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The murder trial of Offaly school teacher Ashling Murphy has heard from an eyewitness that the 23-year-old was “crying out for help” by kicking her legs as hard as she could, as the accused held her down.
It comes after the Central Criminal Court heard on Tuesday how Ms Murphy was stabbed 11 times on the right side of her neck while she was jogging on the Grand Canal in Tullamore on 12 January last year.
The court also heard that Jozef Puska “admitted to murder” when gardaí spoke to him two days after Ms Murphy’s body was discovered, a barrister told the Central Criminal Court.
The killing of the talented traditional musician shocked Ireland, with the broad-daylight murder horrifying people across the country.
On Wednesday, the court heard from various people who were running, cycling and working on the Grand Canal on the afternoon Ms Murphy was fatally assaulted.
A jury of three women and nine men have been appointed in the case, which today heard from a cyclist who was infrared by two joggers that there had been an attack along the Grand Canal. The eyewitness cycled back to the scene and saw a woman lying in the ditch, a court heard.
The trial heard from two women who had agreed to go running together that day – Aoife Marron and Jenna Stack. The two friends gave evidence that they had seen the accused crouched over Ms Murphy in a ditch. Ms Stack said she saw Ashling kicking her legs in what seemed like she was “crying out for help.”
Giving evidence, witness Aoife Marron recounted how herself and her friend, Ms Stack, were running together on the canal, having started running at around 3:12pm. She said that her friend remembered noticing a bike abandoned in the brambles, which seemed strange to her, however the pair kept running until they heard a noise coming from the ditch.
Ms Marron recalled how she looked down, and saw a man there with his head down. Initially, she thought he had fallen from his bike and could be hurt, prompting her to shout down to him, “Are you ok?” He said “Ok, ok” back, according to the witness.
Ms Marron said she and Ms Stack knew instinctively that something was not right, and Ms Stack told him, “I’ve a mobile phone and I’m going to call the gardai.”
She said her friend, Ms Stack, told her, “There was a girl there” however Ms Marron herself had not seen the girl. At this, she said she was terrified and started to run. She told the court that she believed the man was going to follow her.
Ms Stack said in her evidence that she heard “rustling in the hedgerow” while she was running.
“It was like someone was struggling to be honest,” she told the court, adding that she initially believed someone had fallen off their bike.
Although Ms Marron shouted, “Are you ok, do you need help?” the sound continued, leading Ms Marron to tell her friend she believed there was someone there. She said she went closer to the hedge and could see the back of a person wearing what looked like “a navy bomber padded jacket.”
She also said the man seemed to be crouched over another person who appeared to be “holding her down”.
“His face, his teeth were grinding and he shouted ‘get away’,” Ms Stack told the court, calling the experience “terrifying”. She said in total the interaction lasted around 30 seconds.
She asked the man “what are you doing” and in her evidence, she said that the man’s teeth were “kinda grinding” and he had “this kind of facial expression.” She described the man she saw as having dark stubble on his face, a receding hairline, and eyebrows which were “quite distinct.” She later was able to identify the man as Mr. Puska.
“His face, his teeth were grinding and he shouted ‘get away’,” she told the court.
She became emotional as she recalled that she could see Ms Murphy’s legs, and that she was “kicking so hard,” doing “scissor kicks” in the air really high in what seemed like the victim was “crying out for help.” She described Ms Murphy as wearing bright trainers and tracksuit bottoms, and said that she was “strong.”
“The girl, she was lying on the ground, and she was kicking so hard, like she was crying out for help.”
“She was moving whatever part of her body she could to get help,” she said, adding that she had made no sound.
The court was told that the man lunged suddenly towards the women in what seemed like an attempt to scare them, after Ms Stack told him to “get off her” [the victim]. She said herself and Ms Marron ran as fast as they could to look for help as they did not have their phones with them.
Mr Puska’s barrister, Michael Bowman SC, put it to the court that Me Puska could have been trying to assist Ms Murphy. However, responding to this, Ms Stack said if that was the case, “He could have asked us for help.”
The defence barrister also said that his client could not understand what the woman was saying, and claimed he did not intend to be aggressive towards the women, saying that the noise Ms Stack heard was the accused crying out in pain after his leg got trapped in the briars.
Mr Bowman also said his client maintains that Ms Murphy was holding Mr Puska’s forearms as he was “trying to stop the bleeding in her neck.” Ms Stack, who said she could not see Mr Puska’s hands, when asked if she saw that, replied, “No.”
Enda Molloy (33) told the trial on Wednesday that he “saw Ashling lying in the ditch” and that at the time, she was not known to him. He detailed how she was lying face up with her hair over her face.
Giving evidence, Mr Molloy told the court he was cycling along the canal on the afternoon of 12th January when he came across two women, one of whom he knew as Aoife Marron, who were speaking to two men on Digby Bridge.
He said he approached them and the women asked him, “Did you not see? There was a man back there.”
The witness replied by saying he had not seen anything, but Ms Marron and her friend, identified as Jenna Stack, told Mr Molloy that someone had just been attacked.
He said on hearing this, he cycled back to the area and got off his bike. He looked down into the ditch, where he saw Ashling. Mr Molloy said he went down into the ditch slightly and shouted, however, Ms Murphy was motionless. He called the gardai after seeing the woman was unresponsive.
The two Waterways Ireland workers who were approached by the women for help while working on the canal also gave evidence to the court. Colin Petit and Charlie Kelly recalled how Ms Stack and Ms Marron approached them, in an agitated and distressed state.
They said that a girl had been attacked by a man in a ditch, and asked the men to call the gardai. Mr Petit told the court himself and Mr Kelly returned to the canal and saw a body in the brambles.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Tony Hunt.
Comments on this article have been disabled in order to prevent material that may prejudice the right to a fair trial.
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