The jury in the Ashling Murphy murder trial has been sent home for the day and will resume its deliberations tomorrow at 10.30am.
Thirty-three-year-old Jozef Puska, of Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, County Offaly, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of the schoolteacher along the Grand Canal in Tullamore on January 12th 2022.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt sent the jury of nine men and three women to start its deliberations at 3:35 this afternoon.
The jury in Jozef Puska’s murder trial has been sent home for the day.
Deliberations to resume at 10.30am tomorrow.
Mr Puska is accused of murdering Ashling Murphy along the Grand Canal in Tullamore on the 12th of Jan 2022.— Frank Greaney (@FrankGreaney) November 8, 2023
Beforehand, he gave them directions in parts of the evidence the court had heard.
In relation to the confessions, Mr Justice Hunt said to the jurors it is true to say that people have wrongly confessed to things and they have to be assured by prosecution that there is no reasonable doubt about what Mr Puska said.
He added that they must assess if there is no reasonable doubt the DNA profile match of Mr Puska found under Ashling Murphy’s fingernails belongs to someone else, then decide if it is there as a result of a fatal attack or if he was assisting her.
The judge also told the jurors that for inference interviews – that they should assess if Mr Puska offered an explanation to Gardaí in Tullamore Garda Station in relation to the bike found at the scene, the DNA evidence and for his presence at the scene – or if he refused or failed to do so.
Main image: Ashling Murphy.
