Jozef Puska’s brother denied to gardaí that he told someone to dispose of the knife used to murder schoolteacher Ashling Murphy, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
The jury also heard Lubomir Puska jnr (37) denied he asked anyone to dispose of the clothes Jozef Puska wore when he murdered Ms Murphy.
Jozef Puska (35) attacked Ms Murphy (23) on the canal towpath at Cappincur in Tullamore on January 12th, 2022. She died having suffered 12 sharp force injuries to her neck, 11 of which were stab wounds. He was convicted of her murder.
His brothers Lubomir Puska jnr and Marek Puska (36) are charged with withholding information while knowing or believing it might materially assist in apprehending, prosecuting or convicting Jozef Puska for a serious offence.
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Both men have pleaded not guilty.
Jozefina Grundzova (31), who is married to Marek Puska, and Viera Gaziova (38), who is married to Lubomir Puska jnr, are accused of assisting in burning clothing without reasonable excuse, intending to impede the apprehension or prosecution of Jozef Puska, knowing or believing him to have committed murder or a similar arrestable offence.
They have pleaded not guilty.
All the accused have an address at Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Tullamore, Co Offaly.
The jury previously heard Lubomir Puska jnr said in his first statement to gardaí that he saw his brother Jozef Puska in the early afternoon on the day of the murder. He seemed “a bit sad, not in a good mood”, Lubomir Puska jnr said.
However, he later returned to the Garda station and apologised for lying, saying Jozef Puska arrived home on the night of January 12th looking like he had been struck on the forehead.
The jury on Wednesday watched video footage of Lubomir Puska jnr’s interview with gardaí on January 18th, 2022, in which he said he returned home on the day of the murder to find his brother Jozef Puska looking “like he was beaten by someone”.
Through a Slovakian interpreter, Lubomir Puska jnr said Jozef Puska was “swollen on the forehead” and his cheek was red like he had been scraped. He said his brother had “a weird walk, kind of broken”.
He told gardaí his brother, who was just out of the shower, opened his towel to reveal three stab wounds.
He told gardaí he asked Jozef Puska what had happened to him, and his brother replied that he had wanted to kill himself and had done a “horrendous thing”.
“He said when he was stabbing himself, there was a girl running or exercising, she went towards him,” the accused told gardaí. “She said: ‘What are you doing? Don’t do it, you are too young.’ He said to her, ‘Leave me alone, it’s my life, my business.’”
The accused said Jozef Puska “probably wanted to push her away to leave him alone”, but he thought he “cut her”.
After telling the gardaí this, the accused said it had been “very heavy, very hard to say”.
He told gardaí he could not believe what his brother was telling him, so he asked him again what he had done. He said his brother told him: “I don’t know whether I hurt her so much, but I think I did ... it must have been an accident, I didn’t want to do this, but I just switched my hand as she was coming near me.”
The accused said he told his brother to tell their parents immediately what he had done, to which Jozef Puska said he would tell them after they brought him to Dublin. The accused said he told his brother “don’t make any secrets”.
The trial continues on Thursday before Ms Justice Caroline Biggs and a jury of seven men and five women.
