RICHARD SATCHWELL has today been sentenced to life for the murder of his wife, Tina Satchell.
The 45-year-old’s remains were found buried in concrete under the stairs in the couple’s house in Youghal, Co. Cork in 2023.
Satchwell had previously maintained that his wife disappeared from their home in 2017 and made numerous emotional appeals over the years about her whereabouts.
However, after being charged with murder following the discovery of his wife’s remains, Satchwell claimed she died while he was defending himself from her.
He claimed Mrs Satchwell had tried to stab him with a chisel and that he had restrained her by using the belt of her dressing gown, after which she went limp.
Last week, a jury rejected that version of events, and the 58-year-old, originally from Leicester, was found guilty of murder.
‘Ultimate hell’
The court head victim impact statements today from Mrs Satchwell’s sister and niece, who both slammed Satchwell’s claims about his wife.
“Richard Satchwell pushed a narrative for years that Tina was this violent and coercive-natured woman when in fact that couldn’t be any further from the truth,” said her sister, Lorraine Howard.
“I am so thankful that the jury could see through his lies and found him guilty of this despicable crime.”
Mrs Satchwell’s niece, Sarah Howard, added: “Richard Satchwell decided to portray Tina in a way during the trial that is not true to who she was.
“Tina was not a violent person, she was caring, gentle and loyal to those she loved.
“Having her name tarnished during the trial was very difficult.”
Richard Satchwell made numerous emotional appeals over his wife’s whereabouts (Picture: RTÉ)In her statement, Lorraine Howard described her sister’s killer as a ‘monster’, adding: “He put us as a family through the ultimate hell of not knowing what had happened to Tina for years.
“He manipulated us as the master manipulator he is into believing she would one day return.
“Having taken her life, he didn’t even have the decency to let us have her body and mourn her death, to bury her with the dignity she deserves.
“I will never be able to forgive Richard Satchwell for what he has done.”
‘Cruelty’
Sarah Howard said she found it impossible to comprehend how someone who was supposed to love and protect her aunt could take her life.
“There are no words that can truly capture the pain and heartbreak this has caused me and my family,” read her statement.
“What happened to her has shaken me to my core, and I can never be the person I was before this happened.”
Ms Howard also expressed her disgust at Satchwell offering her a freezer in which he had previously stored his wife’s body.
“What sort of person can do that?” she said.
“I ask that the court consider not just the crime but the cruelty that followed it and the deception, the stolen years and the false hope he gave us all that one day she might turn up.”
Mrs Satchwell met her husband after moving from Fermoy, Co. Cork to England to live with her grandmother in the 1980s.
The couple married in 1990 before relocation to Fermoy, later moving to Youghal in 2016.
Satchwell reported his wife missing on March 24, 2017, claiming he had last seen her at their home four days earlier.
He said he had returned from shopping and found his wife missing, along with two suitcases and €26,000, and made enquiries as to her whereabouts before contacting gardaí.