Latest news with #Youghal
Irish Times
2 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
‘We all knew he was guilty': Richard Satchwell's murder conviction brings relief to Youghal community
A priest who recited prayers when the coffin of Tina Satchwell was taken from her home in October of 2023, after she was found in a clandestine grave under the stairwell, has spoken of his relief that the 'truth has finally come to light'. Canon Bill Bermingham said his thoughts were with her family after a jury found Richard Satchwell guilty of the murder of his wife. Canon Bermingham, who also said payers at a vigil in Youghal after her body was found, said that the guilty verdict represented a 'conclusion to a very sad and distressing story'. 'They [Richard and Tina] weren't living here long but people knew Tina from when she was out walking her dogs. From little encounters. READ MORE Tina Satchwell: a jury on Friday found Richard Satchwell guilty of murdering Ms Satchwell in 2017 in their home in Cork. Photograph: Kyran O'Brien 'This has all been very distressing for her family and friends and neighbours. This is a law-abiding town.' Local woman Jean Cantwell said that the late Ms Satchwell 'wouldn't have hurt a fly'. [ An 'arch-manipulator' who isolated his 'trophy' wife: The full story of the Richard Satchwell murder trial Opens in new window ] 'The only time I ever saw her stiffen up was when she was with him [Richard Satchwell] She couldn't talk to anybody if he was about. Local woman Jean Cantwell said that the late Ms Satchwell 'wouldn't have hurt a fly'. Photograph: Olivia Kelleher 'I think she wanted to walk away from him and he didn't want that because he would look like a loser. Which he was. 'The way he used to go around thinking he was it. We all knew he was guilty.' Florist Kay Curtin, whose business is a short distance away from Grattan Street where the Satchwells lived, said Ms Satchwell was never forgotten in Youghal, with flowers always outside her house. 'I passed the house the other morning and I said, 'Tina, I hope you get justice'. And now she has.' Local florist Kay Curtin: 'It is very sad. I didn't know her.' Photograph: Olivia Kelleher Ms Curtin said that Richard Satchwell was 'very visible' in the town in the years after he reported Ms Satchwell missing. 'He used to pass here and go to the chipper and get two pizzas. He was out and about. The night he was arrested down by the bus stop we thought he knew his time was up. But then I was so surprised that he pleaded not guilty. 'It is very sad. I didn't know her. Tina only lived around the corner and I never once saw the girl. And everybody said that they never saw her. [ Why did gardaí ignore 'red flags' in the Tina Satchwell murder investigation? Opens in new window ] 'Richard was always being interviewed. He was always on radio. There is a lot of relief today.' Another local woman, Geraldine Cronin said that she was 'so happy' to hear the news of the conviction. Ms Cronin said that Richard Satchwell was an 'intimidating-looking figure' who was much taller in person than he appeared on television. 'Tina had no voice. And probably didn't have a voice in the marriage either. I am glad to see this verdict because if a verdict of manslaughter had come back, what message would that have sent to other sickos out there?' [ 'Tina was portrayed in a way that is not true to who she was': Tina Satchwell's family describe 'kind, loving and gentle soul' Opens in new window ] Two woman, who declined to speak, blessed themselves as they passed the Satchwell house after the guilty verdict was brought in. A bouquet of fresh flowers joined other more withered blooms outside the door of the property on Friday. A small garland of flowers was also placed around little trinkets that had been put on the windowsill of the property. These included nail varnish and concealer, a bracelet with the name 'Tina' on it and a plaque with her picture which read 'Not a day goes by that you are not missed'. Cards with the phone number for the You Are Not Alone East Cork Domestic Violence Project were also on the windowsill of the property. The organisation can be contacted on 024 25389.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Eight-year hell for family of murder victim Tina Satchwell ends with one word: Guilty
An eight-year hell inflicted by Richard Satchwell on the family of his murdered wife Tina was ended by a unanimous jury at the Central Criminal Court with one word: 'Guilty'. 'Today as a family, we finally have justice for Tina,' her cousin Sarah Howard said after Satchwell was unanimously found guilty of the murder of his wife at their home in March 2017. [ An 'arch-manipulator' who isolated his 'trophy' wife: The full story of the Richard Satchwell murder trial ] When the verdict was read out just before 12.30pm on Friday, it was greeted with weeping from several members of Ms Satchwell's family. Murderer Satchwell (58), who showed no reaction, will be back in court next week for sentencing. Murder carries a mandatory life sentence. READ MORE He denied the murder of his 45-year-old wife at their home at Grattan Street, Youghal, Co Cork, over March 19th and 20th in 2017. Until her skeletal remains were discovered more than six-and-a-half years later in a deep grave below the sittingroom stairs, he claimed she had left him, taking their savings. After the remains were uncovered in October 2023 during a forensic excavation, he claimed she flew at him with a chisel on the morning of March 20th, 2017, and, during a struggle, went 'limp' and died. He said he put her body on a couch, then in a chest freezer and, on March 26th, buried her under the stairs. Gerardine Small SC, prosecuting, said his account was 'nonsense'. He was an 'arch manipulator' who lied over years to evade responsibility, she said. Tina Satchwell was described by her family as a 'precious sister, cousin, auntie, and daughter' and a 'kind, loving, gentle soul' Outside court, Ms Howard, flanked by her family, said Ms Satchwell was portrayed during the trial in a way not true to their 'precious sister, cousin, auntie, and daughter' and the 'kind, loving, gentle soul who loved her animals like they loved her' . Ms Satchwell's half-sister, Lorraine Howard, thanked Garda Superintendent Annemarie Twomey and Det Gda David Kelleher, who both got involved in the Garda investigation in 2021, 'for putting the pieces together and finding Tina'. Asked about alleged Garda failures in earlier stages of the investigation, a Garda spokesman said the matter was still before the court and there would be no comment at this time. [ Why did gardaí ignore 'red flags' in the Tina Satchwell murder investigation? ] Labour Party justice spokesman Alan Kelly said, now that Satchwell was 'rightfully convicted', the question he and many are asking is 'why it took so long' to find Ms Satchwell when it seemed 'red flags' had been raised some years earlier. Sinn Féin's justice spokesman Matt Carthy said there may be a case for Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman, to see if any action is required on the adequacy of the initial investigation. Mr Carthy said he welcomed the verdict and the fact the family of Ms Satchwell has finally received justice. He pointed out that while she was reported missing in 2017, it was only in 2021, after Supt Ann Marie Twomey assumed responsibility for the case, that a full review of the case file took place. That included consultation with a forensic archaeologist with an expertise in domestic homicide, he said. The search that followed led to the discovery of Ms Satchwell's body. 'I think that Supt Twomey should be commended and that lessons should be learnt from what was done well in this case in the latter stages and what may not have been done well at the outset,' Mr Carthy said. 'It may make sense for Police Ombudsman to look at this case and consider whether any action is required in terms of the adequacy of the initial investigation,' he said. In Youghal, the guilty verdict was widely welcomed, including by Canon Bill Bermingham who said it represented a conclusion to 'a very sad and distressing story'.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
How did Richard Satchwell get away with the murder of his wife Tina for eight years?
From the moment he reported her missing in 2017, Richard Satchwell stuck to his story that his wife Tina had run off. His many media appeals begged her to come home. But as the jury heard during his five-week trial in the Central Criminal Court for her murder, she was indeed home and she had been all along . Richard had killed her in 2017 , dug a hole under the stairs of their terraced Youghal home and buried her. The Garda did look for her – as a missing person – but ' red flags ' emerged soon after her disappearance were 'simply ignored' by gardaí, the court was told. READ MORE What were they? And why did it take until six years after her disappearance for a thorough search of the Satchwell house to take place? Irish Times legal affairs correspondent Mary Carolan tells In the News how the court case unfolded and what happens next. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Tina Satchwell – the ‘lovely girl' whose life was marred by loss
Tina Satchwell was known for her love of clothes, her two pet dogs and the bargains she could seek out in car boot sales dotted around Co Cork. Just 24 hours before she was murdered by her husband of 27 years, Tina spent the day browsing stalls at Carrigtwohill, a town east of Cork city centre. She bought a black jacket and a dress and hung it up over a door in the living room in the home she shared with Richard Satchwell. According to Satchwell, the items remained there for a long time after her death. Mrs Satchwell (nee Dingivan) was from St Bernard's Place in Fermoy, Co Cork. In the 1980s she moved to Coalville outside Leicester in England, to live with her grandmother. It was while she in was Coalville that she met her future husband, when she was aged 17 and he was 21. Satchwell admitted that he told his brother he would marry Tina the first time he saw her. He proposed to Tina in October of 1989 at a place called Mount Pleasant. The couple were married the following year on Tina's 20th birthday in Oldham. There was no one from Satchwell's family at the wedding, as they did not approve of their relationship. Satchwell, who had described himself as quiet and overweight, had married his 'trophy wife'. The couple eventually moved back to Ireland, and lived in various properties in Co Cork and then Fermoy before buying a house in Youghal in 2016, some 40km from where she grew up. They were not well known in Youghal, and socialising with locals did not exist in their tight-knit world where it was largely just the two of them. Anyone who did know Tina, or met her, would often recognise her as a glamorous woman, who had a love of fashion and clothes. The court heard she was petite, weighing around eight stone. Angela Sheehan, who described herself as an acquaintance of Tina, said she was a woman who loved her fashion, high heels, hair, makeup and jewellery. She told the trial that is what they would often talk about when they met, and she described her as a 'lovely girl' who was pleasant, bubbly and good for a laugh. Tina was rarely seen without her beloved dogs, Heidi and Ruby. While she had a great affection for animals generally, she loved her two dogs, particularly her chihuahua, Ruby, and had considered them her children. Satchwell and Tina bought Ruby in 2014 after Tina had been struggling with the death of her brother Tom in 2012. Satchwell said that Ruby brought something into Tina's life that she always wanted – a nice small dog to accompany her. Heidi, he said, was for him. They also shared their home with their pet parrot, Valentine. The court heard Tina's voice only once during the trial when a video was played during a media appeal with Prime Time Investigates in 2018, in which she speaks to their now dead parrot, Pearl. 'What have you got there, Pearl?' she is heard asking the bird in a soft Cork accent. Satchwell told the reporter that the parrot died in the January before his wife disappeared. Tina had spent most her life believing Mary Collins was her sister, until she discovered that she was her biological mother. She made the discovery at the time of her confirmation when she was looking for her birth certificate. Tina had been raised by her grandmother, Florence, who she thought was her mother and had referred to her as that for all of her life. The two had a good relationship and were close, but Tina was in shock at the revelation of who her biological mother was, and felt she had been lied to for a period of her life. Sarah Howard and Tina were half-sisters and shared the same mother, however, Tina spent most her primary school years believing that Sarah was her niece. Tina and Sarah were very close growing up, but their relationship changed following the discovery, with Tina feeling resentment and hurt that she was not raised by her biological mother while Sarah was kept. Sarah said that she and Tina had not spoken in the 15 years before she died as their relationship was up and down. There could be a period of years where they were close and get on well but there were also years in which they would argue and not speak to each other. Few people could give a good insight into Tina's marriage, however. When Sarah was asked how she would described the relationship, she said: 'Odd.' She said that Satchwell used to call Tina his 'trophy wife' and 'trophy girlfriend'. Ms Howard had told the court that Satchwell was obsessive about his wife, and she thought he was controlling of her. Tina had once confided in her sister that she knew she could not get away from her husband, and that he would follow her to the ends of the earth. Tina dealt with a number of tragedies in her life, including the death of her brother Tom in 2012. The two were very close and Satchwell said his sudden death hit Tina hard, and that she had cried a lot for him. Tina had adored him and he adored her, Sarah previously said. She had been badly affected by his death and spent years struggling to deal with it. After Tina's family got her remains back in 2023, they buried her in two graves – half of her ashes were put with their beloved grandmother, Florence, who raised Tina, and half were placed next to Tom.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Richard Satchwell found guilty of murdering his wife in 2017
Richard Satchwell has been found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court of the murder of his wife at their Co Cork home in 2017. There was audible sobbing from several members of Tina Satchwell's family as the verdict was given on Friday, with some members of the jury also in tears. Satchwell sat impassively in the court. Ms Satchwell's skeletal remains were found in a deep grave in an area under the sittingroom stairs of the couple's home in October 2023, more than six years after her husband reported her missing. READ MORE [ 'Tina had no way of getting away from him': The full story of the Richard Satchwell murder trial Opens in new window ] [ Gardaí ignored 'red flags' in Tina Satchwell murder investigation Opens in new window ] Satchwell (58), a lorry driver, had pleaded not guilty to murdering the 45-year-old at Grattan Street, Youghal, on March 19th and 20th, 2017. Friday was the 23rd day of the trial, which heard evidence from more than 50 witnesses. The jury went out at 3.05pm on Tuesday to its deliberations and continued through Wednesday and Thursday, when they had considered the matter for eight hours and 37 minutes. Tina Satchwell They resumed deliberations just after 11.30am on Friday and returned with their verdict at around 12.25pm, after nine hours and 28 minutes deliberating. Several of Ms Satchwell's relatives, including her mother Mary Collins, half-sister Lorraine Howard and cousin Sarah Howard, were in the packed court for the verdict. Lorraine Howard, Tina Satchwell's half sister, pictured leaving the Central Criminal Court in Dublin. Photograph: Collins Courts Mr Justice Paul McDermott thanked the jury for their service on a 'difficult' case. He said the next stage of the process is sentencing, which is his role, and he adjourned the matter to June 4th. The mandatory sentence for murder is life imprisonment. The three possible verdicts open to the jury were: not guilty of murder; guilty of murder; and not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. It was also open to them to consider, depending on their view of the evidence, a defence of partial self-defence or full self-defence. [ What the jury didn't hear: How Richard Satchwell tried to have murder charge withdrawn Opens in new window ] [ 'Tina was portrayed in a way that is not true to who she was': Tina Satchwell's family describe 'kind, loving and gentle soul' Opens in new window ] The trial heard Satchwell went to Fermoy Garda station on March 24th 2017, where he told a garda his wife had left their home four days earlier. He said he believed she had left him and had taken their €26,000 in cash savings. He told a garda he was not concerned about her safety. After gardaí interviewed him in early May 2017, he formally reported his wife as a missing person. Increasingly concerned 'something untoward' had happened to Ms Satchwell, gardaí obtained a warrant to search the couple's home in June 2017 and seized devices, including a laptop. An examination of the laptop in 2021 showed two YouTube videos concerning the interaction between water and quicklime, which can be used to disguise decomposition odours, were viewed on March 24th, 2017. In October 2023, gardaí carried out a full invasive search of the property using a cadaver dog. Skeletal remains identified being those of Ms Satchwell were found on October 11th, 2023, in a grave site about one metre deep in an area under the stairs in the sittingroom. The scene at Richard and Tina Satchwell's home in Youghal as her remains were removed following a search in 2023. Photograph: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision After the remains were found, Satchwell was rearrested and told gardaí his wife had come at him with a chisel on the morning of March 20th, 2017. He said he fell and she came on top of him trying to stab him with the tool. He said that while he fended her off with the belt from her dressing gown robe, which was up around her neck, she went limp and died. He told gardaí there was 'no premeditation' and he had not called emergency services due to 'panic and shame'. He said he put Ms Satchwell's body on the couch and then stored it in their freezer for about two days before burying her on March 26th in a grave he dug under the stairs and then cemented over. He was charged with her murder on the evening of October 12th, 2023, after his solicitor, with whom he had 25 earlier consultations, had left the station. He replied: 'Guilty or not guilty, guilty.' The defence argued that was done without him having legal advice and without having the ingredients of murder and manslaughter being explained to him. A postmortem on the decomposed remains was unable to establish a cause of death. The jury heard there was no evidence of fractures to the bones, including the hyoid bone in the neck. In her closing address to the jury, prosecuting counsel Gerardine Small said Satchwell was an 'arch manipulator' who told 'a plethora of lies' about his wife's disappearance with the objective of putting everyone 'off the scent' because he 'murdered her'. Richard Satchwell arriving at the District Court where he was charged with murdering Tina Satchwell in October 2023. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire The manner in which he buried his wife was 'absolutely disrespectful' and, after her remains were found, he gave a 'nonsense' account of how she died, counsel said. She said Ms Satchwell's death was 'not an accident' nor a result of him acting in self-defence and that his account to gardaí was 'totally focused on trying to protect himself'. Ms Small said the prosecution did not know the cause of death because Satchwell had 'ensured that' was the case, but there was sufficient evidence to return a murder verdict. Closing the case for the defence, senior counsel Brendan Grehan said Satchwell was guilty of weaving 'a web of lies' and engaging in 'disreputable' conduct after his wife's death, including his 'awful' offer to her cousin of the freezer where he stored his wife's body, but that 'did not make him a murderer'. He was 'certainly guilty of causing his wife's death' but there was no evidence he intended to kill or seriously injure her, counsel argued. The evidence was that the accused loved and 'worshipped' his wife, that she 'wore the trousers' in the relationship and was sometimes violent towards her husband, counsel said. There was no evidence he was ever violent towards her, he added. He said the prosecution had not called any expert evidence to show Satchwell's account of how his wife died was not possible. Towards the close of the trial, the jury was told by a tearful Lorraine Howard that, after Ms Satchwell's remains were returned to the family, they placed half of her ashes on the grave of her brother Tom and the other half on the grave of her grandmother, Florence.
