Two brothers of convicted murderer Jozef Puska, along with their wives, have been found guilty of charges connected with their actions in the aftermath of the murder of teacher Ashling Murphy in 2022.
Marek Puska and Lubomir Puska Jr were convicted of withholding information knowing it might be of material assistance in securing their brother's prosecution.
Their wives Jozefina Grundzova and Viera Gaziova were found guilty of burning Jozef Puska's clothes in an effort to impede his prosecution.
Jozef Puska's wife Lucia Istokova pleaded guilty just before the trial started to withholding information including the fact that Puska arrived home with visible injuries, that he admitted killing or seriously injuring a woman with a knife, and that he owned a bicycle the gardaí were interested in.
This plea could not be reported until now, to ensure a fair trial for the other members of the family.
All five were remanded on continuing bail. The case will be mentioned on 7 July when a sentence date will be fixed.
Ms Murphy's parents, Kathleen and Ray, along with her sister Amy and brother Cathal, returned to the Central Criminal Court for the final days of this case and were welcomed by the trial judge, Ms Justice Caroline Biggs.
Ms Murphy was stabbed to death by Jozef Puska in a random attack on the afternoon of 12 January 2022, while she was out walking along the Grand Canal near her home in Tullamore, Co Offaly.
Puska had followed two other women earlier that day.
His claim during his trial in 2023, that Ms Murphy was killed by another random man was described as farcical and the jury at his trial did not believe it.
After murdering Ms Murphy, Puska returned home to the house he shared in Mucklagh, near Tullamore, with his wife and their children as well as his two brothers and their families.
His brother, Marek, was accused of withholding information about Puska’s visible injuries on the night and the fact that his brother had admitted killing or seriously injuring a female with a knife.
Lubomir Puska Jr was charged with failing to tell gardaí as soon as practicable that his brother returned home that night with injuries and that he admitted cutting a woman with a knife.
He also failed to disclose that Jozef Puska travelled to Dublin later that night.
The brothers’ wives, Grundzova and Gaziova were accused of burning Jozef Puska’s clothes between 12-14 January, intending to impede his arrest or prosecution.
The prosecution alleged the brothers knew what Puska had done, and their wives knew why they were burning his clothes and that they had no reasonable excuse for their actions.
The jury heard that protecting Puska or the wider family was not, legally, a reasonable excuse.
Defence lawyers said the men were worried about incriminating themselves.
The court was also told, at the time the two women burned the clothes they could not have known and did not believe Puska murdered Ms Murphy.
After deliberating for almost 14 hours, the jury unanimously found Marek and Lubomir Puska Jr guilty.
They found Grundzova and Gaziova guilty by majority verdicts.
