Jozef Puska killed the 23 year old teacher while she was out running near canal, Dublin court told.
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9 November 2023, 14:20 GMT
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Updated 2 minutes ago
A man has been found guilty of the murder of Ashling Murphy in the Republic of Ireland last year.
Ms Murphy, 23, was fatally assaulted while out jogging along the Grand Canal Way near Tullamore in County Offaly on 12 January 2022.
Jozef Puska, 33, from Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, in County Offaly, denied murdering the teacher and folk musician.
He was found guilty by a unanimous jury on Thursday.
Ms Murphy was stabbed repeatedly in the neck during the attack.
The 12-person jury, made up of nine men and three women, took only a few hours to deliberate on their verdict after three weeks of evidence.
Puska wore a grey blazer and open-neck white shirt, and sat silently alongside his translator as the verdict was read out.
The Slovak national had pleaded not guilty, claiming in court he was trying to help Ms Murphy after she had been attacked by another man, who went on to stab him too.
An eyewitness, Jenna Stack, said she saw Ms Murphy’s legs kicking out from underneath Puska as he held her down when she passed by on the canal.
The court also heard Puska admitted killing Ms Murphy while in hospital in Dublin in the presence of garda (Irish police) officers.
This was something the defence later put down to the medication he was on for his stab wounds, as well as a language barrier and unfamiliar surroundings.