Man who buried wife under stairs sentenced to life in prison

A man who killed his wife and kept her body hidden for years under the stairs of their County Cork home has been sentenced to life in prison.

Tina Satchwell, who was 45, was killed by Richard Satchwell in March 2017.

The trial lasted almost five weeks, and the jury at the Central Criminal Court took just under ten hours to find Satchwell guilty of murder last week.

The judge heard victim impact statements from Tina Satchwell’s family before imposing the mandatory life sentence.

Speaking on Wednesday, Tina’s cousin, Sarah Howard said that she was murdered “by someone who claimed to love her”.

“The emotional toll of her loss is something I will carry with me always,” she said.

Tina’s half-sister Lorraine Howard said the way Tina was buried in plastic in her own home “sends shivers down my spine every time I think about it”.

“I will never be able to forgive Richard Satchwell for what he has done.”

Ms Howard used her Tina’s maiden name Tina Dingivan and also said Satchwell had wanted her where he could still have the ultimate control – in his home under the stairs.

Days after the murder, Satchwell reported his wife missing and lied about what happened to her, including telling police savings of €26,000 were also missing.

On October 2023, gardaí (Irish police) returned to the couple’s home in Youghal for a further search where they found her body buried in a makeshift grave.

Satchwell was rearrested and changed his story saying his wife flew at him with a chisel and she died as he tried to hold her off.

He said he transferred her body to a disused freezer, buried her in a grave he dug under the stairs and cemented over her body.

Satchwell appeared in court on Wednesday in a light blue shirt.

His barrister told the court that he intends to appeal, and that he “never intended to kill Tina”.

Mr Grehan also said that Satchwell said: “Despite anything he said in the trial, Tina was a lovely person.”

The prosecution said his account was farcical and pointed out he was 6ft 2in (188cm) tall while Ms Satchwell was small and weighed only eight stone. The defence claimed there was no evidence of an intent to kill.

The jury deliberated for nine hours and 28 minutes, before reaching a unanimous decision that Satchwell intended to kill or cause serious injury to his wife.

Tina Satchwell’s family said she had been portrayed in court as someone that was not Tina.

During the trial, Satchwell attempted to portray Tina as violent and volatile, he also claimed that she frequently assaulted him.

No evidence of this violence was brought to the court and most witnesses told the court they had heard Satchwell’s claims that his wife was violent after she went missing in 2017.