The innocent man who was arrested in relation to Ashling Murphy’s murder and then released without charge was so shocked he thought someone was having him on.
The UK and Ireland have been shaken up by yet another horrific attack against a woman. The 23-year-old primary school teacher was killed while she was running along a canal in Tullamore, Ireland, on Wednesday afternoon.
Radu Floricel, 40, was arrested that night but investigators released him the next day after they learned he had been shopping at the time of the crime.
But photos of Mr Floricel had already been posted on social media and people angry over what happened to
Ashling had sent him and his family death threats.Now, Mr Floricel is looking at suing An Garda Síochána, he told the Irish Daily Mail.
It is understood officers decided to question the dad-of-one, originally from Romania, because he matched the appearance of a cyclist who was captured on CCTV pedaling from the canal into the town-centre just after the murder.
Mr Floricel said: ‘I could see that the guy in the video was bigger than me. He was darker than me, but I could also see that from some certain angle, he kind of looked like me. His hair was different also.
‘I explained all that to them and said that it’s not me but that someone is clearly mistaken because of some similarity.’
He also offered his sympathies to
Ashling’s family, saying: ‘I feel terrible for the misfortune of the young woman and the family. I can’t even imagine what they are going through.’
Mr Floricel had actually been to the canal that day but it had been after
Ashling was attacked.Mr Florical said: ‘I came to the door and two gardaí started asking me all these questions. Where was I today? Was I along the canal? I couldn’t remember exactly at what time I was on the canal. They arrested me then.
‘Really, I thought it was a joke. I looked around, like, thinking this is a prank, someone is doing this for a joke, but then I could see it was real.’
Once Mr Floricel got to Tullamore Garda Station, he was asked whether he had killed
Ashling during several two and three-hour sessions of questioning.His clothes were taken for forensic examination and officers searched for his supposed bicycle – which he did not have.
In fact, Mr Floricel claims he cannot even ride a bike as he has titanium plates in his legs and arms which make it too difficult to peddle.
He told the police a neighbour’s husband had driven him to Centra at around 4pm and the couple confirmed this.
Police also watched Centra’s CCTV and saw that he was in fact in the store at the time he said he was. His credit card transactions also proved this.
Mr Floricel was kept in a holding cell over Wednesday night, where he was only able to get 10 minutes of sleep because officers kept checking on him.
He was questioned again on Thursday – by which time the police had corroborated his alibi, Mr Floricel claims.
He said: ‘There was a huge number of gardaí in the station. They had come down from Dublin and everything. I was really in shock. I couldn’t believe that I was at the centre of this.’
Mr Floricel said officers were ‘professional’ in their questioning, but said they ‘seemed convinced that [he] was the murderer’.
Eventually, Mr Floricel was freed with some officers apparently hugging and thanking the man for his cooperation.
But Mr Floricel could not return to his home, which he shares with his mum and sister, because there were fears over his safety.
The police put him up in a Tullamore hotel while his lawyer, Donal Farrelly, made sure the Garda released a press statement to make it clear Mr Floricel was innocent. Mr Floricel was finally able to go home on Friday.
‘Since [the gardai] arrested me I have been living a nightmare,’ he said.
Mr Floricel’s house was designated as a possible crime scene when he was arrested and everyone was forced to leave.
But his sister Neira, who has mental health issues, refused to leave the house and is now believed to be in prison because of it.
Mr Floricel said: ‘My mother and grandmother are really worried and upset and have been forced to leave our house as well.’
The police said: ‘To protect the integrity of an ongoing criminal investigation An Garda Síochána cannot provide comment.’
It is understood the police have identified a new chief suspect but no arrests have been made.
It comes after thousands gathered to pay tribute to Ashling in several vigils held all over Ireland on Friday.
Ashling’s family were pictured holding each other and lighting candles while friends who used to play music with her performed. Several politicians were there as well.A London vigil was held on Saturday at London Irish Centre in Camden where many people wore shirts and held up signs protesting male violence against women.
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