Wife of evil killer Jozef Puska visited him almost every week in prison

Prison sources say Lucia Istokova, 36, forgave him for killing beautiful 23-year-old teacher Ashling Murphy

The wife of evil killer Jozef Puska stood by him from the moment he told her he murdered Ashling Murphy and visited him almost every week in prison, we can reveal.

05:00, 26 Oct 2025

The wife of evil killer Jozef Puska stood by him from the moment he told her he murdered Ashling Murphy and visited him almost every week in prison, we can reveal.

Prison sources say Lucia Istokova, 36, forgave him for killing the beautiful 23-year-old teacher. Puska believes he has a good chance of winning his appeal, which is due to be heard soon. The mother of three, 36, was jailed on Wednesday for withholding crucial information from the Garda about the horrific crime.

Puska admitted to her he killed Ashling but she withheld it from the investigation team. Lucia was a regular visitor to the Midlands Prison, where Puska was serving his life sentence from the moment he was arrested and convicted.

She only passed on the information to gardai two weeks after the murder that shocked the nation. By that stage detectives had a DNA match for Puska and also a part confession from him in hospital. Her lawyers told Lucia’s initial sentencing hearing a few weeks ago her life had imploded by what her partner had done and she wasn’t honest to gardai because she was trying to protect her children.

She was trying to comprehend how the man she believed to be a loving partner and devoted father had revealed to be a killer. But it has now emerged she is standing by her killer husband and visits him at the Midlands Prison every chance she gets.

A prison source said: “She is in and out of here all the time and is a regular face in the visitor rooms. She has made it clear to us that she is standing by her man even if he is locked up for life.