The wife, brothers and sisters-in-law of Ashling Murphy’s killer Jozef Puska have been sentenced for terms spanning from 20 months to two and a half years for offences connected to the 23-year-old teacher’s murder.
Ms Murphy, a talented traditional musician and much-loved primary school teacher, was stabbed to death by Puska while running on the Grand Canal in Cappincur, Tullamore, Co Offaly, on January 12, 2022. Ms Murphy’s father, mother, brother, sister, and boyfriend Ryan Casey were all in court today.
On Wednesday at the Central Criminal Court, Jozef Puska’s wife Lucia Istokova was sentenced alongside the killer’s brothers Lubomir Puska, (38) and Marek Puska (36) along with their wives Viera Gaziova (40) and Jozefina Grundzova (32) for their roles in withholding information that could have led to Puska’s prosecution. Justice Caroline Biggs said that a “collective decision” had been made to withhold information, saying it was “far too much of a coincidence” that information which was left out in early interactions with Gardaí was later disclosed.
Marek Puska and Lubomir Puska Jr were convicted of withholding information from Gardaí. The brothers received a sentence of two-and-a-half years each. The maximum sentence for such an offence is five years.
Jozef Puska’s wife Lucia Istokova, who was also convicted of withholding information, was sentenced to 20 months in jail (six months suspended). The sentencing hearing heard that Puska told his wife, “I didn’t mean to kill the girl” within hours of the murder, for which he is serving a life sentence.
Jozefina Grudzova, a sister in law of Puska, was given a 21 month sentence (six months suspended), while Viera Gaziova, another sister in law, was handed a 2.5 year sentence (with a six month suspension). Both were found guilty of assisting an offender by burning his clothes after he murdered Ms Murphy. This offence carries a maximum sentence of ten years.
It was accepted that the clothes had been burnt and that the ashes were put down the sink.
“Everything was destroyed,” the court heard, with none of Puska’s blood-stained clothing found when the house where the families lived was searched.
Six months of each of the three women’s sentences were suspended because the judge accepted a psychologist’s report which said that the women “did what they were told” in Roma culture.
ASHLING IS ‘THE FIRST THOUGHT THAT COMES TO MY MIND EVERY MORNING’
Prior to sentencing, Ashling Murphy’s loved ones delivered victim impact statements, with her father saying that Ashling is “the first thought that comes to my mind every morning and the last thought every night.”
In her sentencing remarks, Ms. Justice Caroline Biggs thanked the family for respecting what she described as a difficult process, saying she acknowledged and was “acutely aware” of both “how powerless I am” – and how powerless the justice system is – in relation to easing the family’s pain and suffering, which she said was “unspeakable and unquantifiable.”
“I can only express my deep gratitude to you as a family for partaking in this process,” Justice Biggs said, expressing deep gratitude to the family for respecting the process. She also said she apologised to the Murphy family if the system and process had in “any way worsened or exacerbated” the pain they were already suffering.
‘CULTURAL NORMS’ MITIGATING FACTOR
Justice Biggs said that a factor in partly suspending the sentences handed down to female family members was due to psychological reports that showed that while the women were not coerced into their actions, they were clearly viewed in their culture as being “subordinate and subservient to men.” She said the views held the offenders would be seen as “reprehensible” by many members of Irish society.
The psychological report, she said, suggested that there were “cultural norms” at play which shaped the role of the women involved. The court heard that neither Viera nor Jozefina questioned “instructions” that had “come from Dublin,” from male members of the family (either Jozef Puska himself, or his father) – with the judge stating that Roma culture had an impact upon their decision making. The court heard that the women had “limited power and autonomy” over their own decision making, which was given as a mitigating factor. Due to Roma culture, the females in the Puska family found themselves “isolated” from the wider community.
“They were told to do it and they did it,” Justice Biggs said, adding that the women had “very limited education,” did not work outside the family home, and had no exposure to friends or anyone outside of their husbands’ families. The judge said it “wouldn’t be right” for her to ignore those factors in sentencing.
The court heard that custodial sentences would be “more difficult” for the women given that they are foreigners, and despite having been in Ireland for ten years – they have some level of English – their English remains limited.
‘IT FELT DEEPLY INSULTING TO ASHLING, TO OUR PARENTS’
In her victim impact statement, Amy Murphy spoke of the Murphy family feeling “gaslit” when barristers for the accused described their clients as wanting to educate their children and holding family values.
“How dare they speak those words?” she said. “Words they clearly don’t live by and that their actions completely contradict,” she added, as she referred to the “staggering” public cost of paying for legal teams when the money could have been spent on “vital and underfunded services across Ireland”.
“Our parents worked incredibly hard to provide for us, to ensure we were educated and to instil in us a strong work ethic, integrity and moral responsibility. To sit there and hear those values twisted and used in defence of people who have demonstrated none of those qualities was infuriating.
“It felt deeply insulting to Ashling, to our parents and to everything decent families stand for,” Amy Murphy said.
Ms Murphy referred to psychological reports stating that in Roma culture, there existed an expectation on men to provide economically. At this point, she asked Marek and Lubomir Puska and asked why they had not worked since coming to Ireland.
She said that her feelings of frustration were shared by “countless hardworking people who contribute honestly to this country.”
Ms Murphy said that all five family members had made the deliberate choice to lie to Gardaí, as well as to destroy evidence and withhold information. She said that since her sister’s death, the most persistent emotion she has felt has been anger. Since Ashling’s passing, her family’s lives had been stripped of “joy, colour and meaning,” Ms Murphy said, adding that what was left was “survival” and “nothing more.”
Ashling Murphy’s father, Ray, said in his victim impact statement that the loss of Ashling could not be measured physically, emotionally or financially, adding that: “She could never be replaced.” He recalled how she was just three years old when she received a pink plastic fiddle from Santa which played nursery rhymes and inspired her love of music.
“Ashling always told me that she intended to give that toy fiddle she cherished so much as a child to her own children one day, so they too could play with it and find a love of music,” his statement, read by Garda Alan Burke, said.
“But that will never happen now. It will forever remain in her bedroom, frozen in time and unplayed by children Ashling can never have.”
Mr Murphy said that the Puskas had done nothing for Ireland, apart from damaging it beyond repair, saying that they had built their life here on a foundation of taking but never giving back in return. He further said that the family members in question had done everything possible to conceal what they knew and to destroy evidence in the hopes that the Murphy family would never receive justice or closure. He said this could have led to a situation where Jozef Puska could possibly have been able “to do this all over again to another innocent family.”
He asked the Puska family what their legacy was, saying that his daughter’s was one of beauty, kindness, compassion, talent, love and innocence.