Richard Satchwell's account of wife's disappearance and death 'had more holes than Swiss cheese', jury told
“Shamelessly brazen to the very end,” telling “clever lies” which were ultimately “self-serving,” is how murder-accused Richard Satchwell was described by prosecuting counsel in closing arguments in his trial.
Mr Satchwell displayed “conniving actions, full of guile”, and wove “a web of deceit” after burying his wife under a concrete floor in the sitting room of their Youghal home, prosecuting barrister Gerardine Small SC said in the State’s closing speech.
Mr Satchwell, 58, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife Tina Satchwell, nee Dingivan, 45, on March 20, 2017 at their home on 3 Grattan St, Youghal.
He reported her missing on March 24, 2017. Her skeletal remains were found wrapped in plastic and buried beneath a concrete floor under the stairwell in their terraced home in Youghal on October, 11, 2023.
He set up “malicious” motives for his wife “leaving him,” Ms Small said.
She left to get her own back for what he did in 2002 when he left for England for a year, he told gardaí.
He told gardaí his wife had been so violent towards him he had taken an overdose once.
But a GP who he said this was reported to denied any knowledge of this.
She also denied she had seen Mr Satchwell with scratches on his face and vehemently denied the words he attributed to her — that he should either leave the relationship or put up with it.
He told gardaí he imagined his wife would turn up at her aunt or uncles house “with another fella”, or he would receive a registered letter telling him he had to sell the house.
He delivered a "shifting narrative", she said.
When he was interviewed by gardaí on October 11, 2023, as gardaí were beginning an invasive search at the Satchwells' home, he still maintained his narrative that his wife had left him and he did not know where she was.
When gardaí showed him photos of under the stairs — the area he had buried his wife in a shallow grave — he still maintained he was innocent.
When asked by gardaí what he kept under the stairs, he said “bits and pieces”.
“That illustrates how shamelessly brazen Richard Satchwell is, right to the very end," Ms Small said.
But Mrs Satchwell’s decomposed skeletal remains were found and he was then rearrested on October 12, 2023.
“He now knows her body has been found. You would expect this is a road to Damascus moment. But it’s not. Richard Satchwell now embarks on another narrative, another web of deceit," Ms Small said.
“This has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese, it’s laden with discrepancies.” And this, she said, was “ultimately self-serving”.
“Clever lies”, some rooted in fact, others giving intricate details, were told by Mr Satchwell, when he gave multiple interviews to gardaí, and when he spoke to Mrs Satchwell's family, asking them for help in finding his wife, Ms Small said.
He told gardaí he did not know what clothes his wife took “because she has so many”. He gives detail about the breakfast he made that morning — cutting apple and putting it in a bowl with mandarins, grapes and covering them in yogurt.
He gave detail about the silver piping on the suitcases he said went “missing” from the house, Ms Small said.
He also spoke about tragedies and difficulties in Mrs Satchwell’s family which the jury may interpret as being “introduced as a method of distraction, to create a mist, to bring you down a rabbit hole”.
He said his GP Patrick Burke told him he was right not to report his wife missing immediately after her 'disappearance' on March 20, 2017 and to give him some space.
But the jury heard Dr Burke give evidence he would be extremely worried to hear about one half of a couple who were constantly together, even attending medical appointments together, to go missing suddenly.
He denied ever telling Mr Satchwell to give his wife “space”.
Mr Satchwell enrolled in a professional driving course shortly after his wife’s death but did not tell gardaí this. This reflects his state of mind at the time and would show that he was “getting on with his life”, Ms Small said.
The “whole fabricated narrative, the deceit”, continues from 2017, she said.
He makes multiple media appeals to his wife to “come home”.
"He tells TV and radio journalists how much he misses her.
"In an interview with Paschal Sheehy on RTÉ in June, 2017, he said: ‘Tina come home, there's no one mad at you. My arms are open, the pets are missing you like crazy, we need you'."
To convict of murder, the jury must believe there was an intent to kill or cause serious injury beyond reasonable doubt.
To ascertain what Mr Satchwell’s intention was, the jury could infer from his actions, reactions, lies and omissions, Ms Small said.
The manner in which he concealed the body, the fact his narrative changes when Mrs Satchwell’s body was found are some matters than infer intent, she said.
He said his wife threatened to leave him and said she had wasted 28 years of life with him. This could be interpreted as motive, she said.
Mr Satchwell’s immediate actions after the killing could also infer intent, Ms Small said.
“What does he do or doesn’t he do?
“He doesn’t seek any medical help.”
"Very soon after the killing, at 10.42am, he emails the International Monkey Rescue Association saying that he had put a lot of work into procuring two monkeys and his wife was going to leave him as a result as they had not arrived.
“I put to you this is a very calculated move on Richard Satchwell’s part. It’s very deliberate, very reasoned.
“Why is he saying this at 10.42am? Because he is creating a digital footprint that he can avail of later down the line — ‘oh look at this stage I was saying she was going to leave me’.
“I say that is a very deliberate move. I say that’s very significant.” The closing speeches continue.
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