Chilling pictures show evil Jozef Puska prowling on his bike hours before he brutally murdered teacher Ashling Murphy

EVIL Jozef Puska is caught on CCTV prowling around Tullamore on his bicycle in the hours before he brutally murdered Ashling Murphy.

The monster was seen following other women after leaving a property earlier on the day Ashling was horrifically killed.

Ashling was stabbed 11 times in the neck by the married dad of five in an unprovoked attack along the Grand Canal Way, near Tullamore, Co Offaly, on January 12, 2022.

Puska — who now begins his life sentence for the horrific killing — is also suspected of assaulting another woman in the UK but was never convicted of this. ­

During his time in Ireland, he had never come to the attention of the Gardai and was “under the radar”.

But detectives believe the beast left his home on his bike on January 12 to fulfil desires he had been harbouring to murder a woman after they examined his behaviour on a dating site.

One investigator told us: “There is no question that he was on this app as part of his attempts to fulfil his desire to murder a woman.

“This was nothing more than an opportunistic attack by someone who wanted to kill any woman.

As part of the Garda case against Puska, they captured him on CCTV from the moment he left the property he shared with 24 other people.

After leaving the pad, the killer roamed around Tullamore looking for victims.

He was captured on CCTV cycling slowly behind other women.

Cops believe he didn’t target the other women because there were people in the area at the time.

ASHLING BRAVELY FOUGHT FOR HER LIFE

And they suspect he targeted Ashling because she was running in a place that was out of sight from residential areas.

During his ferocious attack, she put up a brave fight for her life and captured the psycho’s DNA in her fingernails.

But she didn’t stand a chance when the coward stabbed her repeatedly in the neck.

The investigator said: “Following the attack, rumours also spread that Ashling may have known ­Puskas from her time as a teacher.

“But this is completely untrue and the pair had never met. Gardai confirmed that Puskas was a ­complete stranger to Ashling.”

They added: “She never knew him and this was a completely ­random attack.

“The only thing that precipitated this interaction was Puskas’ hatred for women and his desire to kill a woman.

"This was a completely unprovoked attack on an innocent young woman who was in the prime of her life.”

PUSKA COULD NOT EXPLAIN ACTIONS

Puska pleaded not guilty and tried to claim in court that another man in a Covid mask had attacked Ashling before he tried to help.

But the liar could not explain his actions when interviewed by specialist officers from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal investigation following his arrest.

The investigator also said: “He couldn’t explain the CCTV images which clearly showed him cycling very slowly behind other women that day. You don’t cycle behind someone for the length of time that he did if you aren’t planning ­something sinister.

“He made a real effort not to cycle past the women he met that day and thankfully Gardai were not dealing with other victims.

"Puskas was also claiming disability allowance but he was able to use physical violence and overpower an innocent woman.

“When he was arrested he was only concerned for his own family and if he did come across someone else murdering Ashling, why didn’t he raise the alarm?

“He was sneering, he was arrogant, he was dismissive and simply didn’t care about Ashling or her family when he was questioned.”

'EVIL INDIVIDUAL'

They added: “The Garda team involved in bringing him to justice have been involved in some horrific cases but he is without question one of the most evil individuals they have ever come across.

“This man should never be released from prison because he’ll always have that capacity to kill.”

Following Ashling’s murder, ­Puskas travelled to Dublin and ­presented himself to St James’s ­Hospital.

He claimed he had been the victim of a stabbing by two men in Blanchardstown but officers could not identify any incident, crime scene or suspect.

BIZARRE STORY TO COVER TRACKS

At the time, gardai believed his facial injuries and head injuries may have been self-inflicted.

But cops now know he received the cuts as Ashling desperately tried to save her life.

He spent five days in hospital before gardai were given the green light to quiz him.

One source said: “He tried to concoct this bizarre story that he had been attacked. It was another pathetic attempt to cover his tracks over a brutal murder.

“His story just didn’t add up and once he was interviewed there was so much evidence against him.”

The Irish Sun also obtained an exclusive image of his arrest, below, at the hospital by detectives.

GARDA EVIDENCE

After Puska was lifted, two ­properties linked to the suspect were searched, while phones and cars were also seized by detectives.

He was arrested on the same day that Ashling was laid to rest by his devastated family.

Although Puska was prowling Tullamore on a bike, he also had access to a number of cars.

And by the time Puskas was in hospital, cops had already gathered DNA evidence, CCTV images and witness statements.

Forensic evidence was also recovered from Puskas’ Falcon Storm mountain bike.

At the time, Gardai posted an image of the bike appealing for information on its movements.

As part of the major probe, investigators also worked closely with interpol and Slovakian police.

The case was one of 13 murder investigations where officers from the GNBCI provided support to their colleagues across the country.