Richard Satchwell always seemed “quite comfortable” inside the house where he murdered his wife, Tina, a journalist who interviewed him several times has recalled. 

Last May, Satchwell was convicted of murdering his wife, Tina Dingivan, who he reported as missing back in 2017. 

For several years afterwards, he spun a web of lies that deceived some - but left others highly suspicious. 

He insisted that he simply came home one day and found that Ms Dingivan had vanished, taking their savings with her. 

In fact, Satchwell had killed her and buried her body under the stairs of the home they shared together in Youghal, Cork. 

One journalist who got to know Satchwell well after he killed his wife was RTÉ’s Barry Cummins, who interviewed him many times during the years that he maintained the pretence that his wife was missing. 

Speaking to Newstalk Daily following the publication of his book, Buried Secrets, Mr Cummins remembered thinking Satchwell was a “friendly man who said very little”. 

RTÉ had called him up to ask if they could interview him for a Prime Time episode in his house and he readily agreed. 

“He seemed slightly in awe of us being there or being in the house,” Mr Cummins recalled. 

“He seemed to be slightly wide eyed looking around as if he was a deer in headlights when the lights went on for the camera.

“But then he seemed also to be in control; he was telling us where to sit and where we would do the interview in the front room of the house, he struck me as an odd character.

“But also, I was conscious I was a guest in his house and he was making an appeal for his missing wife.”

Tina Dingivan. 

The couple’s home had originally been searched by Gardaí in June 2017 but no trace of Ms Dingivan’s body had been found. 

It was only in October 2023 when they returned and carried out a more thorough search that her remains were found. 

It was then that Satchwell was arrested and charged with murder. 

“I went into the house because I knew Gardaí had searched it,” Mr Cummins said. 

“I always thought it was very possible Richard had murdered his wife, that he might be the person responsible - but I never thought she was in the house.

“I thought, ‘Well, if he's responsible, he's a truck driver, he delivers tires around the country, Tina might be in Donegal or Wexford or Kerry’ - given his capacity to drive around the place.” 

Tina Dingivan. 

Despite the fact that his wife’s body was composing just a few metres away from where he was chatting to journalists, Mr Cummins recalled that Satchwell always seemed “quite comfortable” with guests in the house. 

“Although it was going to be part of his undoing years later when these interviews were later played to a jury,” he added. 

“But he liked being in control and he liked the fact that he liked that we were there. 

“That was my impression of him too, that he actually enjoyed the attention.” 

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

Still, Mr Cummins always viewed him with suspicion - although he tried to keep an open mind whenever they spoke. 

“That was difficult,” he admitted. 

“But I was also thinking, what if a random attacker took Tina away? 

“What if there's somebody else responsible and Richard just looks the part and even the fact that he waited all those days before he reported her missing? 

“What if that's just something silly and stupid that he did, but that it doesn't actually betray guilt?” 

A member of the Garda Dog Unit at the scene in Youghal. Picture by: RollingNews.ie. 

While Mr Cummins never viewed Satchwell as a friend, they were on first name terms with each and would sometimes discuss media coverage of the case. 

Satchwell always insisted that print journalists were “manipulating what he was saying”. 

“He would also say that he liked being on radio live so that he could control what he would say himself,” Mr Cummins recalled. 

“I think he did enjoy the television interviews, but he came to trust some of the reporters as well, the television reporters. 

“He would refer to the print media as the press and try to get me to almost agree with him that the press are out to get him and whatever.” 

Sentencing

Following his conviction, Satchwell was handed a mandatory life sentence by Mr Justice Paul McDermott. 

In a victim impact statement, Ms Dingivan’s sister, Lorraine Howard, said she would “never be able to forgive Richard Satchwell for what he has done”. 

“He manipulated us as the master manipulator he is into believing she would one day return,” she said. 

“Having taken her life, he didn’t even have the decency to let us have her body and mourn her death.” 

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