Five Of Josef's Puska's Family Members Have Been Jailed For Their Roles In Ashling Murphy's Murder

Wednesday, 22 October 2025 14:15

By Emma O'Connor

It's understood, they kept crucial information from detectives.

Five of Jozef Puska’s family members, including his wife and brothers, have been jailed for their roles in frustrating the investigation into Ashling Murphy’s murder

They did so by either keeping crucial information from the detectives or by burning the clothes Jozef Puska was wearing when he murdered the young schoolteacher.

During her initial dealings with gardai, Jozef Puska’s wife, Lucia Istokova, failed to disclose that he had returned home with visible injuries on the night of the murder.

She also didn’t reveal that her husband later travelled to Dublin; that he owned a bike found at the crime scene; and that he told her he had stabbed a woman.

For withholding that information, she was jailed today for 20-months.

Jozef Puska’s brothers, Marek and Lubomir, were each handed sentences of 2.5 years for also withholding information during the early stages of the investigation.

Marek’s wife, Jozefina Grundzova, was jailed for 21-months for burning Jozef Puska’s clothes; while Lubomir’s wife, Viera Gazoiva, got two years for the same offence.

In his victim impact statement, Ashling Murphy’s father, Ray, condemned those before the court for protecting his daughter’s killer, instead of doing the right thing.

Her sister, Amy, also condemned their actions, saying they had shown no honesty, accountability or remorse.