Satchwell agreed to enhanced cognitive interview with gardaí in search for Tina, trial told

Sunday World

06-05-2025

Tina's partially skeletonised body was discovered following an invasive garda search of the Satchwell family home from October 10, 2023
Richard Satchwell is accused of the murder of his wife Tina (inset)
Murder accused Richard Satchwell (58) agreed to participate in a special enhanced cognitive interview (ECI) with gardaí four years into the search for his missing wife Tina (45).
Mr Satchwell has pleaded not guilty before the Central Criminal Court to the murder of his wife Tina Satchwell at a time unknown on March 19/20, 2017 at their home at No 3 Grattan Street in Youghal, Co Cork.
Tina's partially skeletonised body was discovered following an invasive garda search of the Satchwell family home from October 10, 2023.
The State said her body was temporarily stored in a chest freezer before being buried in a shallow grave underneath the stairs and topped with concrete.
Richard Satchwell is accused of murdering his wife Tina (Brian Lawless/PA)
The Central Criminal Court jury of seven women and five men are today listening to the transcript of a lengthy garda interview conducted by Mr Satchwell in June 2021.
Gardaí said the ECI lasted for over three hours and the transcript runs to 124 pages.
The English truck driver appeared for the fifth day of his murder trial before the Central Criminal Court in Dublin wearing navy slacks and a red-and-blue check shirt.
Detective Sergeant David Noonan held the ECI with Mr Satchwell on June 20, 2021 – four years into the garda search for Tina.
The interview was conducted away from a garda station, at a special interview suite, to allow a relaxed environment for the witness-led discussion.
"It is forensic, you are getting a lot more detail when you go down this route," Det Sgt Noonan told the trial.
"It is accepted as the gold standard of interviews."
Richard Satchwell is accused of the murder of his wife Tina (inset)
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Unlike a normal statement interview with gardaí, questions and answers are not written down at the time and the format is more conversational.
The ECI is led by the witness rather than the garda.
"I wanted Mr Satchwell to go into great detail when he was describing anything to me," Det Sgt Noonan said.
Gardaí were eager to obtain the maximum possible level of detail about various things Mr Satchwell wanted to talk about relating to his wife and her disappearance.
Mr Satchwell's ECI was conducted over four years after he made his first statement to gardaí about the disappearance of Tina.
The Blackpool interview was recorded on DVD, the detective did not write out the answers at the time to allow for a more relaxed environment with the recordings being transcribed and gone over with Mr Satchwell on January 23, 2022.
Tina Satchwell and her husband Richard
Mr Satchwell had notified officers at Fermoy garda station on March 24, 2017 that his Fermoy-born wife was missing from their Youghal home when he returned from an errand in Waterford four days earlier.
The Leicester native claimed his wife had left her beloved dogs, Heidi and Ruby, behind but had taken two suitcases and €26,000 in their life savings which had been stored in a tin in the attic.
At the urging of gardaí, he made a formal missing person statement on May 11, 2017.
Mr Satchwell's home was subjected to a 12-hour search by a team of 10 gardaí on June 7, 2017 but nothing was found.
That search included conducting a 'Blue Star' test for traces of blood but none were detected.
However, a new wall underneath the stairwell was noted and photographed.
Tina's body was found buried underneath the stairwell during a second more invasive search of the Grattan Street property undertaken from October 10, 2023.
The trial already heard that Mr Satchwell claimed to gardaí in October 2023, just hours after human remains were found in his home, that his wife Tina attacked him with a chisel on March 20, 2017.
Tina Satchwell's body was found in 2023
He told detectives she "went limp" after he tried to protect himself by holding her away from him with a belt, with her weight on the belt by her neck.
Her body was placed in a chest freezer and then buried in a one-metre grave he had excavated under the stairwell of their Cork home.
Mr Satchwell, having placed Tina's body in black sheeting and then into the shallow grave, covered it over with cement before notifying gardaí four days later that his wife was missing.
Her remains were only found six-and-a-half years later.
The prosecution is led by Gerardine Small SC with Imelda Kelly BL.
Mr Satchwell's defence team is led by Brendan Grehan SC with Paula McCarthy BL, instructed by Cork solicitor Eddie Burke.
The trial – before Mr Justice Paul McDermott – is expected to run for six weeks.