Richard Satchwell Found Guilty

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123502732#Comment_123502732

it was there for 4 years 2017-2021 without resolution. The 2021 team did proper thorough police work!!! Nobody is saying her body should have then been found days after the new team took over.

Behind the scenes, multiple sources have said that the case would have never been solved if it wasn’t for Kelleher’s tenacity and sheer bloody mindedness which got the investigation to the point where gardaí could dig inside the terraced house on Grattan Street in Youghal where Tina Satchwell’s remains were found.

Below clearly shows these were wasted years. Not completely wasted, but not bloody well acted on. It took months of re-examination of the file. The file that initial gardai let sit

Fixing the missteps
Sources have said there had been profound missteps in the original investigation that started in 2017, including missed opportunities, leads not followed, glaring holes in stories and phone records not pursued.
There was also a hugely expensive search of a woodland when the gardaí leading the probe had very little to go on. A local man had allegedly come forward with information that Richard Satchwell had been spotted in the area – but it proved to not be accurate.
Multiple sources have said that the search caused significant disquiet among senior officers, particularly as their budgets for day-to-day policing were left suffering in its wake.
The Satchwell case was going cold at that stage – sources said assessments for some garda commanders were that there was a need to focus on cases that could be solved. 


Review
Kelleher began to pick the file apart. He found investigative errors and missed leads and bit by bit, he began compiling a new strategy. In evidence given in court, Kelleher’s boss Detective Inspector Annmarie Twomey, said it took months to re-examine the file.
The evidence included witness statements, CCTV, details of the search of Tina’s home in 2017 when she first went missing, inquiries at ports and airports, inquiries with social welfare and the passport offices, media appeals by Gardaí and Richard Satchwell, and inquiries into reported sightings.
Well-placed sources said that Kelleher found some key clues in the file, including critical information around phone traffic and their locations. The issue wasn’t that the information wasn’t collected by the original investigators – it was that it was not identified as a critical part of the puzzle.

walshb

As usual, it’s tenacity and desire and doggedness that gets these cases over the line. There are some brilliant people in AGS. Kelleher (and his team) an example of this here.

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123502535#Comment_123502535

He knew fcking well he murdered her the evil lying b0ll0x- that’s why he didn’t contact emergency services - doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work that out

Spanish Eyes

It's common for the perpetrator to be the last person to see the missing/deceased person alive. That was Satchwell.

Many murders are committed by the spouse/partner. They are the first to be under suspicion. Satchwell.

No CCTV sightings, and no activity on bank accounts etc. = Deceased.

So that's three fairly recent incidents of sub par Garda investigations, Sophie T De Plantier, Michael Gaine, and Tina Satchwell. I'm sure there are many more.

If a current Garda could get to the bottom of this, then why did the previous Gardai not?

Anyway, none of this will bring her back. I sat in Court 6 in the public seats for one day during this trial. It was very interesting for the most part but the microphones were absolute crap. Very difficult to hear the Defence and Prosecuting barristers because they didn't have their mikes positioned properly and they were facing forward, the public behind them. It drove me nuts. Interesting to see how it all operates, despite the sad reason for the trial. Satchwell sat in the dock and looked very relaxed, well, and his demeanour suggested he hadn't got a care in the world, smiling at his barrister etc. It was fascinating to watch.

It was the correct verdict in the end. That's all that matters I suppose. Appeal next maybe? Free legal aid again I suppose.

OmegaGene

interesting read

https://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2025/0531/1515928-buried-below-three-stories-from-inside-the-satchwell-house/

briany

I heard on the Crime World podcast that Satchwell had said (to the gards, I assume) he used to 'chat' with Tina as she laid under the stairs and, in one instance at least, crawled into the space to be close to her during one particularly intimate 'conversation'. What a bizarre image.

Oscar_Madison

While I’m sure someone’s going to write a book on it- considering how it all played out in the media, hard to see there being any unique insight - Even if you got an interview with Satchwell post trial, all that would exit his mouth would be excrement

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503487#Comment_123503487

Yeah, well you don't typically interview killers for their amazing truth-telling ability. I think there's a tacit assumption that they're going to be unreliable. But what is interesting is the snippets of warped psychology they might reveal.

New Scottman

hopefully he’ll get a life sentence

Tina also comes across as someone with a lot of issues. They sound like they had similar personalities.

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503545#Comment_123503545

Well in fairness, a lot of killers come clean once caught - not all I grant you- but most aren’t actively inviting media to stay with them in the house where they killed their wife either -

fullstop

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123500246#Comment_123500246

It’s not like the movies or the US where they can just break his door down and start pulling the house apart. Not really how things work here. You can be damn sure they suspected him from the start, but they have to build a case.

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503560#Comment_123503560

Judging by the number of holes the gards were able to pick in Satchwell's story even after finding Tina, it's probable that he didn't come clean even then, or at least this is what the jury seemed to think. It appears that he just put forward the best story he could based on what he thought the Gards had on him.

Anything anybody who kills and then tries to hide the body cannot be fully trusted with what they tell you, since that is an action indicative of a highly deceitful, secretive nature. But, like I say, it's not even what makes interviews with killers compelling if you're writing a book on their crimes.

afkasurfjunkie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503548#Comment_123503548

we have never heard Tina’s side. That scumbag silenced her. Everything he’s said is his own fabrication. He sounds like a controlling narcissist. She was his living doll until he couldn’t control her any longer. He even admitted bathing her and painting her toenails. He made it sound like he was her domestic servant but I’d hazard a guess the situation was very different.

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503569#Comment_123503569

that’s just it. They didn’t build any case. It was left stalled until a new Garda crew took it and they built the case and joined the dots. Starting 4 years later than the first Garda team. The “movies” have nothing to do with it

suvigirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503548#Comment_123503548

What else could he get??!!

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503548#Comment_123503548

it’s a a mandatory life sentence here

Leg End Reject

Mod: @New Scottman, please do not make speculative statements about Tina Satchwell, her right to give her side of the story was taken from her when she was murdered.

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503603#Comment_123503603

Can the judge consider premeditation in the sentencing? In my opinion, it's impossible to know if this was the case from the evidence I've seen, so without that, it might have a bearing on the number of years he gets. On the other hand, that could be offset by the pain and suffering he knowingly caused by concealing the body and leading the gards on a wild goose chase.

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503637#Comment_123503637

as far as I know it’s a life sentence. No other option available here. We don’t do minimum years to serve or whole life tariffs

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503637#Comment_123503637

I assume the judge will also factor Satchwell's clear lack of remorse at what happened, given the tall tales from him including the farcical cause of death story

suvigirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503637#Comment_123503637

Murder carries an automatic life sentence. Murder is premeditated, that's what the jury found

OmegaGene

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503637#Comment_123503637

murder conviction gets a life sentence nothing else

cap.in.hand.

I've often wondered if Richard hadn't reported her missing to gardai...sold the house within a few months...left the country... would anyone really have taken notice of Tina not being around youghal...now if she was working in some shop/business ...it would be suspicious not turning up for work...but that didn't apply to Tina... he'd move on in life away somewhere and probably wouldn't be missed in youghal either

arctictree

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123504120#Comment_123504120

Probably too risky to sell the house with her remains still in it. Actually, the fact that he still had the house and hadn't moved after so much time could be seen as suspicious in itself.

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123504120#Comment_123504120

Tina’s blood relatives remained silent throughout this investigation mainly I suspect, because they knew Tina very well, so they knew Richard’s version was bullsh1t- they made very few statements but from recollection, the ones they did make made it very clear they knew something happened her.
So I’d disagree that Richard could have “got away” with killing her and just “moving on”- he thought he held the public narrative on what happened to her- everyone else knew he was a lying fcker and were just waiting on the inevitable breakthrough.

Can anyone tell me why a cadaver dog wasn’t used in the first search? By the time the Gardai had searched the house, they had determined that there was absolutely no evidence of Tina leaving her home town- none whatsoever - as a result, Shirley that’s sufficient cause to search the house using a cadaver dog? They had a search warrant- they stayed in the house for about 10 hours or so - it’s just incredible how they didn’t even twig that the new concrete could be worth a further investigation

cap.in.hand.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123504458#Comment_123504458

Richard and Tina were living in UK, cork city,fermoy, and then youghal so it wouldn't be unusual even to her family if they moved somewhere else again hypotheticaly...in hindsight...the way he went about covering up his crime made him guilty straight away ..

OmegaGene

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123504619#Comment_123504619

I heard on the crime world podcast they also lived in mallow

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123504458#Comment_123504458

Can anyone tell me why a cadaver dog wasn’t used in the first search?

It was still a missing persons case so there were limited search options available to the gardai. Why it wasn't upgraded to a murder investigation is what is difficult to understand.

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123504458#Comment_123504458

From what I read she hadn't had contact with her family for years. The relationship with them was troubled as she found out later in life that the woman she beleived to be her mother was actually her grandmother.

Her cousin who spoke at the trial mentioned she hadn't spoke to Tina for years prior to her disappearance. There is also of course the possibility that Richard was keeping them apart.

I think Tina had a very tough life all round

It's possible if he said nothing it would have taken a long time for anyone to notice she was missing. Maybe he enjoyed the media attention by reporting her missing.- nobody knows

Leg End Reject

Mod: Please stop the armchair psychology and diagnosing the victim and convicted in this case. Some posts will be deleted buy warnings will follow.