Behind the Story: Inside Richard Satchwell's murder trial
The latest episode of Behind the Story looks at Richard Satchwell, who was found guilty of murdering his wife Tina earlier today.
Fran and Katie are joined by RTÉ's Legal Affairs Correspondent Orla O'Donnell and Prime Time's Barry Cummins to reveal the inside story of the case.
Back in 2017, Satchwell had claimed Tina was missing and made public pleas for her to come home.
It was only the first of a flurry of lies that would continue right through his court appearances over the past weeks.
Barry interviewed and met Satchwell on many occasions and he discusses his impressions of him and what it was like to interview inside the house where he and Tina lived.
Orla gives an insight into what it was like attending the trial at the Central Criminal Court over the past five weeks.
You can listen to their analysis on the situation on Behind the Story which is available on the RTÉ Radio Player.
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Sunday World
10 hours ago
- Sunday World
Heartless killer Richard Satchwell romanced other women as wife's body lay under his stairs
A key witness has come forward with damning evidence A key witness has come forward with damning evidence which reveals the heartless fiend was wining and dining his lover while tragic Tina lay for hidden for years without a proper burial. 'She was in or around his own age group, maybe a year two older,' reveals a taxi driver in Galway city, who met up with them over six years ago. 'She had prominent teeth. I won't call them buck teeth but they'd strike you when you'd look at her. She didn't give her name. ' The driver, who wants to remain unidentified but is a trusted Sunday World source, can pinpoint when he met Satchwell and his lover. 'It was on a Thursday evening about two years after she went missing,' he recalls. 'Tina went missing in 2017, and I had this guy with me in I believe 2019, it was a Thursday evening in February about 6.30pm 'I dropped some people at Jurys Inn (now Leonardo hotel). I went out to use the bathroom at the bar and saw this guy waiting about five minutes he approached me and he said 'would you mind drop us out to Salthill'?' Flowers at Tina's house He then clicked the man in the English accent who he was making arrangements with while they sat into his car. 'I knew who he was on the spot but I pretended to be stupid, as I wanted to suss him out,' he explains. 'I kind of played along and said 'are you on holidays, are you visiting?'. He replied in his English accent 'yeah, we're just up for a few days'. 'I said 'are youse from the city, I know Cork very well, I used to work for a company down there'. 'No,' he said, 'I'm from Youghal.' ''And yourself?', I asked her ''I'm from ***** in west Cork, like you know' she replied (the Sunday World is keeping the name of the village secret for now).' Richard Satchwell News in 90 Seconds - June 1st The driver said he remembered the name of the place she lived because he grew up in different area with the same name. The taxi-man said he could see the pair were clearly a couple. 'There was a lot of touchy feely stuff going on between them,' he confirms. It was more than just friends, there was definitely a relationship.' He describes the woman as 'a lovely lady'. 'They were staying in The Salthill Hotel, but they asked to be dropped along by the amusement centre on the promenade just before the hotel,' he remembers. He admits at the time he speculated as to how long they were together. 'I got the impression they were together for a good while and there's a possibility they may have been seeing each other before the wife ever went missing,' he ponders. 'After I dropped them off I... rang Salthill station and one of the Guards there rang me back and they took it very seriously. 'The next day I did an interview with a senior Guard from Cobh, which I think was the main station dealing with the case. 'There was no banter whatsoever from him, it was strictly business and he wanted to know every detail of what Satchwell and the woman were up to and where they were going. He had the [hotel] CCTV footage himself after it being downloaded.' He assumes the Guards did try to find the woman. 'I'd be guessing they would have tried to track her down. But she wasn't doing anything wrong, and he didn't seem to be at the time either,' he says.
Irish Daily Mirror
13 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Evil killer Richard Satchwell abandoned by family and friends since 2023 arrest
Devious killer Richard Satchwell has been given the cold shoulder by his family and friends. He has had no visitors in prison, apart from his legal team, since his arrest in October 2023 over the horrific murder of his wife Tina. The former truck driver had no support from anyone during his trial as the handful of people he knew in his adopted Youghal, Co. Cork and relatives disowned him. The 58 year old from Leicester in England was initially held in Limerick Prison for more than 18 months while he waited to stand trial. He was then transferred to Wheatfield Prison for the duration of the five week murder trial. A prison source said: "He was a model prisoner in Limerick, very courteous, very polite. He was your typical middle class Englishman, with good manners and never raising his voice. "He never commented on the case and kept his thoughts to himself. No-one came to visit him apart from his professional legal team. I can honestly say he doesn't seem to have a friend in the outside world. I suppose it is not surprising when you consider what he did and how he covered up his wife's murder for eight or nine years. "Normally you would have a family member calling to see a fella like him but not one relative called to see him. He won't give us any trouble when he is doing his time. He got on well with the other inmates here and largely kept himself to himself." Following his murder conviction on Friday, Satchwell was returned back to Wheatfield and will stay there until he receives his automatic life sentence in a few weeks. His late wife's family are expected to submit victim impact statements to the court. Prison sources say he will be moved to Mountjoy for one night after his sentencing and will then more than likely be returned to Limerick to serve his life sentence which will probably be at least 20 years. The source added: "He will be an old man if and when he ever gets out of here. It was cruel what he did, pretending his wife was missing and had run off with another man when he had killed her." A spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service said it does not comment on individual prisoner cases. Evil Satchwell buried his beautiful blonde wife under the floor of the staircase in their home after he killed her. The jury didn't accept his story that he took her life in an act of self defence.
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- The Irish Sun
‘Master of manipulation' Richard Satchwell planned Tina's murder for months as ‘alibi mode' & kill plot details revealed
EVIL killer Richard Satchwell spent MONTHS planning his wife's murder, The Irish Sun can reveal. Cops believe the monster hatched his Advertisement 4 Richard Satchwell spent months planning his wife's murder Credit: John Delea - The Sun Dublin 4 Tina Satchwell's body was buried under the stairs of her Cork home Credit: Collect 4 Richard Satchwell was found guilty of murdering his wife Detectives also suspect his decision to tell At the time, Satchwell claimed his wife had taken €26,000 from the sale of a He then sent an email to a company selling monkeys claiming his wife was going to leave him. He also collected his dole. The maniac was even looking for Advertisement READ MORE IN IRISH NEWS He then buried Tina under the stairs of their home in Youghal, Co One senior investigator told The Irish Sun on Sunday: 'The speed with which he flew into alibi mode would suggest a certain degree of planning in this horrific crime. 'He did a number of things very quickly and he put a lot of things into action after killing his wife. 'Once he had completed the murder, he then had a story in place about the Advertisement Most read in The Irish Sun Breaking 'He was also a great actor and had everything planned for the sole purpose of avoiding being arrested for the murder of a completely innocent woman. 'He had to have a strategy and that was playing the victim. He was a master of manipulation.' 'LACKED EMPATHY' They added: 'He showed elements where he lacked empathy with her After she was formally reported missing in May 2017 by the killer, Gardai soon established that she had no bank account, driving licence or even a passport. Advertisement At the time, Gardai had engaged with the killer and encouraged him to officially report her missing. As they made public appeals, there were reported sightings of a woman matching Tina's description in the REPORTED SIGHTING We can reveal one of the sightings was made by a journalist. When Gardai were unable to identify her location, the decision was made to search their home on June 7, 2017. At that time, the search was aimed at recovering evidence of domestic violence. Advertisement Satchwell told Gardai at the time she had been abusive to him, but that he had a bottle of Cava in one of her red shoes ready for her return. Detectives also believed he 'grew in confidence' after the search did not recover Tina's remains. 'ENJOYED BEING IN THE SPOTLIGHT' The investigator added: 'Each time there was a search or a reported sighting of Tina, he grew in confidence because he knew all along she was under the stairs. 'He enjoyed being in the spotlight and it excited him. Gardai were dealing with a lot of sightings. Advertisement 'Cops weren't searching for a body because there was no evidence at that time to suggest she was dead. 'Gardai also had no basis in law or evidence to search for a body.' Gardai also suspect Satchwell was paranoid and wrongly believed Tina was having an affair. She had also gone from living in a nice house in Fermoy to squalor in Youghal due to Satchwell's obsession with animals. 'He had to have a strategy and that was playing the victim. He was a master of manipulation.' Senior investigator Cops continued to make appeals on Detectives believe this particular search gave him 'greater confidence' that he would escape justice. The investigator told us: 'That search emboldened him even more and he was out in public appealing for information. He had perfected his act. When nothing was found, he was convinced he was in the clear. Advertisement 'He was trying to generate sympathy for himself, when all along he was nothing more than a cold-blooded killer.' Following the search in 2018 and as the investigation continued through COVER STORY UNRAVELLED It was led by Senior Investigating Officer Anne Marie Twomey, Incident Room Co-ordinator Dave Kelleher and their team of detectives and uniformed officers. By that stage, Gardai were satisfied that Satchwell had lied about the amount of Advertisement Over the coming months, his cover story began to unravel when Gardai recovered a Gardai also established that he had searched for 'quick lime' — a substance which can be used to accelerate the decomposition of bodies and prevent the smell of decay. NEW SEARCH Detectives established the couple had returned to their home, but Tina had never left it again. The decision was made to search the home once more in October 2023. Gardai had to receive special permission to knock walls down and search every inch of the home. Advertisement If they had failed to recover her body, it would have cost the State over €200,000 to repair the But Tina's family said outside Satchwell is currently being held in Advertisement 4 Tina's relatives, Lorraine and Sarah Howard, speaking outside court after the verdict Credit: 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved
