Tina Satchwell *Mod note in op*

awec

This whole thing sounds mad.

It sounds like this was underneath the concrete floor of the house, this would be very compacted earth, likely full of rocks etc too. Presumably done by hand.

Digging a 1 metre deep hole big enough for a body in this would take serious time and effort. How did he even break through the original concrete floor without arousing suspicion?

Mo Ghile Mear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231002#Comment_121231002

Ahh fair enough. I hadn’t heard that it had been noted. Still not grounds to rip up the place at the time I guess, although I’m sure all that will be reviewed in due course.

AndrewJRenko

It's possible that it was all planned well in advance, and he may have had the materials in place. He might possibly have had the excavation works already done, under some kind of cover story.

Mo Ghile Mear

He must have been feeling really smug when the navy divers were trawling the water in youghal harbour, and gardai were bringing diggers and cadaver dogs into the forest at Castlemartyr.

And she was under the stairs all the time.

He must have a brass neck.

Viscount Aggro

He should have left the country years ago.

Theres plenty of places he could disappear to.

the.red.baron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121230156#Comment_121230156

stupid questions dont get answered

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231201#Comment_121231201

People who kill their partner and then give media interviews for years about it generally do not have a normal disposition.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231065#Comment_121231065

He will probably use something like that in his defence but it won’t hold water. He might say she fell down the stairs and hit her head and that she had always said that if anything happened her she wanted to be forever close to him. A prosecutor might argue that it is indeed natural to want to feel close to a deceased loved one but that a reasonable person would have them cremated and keep the urn of ashes to this end.

the.red.baron

the more that comes out the worse the garda involved look

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231259#Comment_121231259

Why? Or are you assuming the law preventing them from demolishing every house that reports a missing person is their fault? What exactly did AGS do wrong here?

Gardai, when routinely investigating a premises under suchlike circumstances would ideally need to bring a suitably qualified construction engineer who would be in a good position to assess any bricking up scenario and how new it might be. Normally under the stairs you might find a downstairs toilet or the fuse box or under stair storage. It would be strange to have a potential useful space bricked off.

the.red.baron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231268#Comment_121231268

do you think the law would stop them digging up the back garden if someone had put a grave in it, no officer thats always been there

Seth Brundle

As I understand it, the Satchwells had been making alterations to the house since they bought it so the work under the stairs might not have been as much of a "gotcha" moment. The garda doing the search was searching for a missing person, not a murder victim (although an open minded garda would obviously be thinking of potential avenues including murder)

Regarding the notion that Gardaí are unable to act on “hunches” police very much do assess behaviour of potential witnesses as part of the clues in conducting an investigation. Human behaviour is a very important factor, especially if somebody acts in a way that would be reasonably unexpected of a person who has a loved one missing. These would not necessarily be used in court as evidence, but could lead to a significant line of enquiry. Personally I’d be in quite sone state if as much as a pet of mine were missing and this is the case to various extents by most people.

cuculainn

Any chance the Guards suggested to the workers next door to have a look with a camera? To give them the opportunity to investigate properly?

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231127#Comment_121231127

It’s mad Ted alright. I know the buildings either side were vacant at the time (is my understanding) but still, that’s a lot of work - and at some point you’ll have soil/rubble etc to dispose of

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231325#Comment_121231325

They can act on hunches but not do the work that has gone on here in recent days. Gardai have finite resources. You can't have gardai asking for cadaver dogs to traipse around every house where you have a hunch that there might have been a murder

arctictree

Fair play to the dog for sniffing that out under a meter of concrete after so many years!

the.red.baron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231324#Comment_121231324

when you search a house for a missing person, are you expecting them to be hiding under the bead? In a closet? under a duvet?

you might be looking for missing items etc, but in reality you are looking for signs of the murder

especially when the husband took 4 days to report her missing, she has no mental issue, didnt take phone, passport, car.....

the.red.baron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231347#Comment_121231347

if they dont have the resources to investigate an obvious murder... where are we at? its a tad bit more than a hunch now isn't it

its a civil matter 🤣

nullzero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231228#Comment_121231228

He had to stay put to ensue the burial site wasn't disturbed.

It's good that this has had a resolution finally.

GBX

At which point did it become an obvious murder ? The past few days or when she went missing? Because it's only been a few days since they searched again. And until they located the body no evidence of murder was apparent.

the.red.baron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231394#Comment_121231394

somewhere round 2017

Citizen Six

So he knew all along that she wasn't going to come back, and that bottle of "shoesecco" was never going to be enjoyed!

Furze99

Report that suspicious material found in a drain. What could have been put down and when? If 6 years ago, surely decomposed by now? Hardly recent?

Regardless of the outcome of DNA tests etc., the oddest aspect of this whole story is the 4 day delay in reporting a missing spouse.

chooseusername

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231373#Comment_121231373

They had sufficient resources to investigate reports of a missing person back then, There was no "obvious murder" to investigate.

Hindsight is wonderful.

screamer

A passport maybe? Clothing or jewellery? You’d never know.

BTW when was the last verified time she was definitely alive, apart from when he said he last saw her? As in, it might have been a lot longer than 4 days.

Theres definitely a large portion of this story still to be revealed.

rubbledoubledo

Exactly I would like to know what is the connection here, if her remains were found under the stairs, what did the neighbour find then , after all these years, must be still some bit intact

GBX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231401#Comment_121231401

But in 2017 there was no body found. So no obvious murder only a missing person case.

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231373#Comment_121231373

To rip a house apart structurally and then put back together you are talking huge money - probably in the region of €200K or more. A decision to do this is not taken lightly and cannot be done without reasonable certainty that there could be a body there. The gardai cannot do this for every missing person.

Even now unbelievably there will be a responsibility for the authorities to put this house back in good order at a huge cost even if he is charged.

And if there is a twist in the tale and the body found is not identified as Tina but someone else from a time when the house not owned by the Satchwells well then 'the owner' can take legal action and will be awarded a high some of money based on the actions of the Gardai.

So do you now see the issues at play.

Yes I think dogs should have been used and maybe scanning equipment - there is an argument that the gardai were wrong not doing this.