There were “so many missed opportunities” for Gardaí to convict killer Richard Satchwell sooner, a journalist has said. 

Earlier this year, the 58 year old was convicted of murdering his wife, Tina, and sentenced to life in prison. 

Ms Dingivan, whose family now refer to her by her maiden name, went missing in March 2017, sparking a nationwide search. 

During that time, Satchwell made numerous appeals for his wife to return home. 

In fact, he knew she was dead; having killed her and buried her in their Cork home. 

Tina Dingivan.

Her body was finally found by Gardaí in 2023 after they carried out a thorough search of the Youghal property. 

In a new documentary broadcast on Virgin Media, The Trial of Richard Satchwell, journalist Deborah Naylor said it should not have taken eight years to resolve the case. 

“[Gardaí] did find a laptop belonging to Richard Satchwell back in 2017, months after Tina disappeared,” she revealed. 

“Which had searches for quicklime and other crucial evidence and those laptops weren’t analysed until 2021. 

“So, there were so many missed opportunities.” 

A member of the Garda Dog Unit at the scene of Ms Dingivan's home Youghal. Picture by: Jamie O’Hara/Newstalk

Ms Naylor added that while the family are grateful that they now know what happened to Ms Dingivan, they also feel that “justice should have come for them a lot sooner”. 

During the filming of the documentary, Ms Naylor got to know Ms Dingivan’s niece, Sarah, and sister, Lorraine, both of whom had had different views about what happened to her. 

“For them, as you can imagine, this has been the most incredibly difficult [time] - almost a decade - since Tina first went missing and they had no idea what happened to her,” she said. 

“Sarah harboured some suspicions and Lorraine said she never suspected Richard Satchwell until the day Gardaí came to her door and said that he’d been arrested for murder.” 

Flowers and messages left near to the scene where Tina Dingivan's remains were discovered in Youghal, Co. Cork. Picture by: PA Images / Alamy.com.

During the trial, Satchwell claimed he killed Ms Dingivan because she attacked him with a chisel. 

He also told Gardaí that his wife had a “short fuse” and was prone to “violent outbursts”. 

“This is really the first time the family are a chance to speak about what kind of person Tina was,” Ms Naylor said. 

“And what she was about and the things that she loved and what really went on during this time.

“We’re hearing it from someone else, other than Richard Satchwell.” 

According to Women’s Aid, 275 women in Ireland have died violently between 1996 and the present day. 

Globally, some 85,000 women and girls were killed in 2023. 

Main image: Richard Satchwell arrives at the District Court in Cashel, County Tipperary in October 2023. Picture by: Alamy.com.