LAST UPDATE | 14 hrs ago

A jury has convicted Jozef Puska’s two brothers of withholding crucial information from gardaí investigating the murder of school teacher Ashling Murphy, while the two men’s wives have also been found guilty of burning the killer’s bloodstained clothes in an effort to obstruct his prosecution.

There were 12 days of pre-trial hearings prior to a jury being sworn to hear the trial, during which each of the accused had the benefit of a senior and junior counsel. During the course of the trial, which began on 19 May, a further three days were taken up with legal arguments and rulings.

All the defendants had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. Lubomir Puska Jnr (38) however, had admitted to gardaí that he lied about not having seen his brother Jozef past 11:30 on the day of the murder, while his wife Viera Gaziova (40) and sister-in-law Jozefina Grundzova (32) told gardai that they had burned clothes.

Jozef Puska (35) murdered Ms Murphy (23) on January 12, 2022, by repeatedly stabbing her in the neck after attacking her while she exercised along the canal towpath outside Tullamore, Co Offaly. He was later convicted of murder and is serving a life sentence.

The Central Criminal Court jury today accepted the prosecution’s case that Jozef Puska’s brothers, Lubomir Jnr and Marek Puska (36), misled gardaí by failing to disclose crucial and vital information when they gave witness statements, while their wives – Viera Gaziova and Jozefina Grundzova – burned Jozef’s clothes to impede his arrest or prosecution.

The 12 jurors unanimously found Josef Puska’s brothers guilty, while his sisters-in-law were found guilty by majority verdicts.

Gaziova was convicted by a majority verdict of 11-1, whilst Grundzova was found guilty by a majority verdict of 10-2.

All four family members were living with Jozef Puska, his wife Lucia, and 14 children at Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly when the offences occurred in January 2022.

It was the State’s case that the two brothers misled gardaí and withheld “crucial, relevant and significant” information when they gave voluntary interviews in Tullamore two days after Ms Murphy’s death.

This included information that Jozef returned home on the night of the murder with visible injuries, admitted to killing or seriously injuring a woman with a knife and subsequently travelled to Dublin.

In her closing speech, prosecutor Anne Marie Lawlor SC told the jury that all the defendants knew what Jozef had done shortly after 9.30pm on the night of the murder. She said Jozef told Lubomir Jnr and Marek, who then relayed it to the others in the house.

Ms Lawlor said in her closing address that the only reason for the withholding of evidence or the burning of clothes was that the defendants didn’t want Jozef to be apprehended or prosecuted for murder.

Jozefina Grundzova and Viera Gaziova leaving the Central Criminal Court in Dublin. irishphotodesk.ie irishphotodesk.ie

The 12 jurors at the Central Criminal Court gave their verdict in relation to the two brothers after deliberating for 13 hours and 40 minutes over five days, before returning again to the courtroom 16 minutes later to reveal their decisions on the charges against the wives of the two brothers.

Following the four verdicts, presiding judge Ms Justice Caroline Biggs thanked the panel of seven men and five women “most sincerely” for their service including their time, energy, dedication and patience.

Addressing the jurors, the judge said that from an early stage in the case it was “very clear to all of us” that they had a grasp of the real issues from the questions they had asked. “You could not have given us and the court process more,” she added.

Excusing the panel from jury service for life, Ms Justice Biggs said: “You have given the State more than enough service in light of what you had to deal with in the last four weeks”.

Following the verdicts, Sean Gillane SC, prosecuting, told the court that there was “another issue” in that Jozef Puska’s wife, Lucia Istokova, had pleaded guilty before the commencement of the trial on May 19.

Istokova (36), the mother of Jozef’s children, had admitted to withholding information from gardai investigating the murder after the pre-trial hearing.

Mr Gillane told the judge that the four defendants could be listed “for mention only” along with Istokova on July 7 and said the court could be updated on reports then.

Ms Justice Biggs agreed to the application and went on to order probation reports for each of the defendants, who were remanded on continuing bail until that date.

The judge informed the jurors that the next stage was “the sentence process”, which she would deal with.

In his closing speech to the jury, defence counsel Karl Finnegan SC said that Marek Puska was entitled to remain silent in his statement to gardai to avoid incriminating himself. Mr Finnegan said there was a real risk that the information his client had could implicate him in an offence of assisting his brother after the murder.

Kathleen Leader SC, for Lubomir Jnr, said her client delayed but did not withhold information. She said he had a reasonable excuse for the delay and said it is understandable that Lubomir Jnr was reluctant to accept that his brother had “committed a truly horrific murder”.

Damien Colgan SC, for Ms Gaziova, told the jury that the “crux of the case” is whether his client knew that Jozef Puska had stabbed Ms Murphy. Her view at that time, Mr Colgan said, was that Jozef had been the victim of an assault. When she was told what Jozef had said he did, she didn’t believe it because she “didn’t believe Jozef was capable of killing anybody”.

In his closing address, Paul Murray SC, for Ms Grundzova, told the jury that when his client burned Puska’s clothes, she did not have any of the evidence that would later prove Jozef’s guilt.

Lubomir Puska Jnr was charged with withholding information by failing, without reasonable excuse, to tell a member of An Garda Siochana as soon as was practicable that Jozef Puska returned home to Mucklagh on the night of 12 January, 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.

Marek Puska was 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 was 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.

The offences were charged under the Offences Against the State, Amendment Act 1988.

Jozefina Grundzova and Viera Gaziova were 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.

Those offences were charged under the Criminal Law Act 1997.

The jury originally began their deliberations last Wednesday, but an amendment was made to the indictment the following day to read that they knew he had committed “the murder of Ashling Murphy” or some other arrestable offence.