Tina Satchwell's murder: Why did it take gardaí so long to find her remains?
There were versions of Tina Satchwell (pictured) presented at this trial. The dog lover. The avid swimmer. The shopper with an eye for a bargain at car boot sales. Much of it from Richard Satchwell. Speaking outside the court after the verdict, Ms Satchwell's family changed the narrative. File picture
Richard Satchwell, who buried his wife Tina in a shallow grave under the stairs of their Youghal home, showed little emotion as he was found guilty of her murder at the Central Criminal Court.
The 58-year-old from Leicester in England placed his head in his hand after the verdict of the five men and seven women of the jury was given following nine hours and 28 minutes of deliberations.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott will issue the sentence next Wednesday, June 4. Mr Satchwell faces mandatory life imprisonment. On that date, the Dingivan family will have an opportunity to make a statement to the court about the impact Tina's death has had on their lives.
As the verdict was read to the court just after 12.25pm on Friday, members of Tina Satchwell’s family wept as did some members of the jury.
The limited reaction from Mr Satchwell, dressed in a navy jumper and navy slacks, matched his demeanour during much of the 23-day trial in court room six of Dublin’s Criminal Courts of Justice.
He had pleaded not guilty to murdering his 45-year-old wife Tina - nee Dingivan - at their home address at Grattan Street, Youghal, Co Cork between 19 and 20 March 2017, both dates inclusive.
There were three verdicts the jury panel could return in relation to the murder charge against him namely; guilty of murder, not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter or not guilty.
They disagreed with the defence position that, although Satchwell had lied "to the people of Ireland", the lies did not make him a murderer or relieved the prosecution of the burden of proving the ingredients of murder.
For six years, Richard Satchwell had maintained that he had returned home from shopping on Monday, March 20, 2017, to find Tina had vanished, along with two suitcases and a sum of cash.
Mr Satchwell gave numerous media interviews after reporting Tina missing, telling journalists that he had “never laid a finger” on his wife and pleading with her to come home.
He was well-known to every newsroom in the country, to the point of it often appearing odd how willing he was to speak day and night about his wife.
There had been intense interest in the case from the very start, when Tina Satchwell had been considered missing, in no small part to Richard Satchwell putting himself front and centre of all this.
Given how purposefully high profile he had made the case, it was little surprise to see such intense media scrutiny and public interest in the murder case. Members of the public travelled far and wide to attend each day in court.
The public gallery was packed for the verdict, dozens of people appearing at a flash when word had gone around that the jury had come in.
Another important facet of the case is how it came to be that Ms Satchwell lay there undiscovered for many years.
It was not until Supt Ann Marie Twomey was appointed senior investigating officer in August 2021 that the investigation accelerated. She told the court that she formed the opinion that there were “reasonable grounds to believe Tina Satchwell was not a living person and had met her death through unlawful means”.
Supt Twomey and Detective Garda Dave Kelleher, and colleagues, ramped up the investigation to the point where they were in a position to arrest Mr Satchwell for murder and find Ms Satchwell's remains in October 2023. But a question that went unanswered in this trial was why it took gardaí so long.
For instance, when gardaí first searched the Youghal home in June 2017, Tina Satchwell was already buried underneath the stairs there.
Mr Satchwell's devices were seized, and Detective Garda Kelleher would tell the court he found a google search for "quicklime", used to hide the odour of decomposing bodies, and location data suggesting Richard Satchwell's account of his movements on the day he claimed Tina went missing didn't quite add up with where his phone said he was.
This was discovered many years after Ms Satchwell was reported missing and formed key bits of evidence at this murder trial. This was information available back in 2017 but Ms Satchwell was not discovered until six years had passed.
So many details were heard in this trial, from the couple attempting to purchase a monkey online from what were clearly scammers to Mr Satchwell’s offering of the chest freezer in which he had originally placed Tina’s body to her cousin.
There were versions of Tina Satchwell presented at this trial. The dog lover. The avid swimmer. The shopper with an eye for a bargain at car boot sales. The “abuser” who regularly was violent towards her husband.
But so much of what we heard of her at this trial was Richard Satchwell’s version of her, including that she had been violent towards him. This version of her was created by the man who had killed her.
He was telling people - anyone and everyone who would listen - how much he wanted her to come home when she’d never left it. Her body was buried there. After he had murdered her.
Speaking outside the court after the verdict, Ms Satchwell's family changed the narrative.
Her cousin Sarah Howard said that during the trial Tina was “portrayed in a way that is not true to who she was”.
“Tina was our precious sister, cousin, auntie and daughter,” Ms Howard said.
“Her presence in our lives meant so much to us all. We as a family can never put into words the impact her loss has had on us.
"Today as a family we finally have justice for Tina and at this time our family would like to ask for privacy to begin our healing.”
Through his media interviews and garda statements, Richard Satchwell was trying to have the last word on his wife.
This guilty verdict ensures he won’t.
He will be sentenced next week.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
