on suspicion of murder, a man in his 30s.

 This is regarding the murder of Ashling Murphy, the school teacher who was murdered last week in County Offaly. We can speak to our correspondent David Blevins now. 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 Tullamore Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. And that questioning could go on for some time. The An Garda Síochána, 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 Mountbolus in County Offaly came to a complete standstill for the funeral of Ashling 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 and Taoiseach Micheál 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 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 Ashling’s family and friends want to remember a very beautiful young woman who was so cruelly snatched away in unthinkable circumstances.

>> They identified him as Jozef Puška, a builder who had moved to Ireland from Slovakia back in 2015 and was living in Tullamore with his wife and five children. That evening, he made his first appearance at Tullamore District Court, the building surrounded by members of the public and swarms of media. >> [cheering] [bell] [music] [music] >> As the investigation dug deeper, guards uncovered a deeply concerning picture of Joseph’s movements in the hours before

he attacked Ashling. A woman named Anna Marie Kelly had first crossed paths with him earlier that day while he was out on his bike. She’d stepped aside to let him pass, and he’d gone by slowly, staring at her in a way that unsettled her. She saw him again later at the canal, this time walking behind her with the bike, and she could feel him watching her.

She picked up her pace, spotted a man sitting in a nearby van, and jogged straight toward him for safety. Joseph took off. As it turned out, he’d followed at least three other women that same day, caught on camera doing it more than once before he ever crossed paths with Ashling. Investigators came to believe he’d set out that day already intending to hurt someone, and pointed out that until that point, he had never once been on their radar for any reason at all.

Despite his own confession, Joseph entered a plea of not guilty, claiming he had no memory of admitting anything at the hospital. He went right back to his earlier story, that he’d been trying to save Ashling from another man, which he claimed accounted for his injuries. While he sat in custody, the investigation kept widening.

>> 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 Tullamore District Court. >> On June 13th, 2023, five more people were arrested and charged in connection with the case.

Marek Puszka, Lubomir Puszka, and Lucia Racova were charged with withholding information, while Josefina Grenova and Vlasta Dubcova were accused of impeding the arrest or prosecution of an alleged offender. By the time his trial began on October 17th, 2023, the prosecution had assembled CCTV footage, DNA evidence, witness testimony, and his own hospital confession.

His defense stuck to the same account, that he’d been attacked by a man, which he claimed explained his injuries, and that he then killed Ashling before fleeing the scene. His team even argued that the two women who’d found them at the canal had actually witnessed him trying to help her, not harm her. >> NHS emergency and intensive care consultant Dr.

 Johann Grundling was the final witness for the defense. The jury has heard Mr. Puszka told Gardai 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 Gardai with Mr.

 Puszka on the evening of the 14th of January last year was reliable due to a multitude of factors. Dr. Grundling said Mr. Puszka’s recent surgery, the oxycodone medication he was given, the unfamiliar environment he was in, and the language barrier cast doubt over his fitness to be interviewed. He said he would have expected medical practitioners to have been consulted before Gardai spoke to Mr. Puszka, and for Mr.

 Puszka to have been checked for signs of subtle delirium or confusion. >> The doctor agreed with prosecuting counsel Emer Lawlor that Mr. Puska 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 Ms. Lawlor that Mr.

 Puska would have had at most just over 8 mg of oxycodone in his system at the time he made the confession. >> Prosecutors called the entire account contemptible, saying his attempt to frame himself as some kind of good Samaritan was disgusting and made a point of reminding the court plainly who the real victim was. >> The jury in the trial of Josef Puska, 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 November 9th, 2023, after just 2 hours of deliberation, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict for 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 aloud, Puska sat in complete silence, his hands over his face. Mr. Justice Tony Hunt didn’t hold back in his response. He said the verdict was fully supported by the evidence the jury had heard and that Puska would now face the consequences of his actions. He told the courtroom he agreed entirely with the jury’s decision and that he was relieved they hadn’t needed to spend long deliberating over what he bluntly called Puska’s account, adding that this was no reflection on the defense team themselves, who’d

simply had poor material to work with. He described what happened to Ashling as deeply disturbing and, recognizing everything the jury had been forced to sit through, exempted every one of them from further jury service for the next 20 years. As they They out of the courtroom, the room broke into applause. Eight days later, on Friday, November 17th, 2023, Josef Puska was sentenced.

Mr. Justice Tony Hunt told him there was only one sentence available under the law, life imprisonment. Ryan stood and addressed Puska directly. He said Puska had no idea the kind of love they’d shared, that because of him, Ryan would never get the chance to marry his soulmate, and that he’d now have to somehow carry on without her.

He told Puska that his smirking, remorseless demeanor throughout the trial said everything anyone needed to know about the kind of person he really was, and he didn’t hide his anger or his grief in that moment. Puska never once made eye contact with anyone who spoke, not with Ryan, not with the judge, not with a single person in that room.

Mr. Justice Hunt added that had the option existed under Irish law, a whole life order would have been seriously considered in this case, and noted that anyone deciding on Puska’s future release would have to weigh the fact that he’d never once offered a credible explanation for the killing, had shown little to no remorse or empathy, and had repeatedly given accounts that the court simply didn’t believe.

 Shortly after sentencing, Puska was moved into a secure area of the prison under close supervision. Reports later emerged raising concerns about his well-being in custody, including concerns for his safety among other inmates. His family has continued to maintain that he is innocent. >> I would like to pay tribute to Ashley’s family, her mother Catherine, her father Raymond, her sister Amy, brother Calvin, and indeed her boyfriend Ryan.

The courage, the dignity, the resilience, and the strength that they have shown during this ordeal has been exemplary. I want to assure them on behalf of An Garda Síochána that we will continue to support them going forward and give them all the support 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 Ashling was stolen 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. >> [snorts] >> 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 all members of An Garda Síochána who conducted and pieced together a robust and thorough investigation. We wish to formally thank the prosecution legal team, Justice Hunt, and also our family liaison officers, Sergeant Lucy McLoughlin and Detective Garda Alan Burke.

We’d like to also thank the victim support at court team, who were 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 harrowing evidence of this trial was not an easy task, and we’ll 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’s clear just how much Ashling meant to so many people, and how deeply her death outraged not just her small community, but the entire country of Ireland. It sparked important conversations about safety, about education, and about the ongoing fight against violence toward women and girls.

People came together and united in a way that’s rarely seen. Every case like this is devastating in its own right, and every single one ripples outward, affecting countless lives. But every so often, a case becomes so emotionally charged that it moves an entire nation and reaches far beyond its borders, leaving a mark that doesn’t fade.

 Sarah Everard in the UK, Ona Creegal and Jill Meagher in Ireland and Australia, and now Ashling Murphy. Her partner, Ryan, said the hardest thing to come to terms with is that he’ll now have to remember her for longer than he ever actually got to know her. Her sister, Amy, said the whole family is consumed by the same thought, that they weren’t there to save her.

That Ashling had done so much for everybody around her, and yet no one was there when she needed someone most. As the older sister, Amy said, she couldn’t protect Ashling while she was alive, but she can protect her memory now. And as a family, they’ll go on setting the table for five. Thank you for watching this true crime documentary.

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