Ashling Murphy: man charged in connection with teacher’s killing

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A man has been charged in connection with the killing of Ashling Murphy in Ireland.

The 23-year-old schoolteacher was allegedly attacked and strangled while out jogging on a canal path near Tullamore in the Irish midlands last Wednesday.

Garda? said a man, named in reports as 31-year-old Jozef Puska, was brought before a special sitting of Tullamore district court on Wednesday evening. He was remanded into custody at Cloverhill prison following the appearance.

They had not released details of the offences with which he had been charged as of last night. A second man, who was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of withholding information from the police, was released without charge.

Garda? say a file will be prepared for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

A man was arrested on Tuesday during the funeral of Murphy after being discharged from hospital in Dublin. He has not been named by police but was believed to have had links with Offaly, where Murphy lived, and Dublin.

Murphy, 23, was killed on 12 January as she jogged along the banks of a canal in what was described as a “depraved act of violence” by the bishop of Meath a “depraved act of violence”.

A patch along the canal path has been sealed off by garda?, who are searching the area. They have searched nearby bottle and clothing banks and two houses of interest for potential evidence. They are also examining a Falcon Storm mountain bike that appeared abandoned near the scene of the attack, and seized two cars.