Jury told teacher Ashling Murphy was dead before paramedics could resuscitate her

A JURY has been told that schoolteacher Ashling Murphy was dead before paramedics could attempt to resuscitate her after she had been found in the undergrowth by the Grand Canal in Tullamore having suffered 12 sharp force wounds to her neck.

Giving evidence this Friday, paramedic Paul McCabe told prosecution counsel Anne-Marie Lawlor SC that when he arrived two gardai were attempting to resuscitate Ms Murphy while she lay on a steep embankment surrounding by briars and thorns.

Mr McCabe, with the aid of a colleague and gardai, lifted Ms Murphy to the footpath. The paramedic cut open her top and attached the pads of a defibrillator to her. 

Her heart had stopped, he said, there were no signs of life and there was "no point using the defibrillator" because she was in a non-shockable condition.

He added: "Ashling was dead at that stage. Her pupils were fixed and dilated, her skin was pale and cold, there were no signs of life." He consulted with his colleagues at the scene and they decided there was "nothing else we could do. So we covered her with a blanket at that stage."

Jozef Puska, aged 33, with an address at Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, County Offaly, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Murphy at Cappincur, Tullamore, County Offaly on January 12, 2022.

Detective Garda Ronan Lawlor told Kevin White BL, for the prosecution, that he attended the scene that evening in his role as a crime scene investigator with the Garda Technical Bureau.

He saw the body of Ms Murphy lying on the ground inside a blue scene preservation tent. She was wearing leggings, a GAA top, white-t-shirt, a scarf, and a gold-coloured necklace that said "Ashling". 

He noticed numerous open wounds on the right side of her neck.

Outside the tent he saw a grey mountain bike with green forks and no grips on the handlebars. To the right of the bike was a pink woolly hat, sunglasses and two Nike runners. The detective placed each item in sealed tamper evident bags and labelled them with his initials. 

Each item was shown to the jury.

The witness said he was also present for Ms Murphy's post mortem and he told Ms Lawlor that he received swabs and DNA samples from the pathologist and gave them to the garda exhibits officer. 

The jury of three women and nine men is this Friday afternoon watching CCTV harvested by gardai from the Tullamore area on the day Ms Murphy died.

Detective Garda David Harney told Ms Lawlor that the footage shows Mr Puska's movements on the day from 12.25pm to 2.05pm.

He said Mr Puska was first seen cycling near his home in Mucklagh, just outside Tullamore, before making his way into the town where he was seen at various locations.

Detective Garda Harney said at one point Mr Puska could be seen travelling in the same direction as a woman on Church Road towards the Tullamore Retail Park.

The trial continues in front of the jury Mr Justice Tony Hunt.