Richard Satchwell offered Tina's cousin ‘chest freezer' in ‘strange' exchange after wife's disappearance, court told
TINA Satchwell's cousin told the Central Criminal Court that she thought it was 'very strange' when Richard Satchwell offered her a chest freezer because he 'wasn't the kind to give stuff away'.
Sarah Howard also told the jury she had 'never' seen Tina violent towards her husband.
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Sarah Howard told the jury she had 'never' seen Tina violent towards her husband
Credit: Handout
She told the jury: 'She was kind-hearted. A loving family person. She loved animals, she was bubbly. She was fun, outgoing, she loved her fashion. She was just a lovely person.'
Prosecutor Gerardine Small SC went through a number of text messages between Satchwell and Ms Howard in the months after Tina disappeared.
In a message sent on March 30, 2017 - 10 days after Richard said Tina had left the marital home in Youghal - he sent a text message saying: 'Sarah, do you want our chest freezer. Richard.'
Asked by Ms Small, did she respond to that, she replied: 'No.'
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Ms Howard added: 'I found it unusual. He wouldn't be the kind to give stuff away. I thought it was very strange
'We were at a car boot sale once. I had my two children with me, Richard and Tina had a stall. Tina was off buying stuff and Richard was at the stall. The children picked up nail varnish and a CD and he charged them 50c each.
'So when he offered that I thought it was unusual.'
The
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He then put her body in a chest freezer for a few days, before removing it, wrapping it in black, plastic sheeting and burying it in a grave he had dug under their stairs.
In another text sent on April 30, 2017, Satchwell said: 'Sarah, I've won two tickets to Purple Rain at the
NOT GUILTY PLEA
Asked by Ms Small did she reply to that, Ms Howard said: 'I did not.'
Satchwell, 58, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife Tina, 45, at their home on Grattan Street, Youghal, Co Cork some time between March 19 and 20, 2017.
The trial has heard that on March 24, 2017, Satchwell told gardai that his wife Tina had left their home four days earlier but that he had no concerns over her welfare, feeling she had left due to a deterioration in their relationship.
He formally reported her missing the following May but her body was not discovered for over six years, when gardai conducted 'an invasive search' of the Satchwell home in October 2023 and found her decomposed remains.
'COMPLETE MYSTERY'
The jury was also shown today a clip of an interview Ms Howard gave to Prime Time on
In the video, she says: 'It's a complete mystery. It's tearing us apart where she is. Every day when you have missed calls on the phone, you're checking the papers for news but nothing.
'There's loads of different thoughts in my head. We don't know what happened, we don't have the answers. Nobody can disappear without anyone knowing, someone has to know something.'
The witness said she had always been very close to Tina but after she moved to Youghal in May, 2016 she didn't see her as much.
'WAS IN GREAT FORM'
She said the last time she saw her was in Ms Howard's house in Ballyporeen just before
She said: 'She was in great form, really happy. She stayed for a while, the dogs were with her.'
Ms Howard said she heard Tina was missing on March 26, 2017 when she called to her mother's house.
She told the jury: 'I rang her phone straight away. When she didn't answer I rang Richard's phone.
'VERY UNUSUAL'
'I asked him where she was and questioned him why dogs weren't with her. It was very unusual that the dogs were there and I asked him what had happened.
'He said they had an argument and she had left him. He said she had thrown a cup at him.
'He said she took a sum of money and he found her keys on the floor when he came back. She had sent him on an errand to Dungarvan.'
Asked by Ms Small if he said anything else was gone, and she replied: 'Suitcases.'
TEXT MESSAGES
She added: 'They had been at a car boot sale on the Sunday. He said that she made a comment that she had wasted 28 years of her life with him but we had never heard that before.'
Ms Small asked her in relation to the violence, he told you she had thrown cups at him and if she had heard that before.
Ms Howard replied: 'Never.'
Counsel then went through a series of text messages, which have already been opened to the court, exchanged between the pair between March and July 2017.
'I FEEL I LET HER DOWN'
Satchwell repeated to Ms Howard that there was no news regarding Tina.
In one sent on June 27, 2017 the accused said to her: 'I know Tina is your family. I'm not your family. She is only my wife. She is my life, she is my everything. I feel I let her down in some way.'
Asked by Ms Small, if she ever witnessed her being violent or aggressive, Ms Howard again said: 'Never.'
In cross-examination by Brendan Grehan SC, for Satchwell, how old she was when Richard and Tina met, she said: 'Very young, two I think.'
'DEVOTED'
She said her first memory of Richard was when she was about five and six. She said she didn't recall them getting married.
Ms Howard said the couple had been in her house but she had never been in hers.
She agreed that he appeared to be 'devoted' to her and he was 'always with her when she was down.'
She agreed that Tina was close to her grandmother, who had raised her and who has since passed.
PROSECUTION FINISHES EVIDENCE
Ms Howard said she was aware Tina had a falling out with her biological mother.
Asked by Mr Grehan if Tina had resented her because she had given her up, the witness said: 'I can't say.'
The prosecution have now finished their evidence in the case.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of seven men and five women.
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Richard Satchwell has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife Tina
Credit: John Delea - The Sun Dublin
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