Pathologist could not determine Tina Satchwell's cause of death due to state of remains

Sunday World

20-05-2025

'The body was wrapped in what appeared to be a soiled sheet. Bones could be protruding from the sheet from the lower end of the body.'
A pathologist was unable to determine a cause of death for Tina Satchwell (45) because of the skeletonised and badly decomposed condition of her remains which were excavated from underneath the stairs of her Cork home over six years after she vanished.
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.
This was after her body was fully excavated from a clandestine grave at her Youghal home.
"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 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 Grattan Street in Youghal, Co Cork contrary to Common Law.
Tina Satchwell.
News in 90 Seconds - May 20th
Mr Satchwell appeared in court today wearing navy slacks, a red T-shirt and blue jumper.
Dr Bolster confirmed she was asked to attend Number Three, Grattan Street in Youghal by Gardai after the discovery of human remains on October 11, 2023.
"I was asked to attend the scene in Youghal, Co Cork which I did with forensic anthropologist Dr Laureen Buckley. I spent the day and the evening there examining the remains," she said.
"We started the post mortem examination that evening (October 12) and finished the following morning (October 13).
"Present at the post mortem was Dr Buckley, Kevin Lynch an anatomy technician, Det Sgt Shane Curran, Det Garda Mairead Crowley, Det Garda Karen McCarthy and Det Garda Brian Barry."
Dr Buckley said the remains were skeletal in nature.
The medical history of Ms Satchwell given to her was that she was in good general health before March 2017.
She said the remains were in a hole or grave in the ground underneath stairs, to a depth of 62cm.
"The house was in a state of long-standing disarray.
"The body was received in a black body bag and was wrapped in black plastic (at the scene).
"Another layer of black plastic was around the body when it was found. The body was wrapped in what appeared to be a soiled sheet. Bones could be protruding from the sheet from the lower end of the body.
"The body had been lying face down.
"The body was dressed in a dressing gown and a Playboy purse was found in the front pocket."
She said the remains were placed on the morgue examination table in exactly the same position in which it was lying in the ground.
An examination of the purse at the CUH morgue found it contained a number of identity and loyalty cards in the name of Tina Mary Satchwell.
"Following rotation of the body onto its back, a skull with head hair attached could be seen protruding from the sheet.
"The right arm was flexed and the right arm was over the left upper thorax. The elbow of the left arm was flexed...and red nail polish could be seen on the fingernails.
"I cut the dressing gown belt to remove the dressing gown so as the bones of the ribs would not fall apart. The belt was not cut before."
A brief video was played to the jury in which a Garda demonstrated on his own body the precise way in which the dressing gown belt was found on the remains.
It was around the upper chest and then diagonally over the left shoulder, knotted in the front.
Photographs of the badly stained dressing gown belt found on the remains were also shown to the jury.
The belt was not threaded through the loops on the dressing gown.
"The upper dressing gown was disintegrated and multiple bones of the vertebrae were visible.
"The next layer of clothing appeared to be pyjamas… it showed butterflies to the front… with a logo of 'some bunny loves me'."
Photographs of the pyjamas were also shown to the jury.
"Distal to the collarbone was a tattoo of what looked like a Tweetie bird.
"The skull was separated from the rest of the body and the upper neck bone could be seen still attached to the skull.
"The skull was decapitated or separated from the body as a result of decomposition.
"There was also mummified tissue which occurs in a dry environment."
Richard Satchwell at Youghal Harbour near his home on Grattan Street
Dr Bolster said she noted pieces of glass on the body, on both the arms and on the head.
"Four pieces of glass were taken from the scalp.
"A belly button bar, or body piercing, could be seen.
"The hyoid bone - a little bone like a chicken wishbone - was seen. Both legs were flexed or bent and the lower leg bones were exposed, all soft tissue was gone.
"The pelvis on the left side was exposed. Both femurs were exposed by loss of tissue at the back.
"The fingers were flexed and nails had fallen off the fingers during excavation...they appeared to be false nails.
"No damage to the fingers could be identified."
Dr Buckley, the forensic anthropologist, examined the bones.
"I couldn't identify any marks externally because of the length of time post mortem and the scale of skeletonisation," Dr Bolster said.
She added that pathologists first look for external marks to the body for clues as to the cause of death.
"Because of the length of the post mortem interval here I was unable to do that."
"There were no organs remaining… I could not do that (examination). We (normally) look at the brain, the heart, the lungs, the liver...you look at any pathology that could offer a cause of death. None of that was available to us."
Dr Bolster said an examination of remaining tissue samples showed no indication of haemorrhage.
She then looked for trauma to the remains.
"There was no evidence of any fractures to the bones. X-rays of the hands were carried out and showed no evidence of fractures.
"The cause of death, due to the very long post mortem interval, could not be determined. The cause of death is undetermined."
Ms Satchwell's partially skeletonised body was discovered six and a half years after she vanished following an invasive four day Garda search of the Youghal home from October 10-12, 2023.
Gardaí had checked the property in June 2017 but it was not an invasive search.
Mr Satchwell replied to Gardaí when first charged with the murder of his wife at Cobh Garda Station in October 2023: "Guilty or not guilty - guilty."
The Leicester-born truck driver has claimed his wife attacked him with a wood chisel - and, after falling to the ground, he defended himself by holding her away from him by the rope belt of her dressing gown.
This somehow came up around her neck and she went limp.
Her body was temporarily stored in a chest freezer before she was buried in a clandestine grave he had excavated underneath the stairwell of her home.
Mr Satchwell repeatedly claimed to Gardaí that his wife regularly beat him and left him with bruises, cuts, bite marks, swellings and, on two occasions, he claimed she had knocked him unconscious.
The trial - now in its fourth week before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of seven women and five men - is expected to run until June 5/6.
The trial continues.