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DNA matching accused found under Ashling Murphy's fingernails, scientist tells trial

Summary

During the Central Criminal Court hearing, Dr Lorna Flanagan presented DNA evidence linking Jozef Puska to Ashling Murphy's murder. Swabs taken from under Murphy's fingernails yielded a Y‑chromosome profile that matched the Y‑STR profile from Puska's blood and swabs collected when he was in custody at Tullamore Garda Station on 18 January. The probability of an unrelated match was estimated at about one in 14,000. Puska, aged 33, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Murphy, who was killed on 12 January 2022 in Cappincur, Tullamore. The trial is proceeding before Mr Justice Tony Hunt with a jury of nine men and three women. The court has not yet reached a verdict.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: DNA matching accused found under Ashling Murphy's fingernails, scientist tells trial. Charges or matters: murdering Ms Murphy at Cappincur, Tullamore, Co Offaly on January 12th, 2022. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• January 18 Incident
• January 12th, 2022 Other
• January 12 Incident
• January 13 Incident
• January 13th Incident
• January 14th Other
• 2023-10-27 Publication

Why: She explained that those statistics are calculated from a database of western European ethnic groups that includes people from Ireland and as far east as Latvia, Ukraine and Romania. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Trial Violent Crime

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Read the original CNI report