A second suspect has been arrested by police in connection to the assassination of Ashling Murphy, a teacher.
The man, in his 30s, is being held at a police station in the Eastern Region of Ireland on suspicion of withholding information from police.
The arrest came a day following the release of a fellow 31-year old Slovakian from Dublin’s hospital.
According to reports, police believe they will press charges against the man being interrogated in Tullamore where Ashling was shot and killed.
Today is the day to decide whether or not to indict him.
Ashling Murphy was shot to death last Wednesday. Large crowds gathered outside Tullamore church to witness the 23-year-old teacher’s funeral. The family of the deceased displayed numerous treasured photographs, including one from the right.
Pictured is a map that shows where Ms Murphy’s body, known as Fiona’s Way, was discovered along Grand Canal Way. It is named for Fiona Pender who is missing and whose monument is located in Tullamore.
Ashling, who was jogging along Tullamore’s canal paths on January 12th, was strangled to her death. Her body was found that day.
According to police, the victim, who is a 23-year old primary school teacher and a talented musician tried to stop her attacker with a set keys, before she was killed.
Ms Murphy comes from a well-respected family, which is also known for its music.
Investigators issued a call for information, including to hospitals. Doctors were instructed to watch out for any patients with “suspicious” injuries.
This led them to Dublin’s ward, where they found a male with two stab wounds. He claimed that the injuries were from an attack in the west.
Some of the wounds may have been self-inflicted by officers who questioned the suspect and arrested him on Tuesday.
Ashling was also being buried on the day of his arrest. Police said that the officer had to be arrested because he had been discharged from the military and they were worried about losing him.
The man spent the previous five nights in Dublin hospital being treated for injuries on his face and hands. Some of these were self-inflicted, according to police.
The man was brought to the hospital by a relative for treatment of stab wounds he said he sustained during a west Dublin fight. After warning hospitals that suspicious wounds could be found, police were alerted.
When Ashling Murphy’s cortege reached St. Brigid’s Church, mourners walked alongside the hearse and carried her coffin.
Ashling Murphy’s classmates hold photos and red roses at Ashling Murphy’s funeral, which took place in St. Brigid’s Church. County Offaly on January 18th 2022.
As the coffin is being taken from St Brigid’s Church Mountbolus in Co Offaly, family members touch it.
Ashling Murphy’s mother and sister, a 23-year old teacher, were killed while jogging. They arrived at St Brigid’s Church, Mountbolus, near Tullamore to attend her funeral.
Investigators are still gathering evidence for their case and may be taking DNA from the suspect in order to confirm that it is the same DNA as the one found on the crime scene.
This is after Ashling was discovered by police to have used a series of keys in an attempt to defeat her attacker.
Police are believed to have also seized the phones and vehicles of the suspect as well as searched his house.
The murder weapon that Ashling used is still being sought by detectives. They searched Ashling’s canal, where her body was found. A nearby bottle bank has been seized.
Gardaí have also seized a taxi they believe was used to transport the suspect to Dublin from County Offaly in the hours after the murder last Wednesday.
The taxi travelled from Dublin to Tullamore to pick up the suspect, gardaí believe. The suspect’s arrest – the second in this case which has horrified the nation – was confirmed by gardaí shortly after hundreds of mourners attended Ashling’s funeral Mass yesterday.
Investigators are looking for a man seen riding near the scene where Ashling Murphy, a schoolteacher was shot to death, is attempting to find him. According to gardaí, at the time of the attack the suspected killer wore a dark tracksuit with no hood and black tracksuit bottoms with a large, distinctive white stripe (pictured: CCTV still)
Ryan Casey was her broken boyfriend and told the mourners at Ashling’s graveside that Ashling was his ‘greatest love’.
He added, “I’ll cherish these five years together for the rest of my life. God will allow us to be together again and fulfill the amazing plans we have for our lives.
Darling, I say goodbye for now. Ashling will live in every one of our hearts.
A specialist team examines the taxi thought to have taken the suspect to Dublin.
It is one of two cars that gardaí believe the suspect may have travelled in before he appeared at a Dublin hospital. It was also taken from Dublin. The second car is currently being forensically examined.