A new book has delved into new detail about how mistakes by An Garda Síochána nearly let Richard Satchwell get away with murdering his wife, Tina.
In March 2017, Gardaí were informed that a woman called Tina Satchwell had vanished from her home in Youghal, County Cork.
It would take more than eight years for them to bring her husband, her killer, to justice.
In the months and years afterwards, Satchwell posed as a man who was desperately worried about his missing wife, appearing on multiple media outlets begging his wife to return.
In fact, her body was decomposing in a cupboard in the home they had lived in together.
All despite Gardaí having searched the property mere months after Tina was reported missing.
On The Pat Kenny Show, Ralph Riegel, co-author of Beneath the Stairs: The Disappearance of Tina Satchwell and the Discovery that Shocked the Nation, described that first search as “not an invasive search”.
“There weren't walls dug up or floors dug up and nothing of significance was found,” he said.
Tina Satchwell.Gardaí concluded Tina wasn’t there and Satchwell continued with his media appearances, urging his wife to come home.
With hindsight, Mr Riegel added, this was “one of the extraordinary elements” of the case.
“He would drive to studios in Dublin for interviews, he would agree to broadcast interviews at major points in the case,” he continued.
“And the emotions; my co-author Paul Byrne has said that if there is a drama group in Limerick Prison where he’s serving his life sentence, he should definitely get involved because some of his performances were Academy Award winning standard.
“Those interviews were actually played during his murder trial.”
Tina Satchwell.Despite his repeated protestations of concern for his missing spouse, Gardaí remained suspicious that Satchwell was not telling them the truth.
When a woman’s skeletal remains were found in 2021 during the construction of a Cork greenway, Gardaí visited Satchwell to inform him that they might have found his wife.
“They realised within 24 hours that it was a much older woman and the remains had been in situ for much longer than Tina had vanished,” Mr Riegel said.
“The extraordinary thing about Richard Satchwell is that Gardaí went to his house to inform him that there had been a body found and one of the Gardaí, having turned around from the door to walk back, said to his colleague, ‘That’s definitely not Tina.’
“They knew from his reaction that it wasn’t the remains of Tina.”
Richard Satchwell leaves the District Court in Cashel, County Tipperary. Picture by: Alamy.com.Despite Gardaí’s suspicions, had it not been for the appointment of Ann Marie Twomey as the local inspector in 2021, Satchwell might quite literally have gotten away with murder.
Determined to get to the bottom of Tina’s disappearance, she ordered a review of the case.
A forensic archeologist flagged that it was notable and concerning that Satchwell had taken several days to report Tina missing.
The fact that home improvements were underway in the property at the time was another red flag.
They also re-examined the results of the first search of the Satchwell property.
“In the original June 2017 search, Gardaí had taken Richard Satchwell’s phones and a number of laptops,” he said.
“When those laptops were analysed, they discovered that in the very week that Tina had vanished, Richard Satchwell had done a Google search about quicklime and the disposal of bodies.”
A member of the Garda Dog Unit at the scene in Youghal.A second search of the house was ordered in October 2023 - this time with a cadaver dog - and human remains were discovered.
Satchwell was charged with murder and convicted this summer of murdering Tina.
Speaking in the wake of the verdict, then Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said "in hindsight" it seemed "pretty obvious" where Tina’s body had been buried.
A review into An Garda Síochána’s handling of the case is underway.
Main image: Richard Satchwell arrives at the District Court in Cashel, County Tipperary in October 2023. Picture by: Alamy.com.
