Richard Satchwell was 'flogging' wife's clothes at car boot sale weeks after alleged murder, court hears

Olivia Kelleher

Richard Satchwell was "flogging" his wife Tina's clothes at a car boot sale just weeks after her alleged murder and claimed she had gone to her sister's in the UK after contracting a "terrible infection", witnesses have told his trial.

Earlier, the court heard that a phone linked to Mr Satchwell, who told gardai that he kept the body of his wife Tina in a freezer before burying her beneath their home, posted an ad on Done Deal reading "Large chest freezer free to take away, working perfect just needs a clean" days after her alleged murder.

The trial has heard that on March 24th 2017, Mr Satchwell told gardai that his wife Tina, had left their home four days earlier but that he had no concerns over her welfare, feeling she had left due to a deterioration in their relationship.

The accused reported that Tina had taken approximately €26,000 from their savings from a box in the attic.

The accused formally reported his wife missing the following May but her body was not discovered for over six years, when gardai in October 2023 conducting "an invasive search" of the Satchwell's home found her decomposed remains in a grave that had been dug underneath the stairs.

Forensic accountant

Forensic accountant Tadhg Twomey told Gerardine Small SC, prosecuting, today that he was aware Mr Satchwell had told gardaí that his wife had taken €26K, which had been raised over a four to five-year period.

Mr Twomey said the accused had stated publicly that the €26,000 was from the sale of the couple's property in Youghal and that they could make up to €200 a week from selling items at car boot sales.

The witness said that, while looking through the couple's finances, he was made aware that Tina Satchwell had an account with 'Littlewoods Ireland' with a credit line for a maximum of €4,500.

He said that from mid-2016 to February/March 2017, this line of credit was 90 per cent used, and by the end of 2017, it was fully breached. He said there were significant arrears building up on the account at the time.

Mr Twomey said the sale of a house in Fermoy was for €120,000, which was used to pay off fees for the purchase of the house on Grattan Street in Youghal. He said at the end of that process, €372 in remaining funds was left to the Satchwells.

The witness testified that there was "no sign" the Satchwells had received "a significant cash windfall" to provide them with €26,000 in savings.

Under cross-examination, the witness agreed with Brendan Grehan SC, defending, that Tina had no recorded employment.

'DONE DEAL'

Sergeant Ciaran Crowley told Ms Small that he had conducted enquiries with the website 'DoneDeal' about the activities of Richard and Tina Satchwell.

The Sgt said he received a response from 'DoneDeal' on August 10 2017 stating that an advert associated with Mr Satchwell's phone had been published at 9.49 am on March 31st 2017 which read: "Large chest freezer free to take away, working perfect just needs a clean only, giving away because I need the space".

Mary Crowley told Ms Small that she attended a car boot sale on April 17th 2017 in Blarney and she saw Mr Satchwell with his stall selling 'Dr Martens' boots.

Ms Crowley said Mr Satchwell told her that he and his wife had moved into a house which had been unoccupied for 12 years and had mould or fungus.

He said Tina had gotten a "very serious respiratory illness" and was in the UK.

The witness added: "I must have said what will she [Tina] say when she comes back and you're flogging her stuff. He said 'she told me to sell them as we need money to make repairs to the house'."

She said the accused told her that Tina was immunocompromised.

The daughter of the previous witness, Julie Crowley, said Mr Satchwell told her and her mother that his wife had developed a serious respiratory infection when they moved into a house.

The accused told them the house needed serious structural work and approval from the health board. She said Mr Satchwell said he and his wife were raising money for work that had to be done on the house.

The next witness, Ger Carey, said he got to know Tina Satchwell through car boot sales in Cork. Mr Carey said he met the accused at his stall at the Blarney car boot sale.

"I said 'has Tina gone walkabout', he said 'no she is not here today'. He said she had gotten very ill and was with her sister in England who was looking after her".

Mr Carey said the accused told him that Tina was so ill she wouldn't be at car boot sales anymore.

Under cross-examination, Mr Carey agreed with the defence he had said in his statement that Mr Satchwell told him Tina wouldn't be the same again, and not that he wouldn't see her at car boot sales anymore.

Linda Hennessy said she was at the Rathcormac car boot sale in late March/early April 2017 and met Richard Satchwell. She asked Richard whether Tina was "running around buying stuff" but said he had put his head down.

"I waited until the people went. I went over and said 'is Tina alright'. 'No' he said, 'she is not, she is very sick and in hospital'," said the witness.

The witness asked Richard which hospital and whether she could go to see her.

"He said to me you can't, she's gone over now to the UK to her sister". She said Richard told her that Tina had got a "terrible infection" through "dry rot" from the walls in their house.

"I said right, how come you didn't get it. He looked down. I said are you in contact with her on the phone, please send my regards to her," said the witness.

When Ms Hennessy asked the accused whether he was going to the UK, Mr Satchwell said he had to get passports for the dogs.

Under cross-examination, the witness agreed with the defence that it was normal for the couple to sell Tina's "stuff'.

First arrest in 2023

Detective Garda David Kelleher said he went with a search warrant to Grattan Street in Youghal at 5pm on October 10 2023, where he arrested Mr Satchwell for the murder of Tina Satchwell on or about March 19 2017 and brought him to Cobh Garda Station.

In his interview with gardai at 8.05pm that night, Mr Satchwell said his wife asked him to go to Dungarvan on the morning of March 20 2017 and when he arrived back a couple of hours later, Tina's keys were on the floor and her phone was in the kitchen.

He spotted that two suitcases were missing as well as €26,000 which he said didn't surprise him. He said he went to bed that night and the next few days were "a blur".

He said he was "nervy", pacing around the house and hadn't slept that week. "My companion I had walked around with for 30 years was not walking beside me so I was lonely.

"I was 100 percent convinced she was in Fermoy. I kept the same routine going until the Friday". He told gardaí he had measured up plasterboard for the ceilings of the house in the shed and busied himself around the house that week.

The accused said he reported his wife missing to gardai on March 24 when he went to Tina's relatives in Fermoy and she wasn't there. "It's like having 20 tons of brick having fallen on you when realise she wasn't where thought she was". He said he went home and was "an emotional wreck".

Mr Satchwell told detectives he drove around looking at places she had been and went to a couple of car boots sales that week. He said he told everyone except one person that Tina wasn't feeling well and "tried to keep it that she had dignity if she came back".

Asked about March 19 2017, the accused told gardai that when Tina got out of the bath that night he would have two towels on the bed and then rubbed baby oil into her. She put on her nightie and got into bed.

He said he then got into the same bath water and went to bed. He said he would rub baby oil on his wife's face every morning.

Mr Satchwell said Tina would hit him, fling a plate at him and bite him. "Then she'd calm down and there would be tears and she'd apologise for it". He said he didn't hit her back. He said they didn't need an argument for her to hit him.

He said the last time they argued was the previous December/January, when she threw a lamp at him, adding: "You never admit being hit by your partner....you are talking over 30 years".

He said there had been a few hundred fights between them over 30 years; "times I'd hide in the attic when my family visited, times I had to take off work as I couldn't turn up looking the way I did.

"She had black bruises on her hands from repeatedly hitting me....someone said to her your arms are black and she said she wouldn't hit me again".

The accused said Tina would get off a chair, be on top of him and be "belting into" him; "don't ask me the dates". "I don't know the incident that preceded it because there were so many".

He said he was beaten so badly in 1994/1995 he took an overdose.....Tina is a beautiful looking woman, heart of gold, yes she hurt me physically and mentally". He said the violence began before they were married.

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.

In her opening address, Ms Small told the jury that after the body was recovered, Mr Satchwell told gardai that he lost his footing and fell to the ground when his wife tried to stab him with a chisel.

He told detectives that he held her weight off with a belt but that in a matter of seconds, she was dead in his arms.

Mr Satchwell (58), with an address at Grattan Street, Youghal, Co Cork has pleaded not guilty to murdering his 45-year-old wife Tina Satchwell - nee Dingivan - at that address between March 19 and March 20, 2017, both dates inclusive.