The Indo Daily: Pathologist unable to determine Tina Satchwell's' cause of death due to state of remains
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster told the Central Criminal Court murder trial of Richard Satchwell (58) that she performed a post mortem examination on Ms Satchwell's remains at the Cork University Hospital (CUH) morgue on October 12/13, 2023, after her body was fully excavated from a clandestine grave at her Youghal home.
The remains were largely skeletonised, badly decomposed and were, in parts, mummified.
"The cause of death, due to the very long post mortem interval, could not be determined. The cause of death is undetermined," she said. Dr Bolster, who has performed over 30,000 post mortem examinations, was giving evidence on the 15th day of Mr Satchwell's murder trial in Dublin.
Mr Satchwell has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife Tina at a time unknown on March 19/20, 2017, at his home at No 3 Grattan Street in Youghal, Co Cork contrary to Common Law.
Today on the Indo Daily, Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Ralph Riegel, Southern Correspondent with the Irish Independent, to discuss the latest updates from day 13 of the murder trial of Richard Satchwell.
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Sunday World
10 hours ago
- Sunday World
Locals fear home where Richard Satchwell buried wife will become ‘macabre' tourist spot
Property jointly registered in killer and victim's names Tina Satchwell's home where her remains were found Flowers at the house where Tina's body was found New photos of the house where Tina Satchwell's body was found Locals in Youghal, Co Cork fear no 3 Grattan Street, the house where Richard Satchwell kept his wife's body buried beneath the stairs for six and a half years, will become a macabre tourist destination for true crime 'fans.' Property records obtained by the Sunday World show Richard Satchwell and murdered Tina were jointly registered as 'full owners' of the property on July 21st, 2016. There have been no changes of ownership recorded on the deeds since. This means despite his status as a convicted killer Satchwell will retain his 50 percent interest in the property. Richard Satchwell with his wife Tina However, under Irish law a person is not entitled to benefit financially from a crime, meaning the remaining 50 per cent will go to Tina's estate. In recent weeks, a make-shift memorial with a plaque saying ' Not a Day goes by that you are not missed' could be seen on the front window of the property. One local man told the Sunday World: 'People in the town would be happy if someone would come in and tear it down. 'But the way the Irish courts work, it will probably end up derelict there for years before it can be sold. 'And you can imagine the weirdos that will be down here gawking at it and trying to get inside it. 'I'm not saying we don't want tourists but there's some kind you're better off without.' Flowers at the house where Tina's body was found A neighbour who spoke with the Sunday World as the jury were still out in Satchwell's trial, said although the case was shocking, he had never encountered Richard Satchwell's darker side. 'He didn't say much and seemed a bit withdrawn,' he said. 'We only moved in after his wife disappeared and you'd see him walking past the house on the street. Tina Satchwell's home where her remains were found 'He always had his head down … like a man who knew everyone in the town thought he'd killed his wife. 'But until they found the body, nobody knew that for sure.' A man working in a yard at the rear of Grattan Street said his daughter's father-in-law worked in the same company as Satchwell. 'After the wife disappeared, he put up a front. Richard Satchwell murdered his wife 'He'd try and sit with other drivers for a coffee as if nothing was wrong. 'But no-one trusted him.' The man also said he regarded Satchwell's decision to conceal his wife under the stairs as an act of pure stupidity. 'He had a truck … he drives all over the country and he had the sea on his doorstep,' he said. 'He'd six-and-half years to put the poor woman somewhere and if he had he would never have been caught. 'He could be living it up in South America now instead of being in a prison cell. 'What kind of a man lives in a house for that length of time with a dead body?' New photos of the house where Tina Satchwell's body was found News in 90 Seconds - Tuesday June 10
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Garda not planning to invest in full-time cadaver dog, despite Minister's preference
Cadaver dogs, used to find human remains, are very rarely needed by the Garda and the force has no plans to invest in having dogs available full-time, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said. This is despite remarks at the weekend by Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan, who said it would be 'preferable' if the Garda had its own dog in light of developments in the Tina Satchwell murder investigation. The commissioner said that in his near seven-year tenure as commissioner, he believed a cadaver dog had been used three times, with those dogs provided from Northern Ireland. While the Garda does 'not want to be entirely reliant on others', having a cadaver dog is a significant resource, especially as it would be rarely used in the Republic. 'A cadaver dog is not out every day working in the same way that a drugs or firearms or money dog would be, it's a very specialist resource,' he said, adding that even within the area of working dogs, these animals are 'specialist'. READ MORE When asked if a cadaver dog should have been deployed to help find the Satchwell remains in the period immediately after she was reported missing in 2017, the commissioner said the murder investigation is being reviewed. 'But from what I know from the reports I've seen ... the suspicion was harm had been caused to Tina Satchwell, but there was no suspicion that her body was actually there [in her home].' Satchwell, née Dingivan (45), was murdered by her husband Richard Satchwell at their home on Grattan Street, Youghal, on March 19th-20th, 2017, and her body was buried under the house in a deep grave. However, her remains were not found until October 2013, some 6½ years later. Though the Satchwell house was searched in 2017, a cadaver dog was not used. However, when a dog was deployed during a search of the house in 2023 it focused on the area under the sittingroom stairs, where the body was later found. Asked on RTÉ's This Week programme whether such a dog should have been brought into the Satchwell home in 2017 during the investigation, the Mr O'Callaghan said 'probably, it should have happened'. He said he spoke to the commissioner about the effectiveness of cadaver dogs. 'They're a very specialised dog in terms of trying to train them. There is one on the island of Ireland; the PSNI has one,' he said. 'That dog is sought by many police forces in Britain as well. We got the use of the dog here and he was of much assistance. 'It obviously would be preferable if we had a cadaver dog. They have a very limited work life, cadaver dogs, they're only operational for a period of about three years, they have to go through a very difficult training process. It would be preferable if the cadaver dog available on the island had been used earlier.' Richard Satchwell (58), a lorry driver from the UK who had settled in Cork with his wife, claimed he killed her accidentally after fending off a claim attack by her. He then buried her remains under the house to conceal her death. Satchwell, who has 14 previous convictions, was sentenced to life in prison last week. He intends to appeal the verdict. The Garda now have two water cannons. Photograph: Alan Betson The commissioner was speaking to reporters as the force launched a report looking back at its six-year roll-out of significant operational changes. The Garda now has the largest fleet of vehicles in its history, with 3,672, including new specialist vehicles such as two water cannons, the organisation said.
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Review of Tina Satchwell case to include if cadaver dog should have been used in 2017 search — Harris
The Garda Commissioner has said suggestions gardaí should have used a cadaver dog — capable of detecting human remains — at the home of Tina Satchwell when she went missing in 2017 will form part of a review he had ordered. Drew Harris pointed out that, at the time, the suspicion was that harm had been caused to Ms Satchwell, not that her body was buried in the house, located on Grattan Street, Youghal. Richard Satchwell, 58, was given a life sentence late last month for the murder of his 45-year-old wife in 2017. Her remains were found in October 2023 in a deep grave under the stairs, more than six years after her husband reported her missing. Over the weekend, justice minister Jim O'Callaghan indicated a cadaver dog should probably have been used in the initial search in 2017. Speaking on RTÉ's This Week, he said there was only one trained dog on the island of Ireland, used by the PSNI. Mr O'Callaghan said "it obviously would be preferable if we had a cadaver dog' but said it was up to the commissioner how money should be spent. Reacting to those remarks, Mr Harris said: 'We want to review all those decisions back in 2017 but what I know from the reporting that I've seen is that the suspicion was that harm had been caused to Tina Satchwell but there was no suspicion that her body was actually there.' He also said cadaver dogs were a 'very specialist subset' of police dogs. 'I have to say they are not often required operationally, it's not a usual thing that we need a cadaver dog,' he said. Mr Harris announced last Friday he had ordered a review into the initial investigation into Ms Satchwell's killing, as well as a review into the investigation into the disappearance of Kerry farmer Michael Gaine, whose remains were found in a slurry pit eight weeks after he vanished. Mr O'Callaghan requested reports into the cases.
