The Ashling Murphy murder trial has heard from two Gardaí who attended the scene of where her body was found.
33-year-old Jozef Puska, of Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co. Offaly, denies the murder of the schoolteacher along the Grand Canal in Tullamore on January 12th, 2022.
Garda Tom Dunne from Tullamore Garda Station says he received a call at around 3:35PM on January 12th – from a man who was described as sounding very distressed.
He and his colleague Garda Shane Hunter made their way to the scene, where Garda Dunne said the body of Ashling Murphy was in a ditch along the Grand Canal.
He said she was wearing a jacket, which he unzipped so he could apply CPR and chest compressions.
He said the two Gardai alternated applying chest compressions for about 10 minutes until Ambulance personnel arrived.
The court heard Ms Murphy was found with a phone in her pocket, along with with keys to a SEAT car and a necklace around her neck which said ‘Ashling’.
Garda Hunter in his evidence said he noticed thin lacerations on Ms Murphy’s neck, and that he recovered her phone from an open pocket.
Earlier the jury of 9 men and 3 women heard from a woman named Emma Doyle, who was out for a run along the grand canal on that date.
She described a woman coming around the corner, followed by a man on a bicycle in close proximity, who then proceeded to overtake her.
