Arrest in Tina Satchwell disappearance case

road_high

I do find it difficult to reconcile the body being there in the (relatively small) house and AGS effectively walking by it and on seemingly several occasions. If that wasn’t procedure then the procedure is wrong in my opinion

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231392#Comment_121231392

I genuinely think that the Guards were suspicious all along; the whole story was suspicious, and the lady vanished without trace, not a whisp ever seen again, no activity, nothing.

Weren't some members of AGS seen in a pub joking about RS's claims? I believe that everyone in the force were suspicious but there was nothing they could go on to take it further.

odyssey06

If a warrant was needed for 'invasive' searches. Is there any non invasive technology that could have been used that might have detected something suspicious?

The house was examined by AGS, so the Guards have authority \ permission to do that? Just not invasively?

JeffKenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121230977#Comment_121230977

But surely that same logic would apply for the guards spending a month digging up Castlemartyr Woods looking for her body? What the hell were they doing and how much did that cost?

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231695#Comment_121231695

It still would have cost a packet but much less than the same kind of search inside a private dwelling.

road_high

Read something about next doors survey doing an infra red survey of the walls and something showed up- why in the name of heavens not do something similar?

JeffKenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231729#Comment_121231729

Golly I don't know, I would have thought the pay/overtime was the big cost in all these operations. 4 weeks versus the few days it took. Not to mention the technology they mentioned on the Sunday World podcast yesterday. That should have been done on the house before any dig in Castlemartyr.

the.red.baron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121228752#Comment_121228752

why

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231791#Comment_121231791

No doubt the Catlemartyr search did cost alot. The cost of reinstating a house though would be far higher - Do you know what building work costs nowadays - its shockingly high.

There is also the possibility of ripping a house apart and finding nothing and being sued by the owner. So it can be very costly from a machinery, labour, construction and legal costs point of view.

Definitely the gardai should have used dogs and maybe scanning equipment given that nobody seen Tina leave the house despite her living in a town and there being no CCTV footage of her anywhere.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231821#Comment_121231821

Gardai watching him, and wouldn't let it happen. They aren't just going to release their prime suspect and allow him to flee/kill himself.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231827#Comment_121231827

Search in the woods far outweighs the cost involved in doing simple repairs to the house. They knew exactly where they needed to look. Everyone in this thread knew where to look without even being in the house.

road_high

Search in the woods would be far more expensive as it’s a vast area- far bigger time and resources needed

the.red.baron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231387#Comment_121231387

where did you get your knowledge? because they can certainly use a shovel

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231947#Comment_121231947

Ripping a house structurally apart and putting back is a huge cost. Digging a defined area in the woods isnt the same cost at all and there is very little threat of being sued if nothing found.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231947#Comment_121231947

No they didn't know. People had suspicions but only one person knew where Tina's body was. People are making absurd claims about what should have happened and how AGS are incompetent, etc and really need to think about the approach constrained by what most call "the law". Gardai aren't given search warrants because a house that had undergone various minor repairs while the couple lived there showed signs of minor repairs. How many wrong digs are the gardai allowed to undertake (based on absolutely no credible information) before people start saying "hang on a minute"?

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232103#Comment_121232103

They did. You'll see that when further details are released.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232067#Comment_121232067

It's not really that big of a cost. There's not really that much damage done.

tayto lover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232053#Comment_121232053

I read up on things and so can you. Until every other scenario is exhausted and unless they have good information they can't just rock up and get a search warrant. Fred West was suspected for years and his home was searched but there was no invasive search for years until someone came forward. Then they found loads of bodies in the walls and patios of his home.

A quick google search of people going missing in Ireland - 2019 -- 9,506 people, 2020 -- 8,497 people, 2021 -- 9,598, 2022 -- 10,512. That's a lot of enquiries home and abroad, searches etc. Imagine if many of those needed cadaver dogs, warrants etc. In these investigations the Garda need help from the public, foreign police, Interpol etc.

A young girl in Dundalk, Ciara Breen, disappeared in 1997. I am very familiar with the case as I knew her mother and kept in touch with her until she died without knowing what happened to her daughter (only child). The Garda are still trying to find her and a year or two ago cadaver dogs were used in a very swampy area with no luck unfortunately. They followed up hundreds of leads even false claims made by cranks (and there were plenty of those) and are still actively investigation her disappearance but no break has come as yet. I am aware that they even found a couple of people who disappeared and didn't want to be found but not Ciara.

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232185#Comment_121232185

The boards.ie definition of "sure everyone knew" is unlikely to meet the legal threshold for probable cause.

The absolute worst outcome in these cases is the murderer walking away thanks to a detective warrant or botched search.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232067#Comment_121232067

You keep on saying ripping apart structurally. There's nothing structurally about a free standing non loadbearing wall under a staircase. Stop blowing the costs out of wack.

Drilling a hole in a wall, even knocking one block out to examine other side is cost in the hundreds.

There's a procedural gap here for the guards to update their policies. It's a gapping hole excuse the pun. But future cases like this should mean a policy change and spec to seek a warrant should be changed. If this new building Work didn't breach the spec then the spec needs updating or refinement.

Based on what the public have been told i believe a judge would have granted exploratory work confined to this area.

They didn't seek that, he got away with it. Pure luck or fortune changed that. And not actions of the authorities

MMAbhoy

What I dont understand is how there was no smell in the house? Was it because the body was covered in concrete?

I am with other posters here, a cadaver dog doing a scan of the house (*under open invite from Satchwell dont forget so need need for a warrant) would have put this whole case to bed years ago. Terrible situation for Tinas family and the ball has been dropped big time by AGS no matter what people say here.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232261#Comment_121232261

It doesn't have to meet legal threshold for probable cause. This is just an internet forum where people speculate, often randomly.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232371#Comment_121232371

Have you ever walked through a graveyard and smelled dead bodies below the ground?

MMAbhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232490#Comment_121232490

That explains it

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232316#Comment_121232316

Whatever you think. Have you done much work to your house lately yourself?

You think digging up a floor and digging down isnt significant work that could undermine a houses structure - I have my head in my hands here.

JDD

I think he killed her, brought her remains to a lock up unit in the car, or perhaps a shallow grave in Castlemartyr Woods, and then reported her missing.

The Guards must have searched the Grattan St house, perhaps even with sniffer dogs, and found nothing. The Guards say that the covering wall was not built at that time.

He would then have brought the body back to the house during the course of renovation works, and buried her. Either he, or a contractor, would have built the wall covering over the stairwell area. If it was a contractor I'm sure they did not know that a body was buried there. He then sold his car in case there was any forensic evidence to be gotten from it.

He would never have been able to move house, in case the next occupants discovered the body. He would have got away with it except for the neighbouring house was finally occupied after years of being derelict. The houses apparently share pipes, and the neighbours complained of a terrible smell during the course of their renovation works. Drain specialists were brought in to clear the blocked drain, and found evidence of human remains.

I don't blame the Guards in this case. Lock up units are notorious for not keeping accurate records (its in their interests not to) so perhaps they just didn't know about the lock up. This lad was smart, but also had a bit of luck on his side. Well, until now.

snoopy84

I believe embalming is a legal requirement and am assuming that would eliminate some smell. Although I'm not saying that's the only reason graveyards don't smell i don't know why they don't

GSBellew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232490#Comment_121232490

They have been embalmed, had bodily fluids drained etc, not to mention the fact that you are outside in a graveyard with plentiful air movement versus in an enclosed space inside a house with much more limited ventilation.

Witcher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232653#Comment_121232653

It's not a legal requirement.

Henry James

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232371#Comment_121232371

Would Richard have allowed it though ? He would not have to. Were Gardai in the house when she was missing? They probably were when speaking to him. Is it right it's only recently the body was brought back to the house?