A husband has been jailed for life for murd£r!ng his wife and hiding her body in their home.
Richard Satchwell, 58, denied murdering Tina Satchwell between March 19 and March 20, 2017. But last Friday, the jury at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin delivered a unanimous guilty verdict after nine hours and 28 minutes of deliberation, Mail Online reports.
At the sentencing hearing today, the victim’s family described her as a kind and gentle woman who loved animals.
Tina’s cousin, Sarah Howard, said she was murdered ‘by someone who claimed to love her.’
‘The emotional toll of her loss is something I will carry with me always,’ she added.
Tina’s half-sister Lorraine Howard, spoke about how Tina’s body was buried in plastic in their own home, saying it ‘sends shivers down my spine every time I think about it.’
Adding: ‘I will never be able to forgive Richard Satchwell for what he has done.’
The court heard the couple married in the UK on Tina’s 20th birthday before settling in Co Cork, first in Fermoy and later moving to Youghal in 2016.
During the trial, it was heard that on March 24, 2017, Satchwell went to gardai claiming Tina had left their Youghal home four days earlier due to their deteriorating relationship.
He also claimed Tina had taken €26,000 in cash from savings kept in the attic, savings the court was told they did not have.
Satchwell formally reported Tina missing in May 2017 and said she was sometimes violent towards him.
Over the years which followed, he made a dozen media appearances in which he spoke about the morning when Tina left and never returned.
When her body was found buried under a concrete floor beneath the stairs in October 2023, the 58-year-old claimed Tina ‘flew’ at him with a chisel.
He said he held a dressing gown belt to her neck to protect himself before she went limp.
The jury rejected his denial and found him guilty of murder.
Representing him, Brendan Grehan SC told the court Satchwell intends to appeal and that he ‘never intended to kill Tina
