Richard Satchwell told gardaí he tried to kill himself over wife's domestic abuse of him, court hears

Jurors also heard Mr Satchwell sold Tina’s clothes and gave away a freezer after telling people she was gravely ill abroad

The court was told today that Richard Satchwell (pictured) told people Tina Satchwell was 'very ill' and 'had gone to England for treatment' a month after he allegedly murdered her. File picture

Murder accused Richard Satchwell told gardaí that he tried to kill himself due to domestic abuse he was subjected to by his wife Tina, and described one occasion where he alleged her hands were “black and blue” from hitting him.

In a garda interview when he was arrested on suspicion of her murder on October 10, 2023, two days before her remains were recovered, Mr Satchwell maintained to gardaí that he had come back to their Youghal home on March 20, 2017 to find she was gone.

He also detailed incidents of domestic abuse which he said happened “a few hundred times” during their relationship.

“I’ll repeat again,” he told gardaí. “It’s in many statements already. She’d hit me, throw a plate at me, throw a knife at me, bite me. She’d calm down and apologise for doing it. Did I ever hit her back? No.” 

He said that he would hide in the attic when family were visiting or wouldn’t go to work because he couldn’t turn up “looking the way [he] did” after what had happened.

The 58-year-old, with an address at Grattan St in Youghal, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Tina Satchwell (45), nee Dingivan, at their home between 19 March and 20 March 2017.   

The court has also heard Richard Satchwell sold his wife Tina’s shoes at car boot sales and told people she was “very ill” and “had gone to England for treatment” a month after he allegedly murdered her, a court has heard.

Giving evidence on Thursday, mother and daughter Mary and Julie Crowley said they attended car boot sales where Mr Satchwell was selling items in April and May 2017.

“He said that they’d moved into a house that no one had lived in for 12 years,” Mary Crowley said. “He said she’d gotten a very serious respiratory illness.

“She’d gone to England. The doctor said ‘lucky you came when you did’. I must’ve said to him, what’ll she say when she comes back and you’re flogging her stuff. He said ‘she told me to sell them’.” 

Fellow car boot sale seller Sarah Owens also told the court that she sold items next to Mr Satchwell at one of these sales where he was selling “mainly women’s clothes” along with make-up and accessories.

Ms Owens said Mr Satchwell also told her that his wife was ill because their home had “mould problems” and that she would “never be 100% better”.

Furthermore, the court also heard evidence that an account connected with Mr Satchwell advertised a chest freezer on DoneDeal that was “free to take away”, needed a clean and was giving it away because he needed the space just a few weeks after he said he had last seen her.

It is the prosecution’s case that Mr Satchwell murdered Tina Satchwell in March 2017 and stored her body in a chest freezer for a few days before burying her remains in a shallow grave inside their home.

Previous evidence

This week, the trial has heard evidence from gardaí involved in the investigation prior to his arrest in October 2023.

Supt Ann Marie Twomey has told the court that after she was appointed senior investigating officer in August 2021, she reviewed all the materials and lines of inquiry and formed the view that Tina Satchwell “was not a living person and had met her death through unlawful means”.

She said she could not say why an “invasive” search was not conducted of the Satchwell property in Youghal in June 2017 shortly after Tina was last seen, as she couldn’t answer on what the beliefs or thought processes were of investigators at the time.

The court has also heard that Mr Satchwell was in contact with what appeared to be scammers claiming they could provide him with two marmoset monkeys called Terry and Thelma. The court has heard “substantial” amounts of money were sent to the scammers but no monkeys ever materialised.

On the day Mr Satchwell claimed he last saw her on March 20, 2017, the court has heard he contacted the “international monkey rescue” group to say that he was “in a mess right now because my wife has said she is leaving me over this”.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.