Wife killer Richard Satchwell's lies tortured tragic Tina's family

Sunday World

2 days ago

Her cousin Sarah Howard said in victim impact statement that she can't comprehend how someone who was supposed to love her could do something so cruel.
Richard Satchwell to receive life sentence for killing wife Tina and burying her in grave under stairs
Wife killer Richard Satchwell has been sentenced to life in prison today for the murder of his wife Tina as her sister and cousin told of their family's anguish.
Found unanimously guilty by a jury last week, the English truck driver appeared at the Central Criminal Court this morning where Judge Paul McDermott handed down the mandatory sentence.
His defence counsel Brendan Grehan said that his instructions from Satchwell are that he intends to appeal the verdict and that he never intended kill Tina who was a lovely person.
Tina's skeletal remains were found buried in the couple's Youghal home six and a half years after being killed by her husband.
Her cousin Sarah Howard said in victim impact statement that she can't comprehend how someone who was supposed to love her could do something so cruel.
Tina Satchwell was described by her family as a 'kind and gentle' woman who loved animals (Family Handout/PA)
The cruelty that followed the crime had left a permanent hole in the lives of Tina's family who knew her as a gentle and loyal person.
Tina's sister Lorraine Howard said the lies Satchwell had told about Tina could not be further from the truth who was kind-hearted and loved animals.
The effect of the trial on her mother Mary was not something they had expected and the mentions of her brother Tom's suicide was like 'pouring salt into an open wound.'
He treated her body with disrespect and wanted the 'ultimate control' of her buried inside their home.
Judge McDermott offered his condolences to Tina's family.
During the five-week trial evidence was heard how Satchwell told lies for years to create the false impression that his wife was violent towards him and had left him taking €25,000 in savings.
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No cause of death could be established but Satchwell claims she died while restraining her with a dressing gown belt across her throat as she tried to stab him with a chisel on 20 May 2017.
He hid her body in an unplugged chest freezer for four days before digging out a hole under the stairs and dumping her body there, sealing it with a layer of cement.
He had waited for four days before telling gardaí she had gone missing but did not make an official missing person's report until 11 May that year.
With no sign of Tina gardaí carried out a search of the property in June 2017 but failed to find any evidence of what had happened to her.
Satchwell embarked on a series of media interviews in which he made appeals for her to return as he tried to maintain the pretence she was alive.
A new senior officer in charge Supt Ann Marie Twomey reviewed the case in August 2021 and concluded by the following year there were grounds for Satchwell's arrest.
When arrested on suspicion of murder in October 2023 he stuck to his story even when told a search team would be going through the walls and digging up his house.
After her remains were found Satchwell changed his story to say that Tina had died as he defended himself from being stabbed.
A jury last week found him guilty of murder after almost nine and a half hours of deliberation following the lengthy trial.