Gardaí told Richard Satchwell his description of his wife's death 'didn't make sense'

Gardaí told Richard Satchwell that his description of his wife's death after he held her off by the belt of her bathrobe "didn't make sense" and was "most likely a physical impossibility", a Central Criminal Court jury has heard.

The murder accused also said he wasn't trying to "bullshit" detectives. 

"I'm going to prison, there will be no jury because I'm going to plead guilty," Mr Satchwell told gardaí in interviews after they uncovered Tina Satchwell's body in a grave beneath the stairway of her home.

In his first interview with gardaí following his re-arrest on October 12, 2023, Mr Satchwell said that his wife Tina "flew" at him with a chisel, that he had fallen backwards and described holding the belt of her bathrobe at her neck "until she got heavier".

"Before I know it, it had all stopped, it just stopped. I put my arms around her, she fell down on top of me. I didn't know what to do," said Mr Satchwell.

During a second interview on the same day, the accused was asked by detectives to physically describe Tina. 

"I can describe her in one word for you; physically perfect," he said.

Gardai put it to the accused that he hadn't described any attempts to revive Tina. 

"I lay there numb and I wasn't thinking. My brain numb and body numb. Her body was stone cold. I can't turn around and say she died of this, I don't know what happened".

Asked

Asked by gardaí whether the belt on his wife's bathrobe was tied, Mr Satchwell said he didn't think so but he couldn't say for certain. 

"It happened in such a flash, it wasn't something my brain had time to comprehend".

Officers put it to the accused that this was not something that happens in a flash, to which Mr Satchwell said at that moment his arms had gone "dead and numb". 

"It seemed like forever but also not forever that it was happening. I was afraid, I was full of fear and I was fending her off," he replied.

Gardai put it to Mr Satchwell that he was excluding the most significant thing about how she died and there was no logical reason why he would do that, other than if there was something to hide. 

"I've put my hands up. I am the reason she is no longer with us...I can't recall every detail," he said.

Officers put it to the accused that, from what he had described of what happened to Tina, they could not see how she had died.

Detective Sergeant David Noonan said: "It doesn't make sense from what you have described. That's what I'm saying there is another explanation for what caused Tina's death".

Mr Satchwell replied: "I can't give you anything else because that's the way it was for me".

Described

The detective said the incident could not have happened the way the accused had described it. 

"It's most likely a physical impossibility that could have caused Tina's death," said Det Sgt Noonan.

Mr Satchwell said he was "trying" and wasn't perfect but he could only go "by the way it was for me when it happened".

Garda again told the accused the way he had described Tina dying "didn't make sense" and "nobody could die just like that".

Mr Satchwell replied: "I've said what it was for me. If I try to delve into it and try to make it the way you understand it then it's not the way it happened for me".

The accused said he had defended himself against his wife and he was looking at the chisel and not Tina's face. 

"I'm sick of living behind a mask and now I'm here saying the best way I can".

Gardai asked him whether he thought the belt and him holding it had caused her death. 

"I honestly can't say for certain but to me yes," he replied. "It was the way she came down on top of me".

"When she was lying on top of you and the belt was in your hand, was it around her neck?" asked gardaí. "Not to my knowledge, my arms around her when she on my body," he said.

Repeated

Gardai again repeated to the accused that what he was saying didn't make sense. 

Mr Satchwell said he wasn't trying to "bullshit" them, and that he was going to prison regardless. 

"I'm going to prison, there will be no jury because I'm going to plead guilty, I'm telling you that now".

The accused added: "I'm not going to lie, I'm holding my arms up holding her off....you're asking did I put the belt around her neck and strangle her basically. I'm not saying at any point that's the way she died".

The trial continues this afternoon before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.

The Central Criminal Court has heard that on March 24, 2017, Mr Satchwell told gardaí that his wife Tina had left their home four days earlier but that he had no concerns over her welfare, feeling she had left due to a deterioration in their relationship.

Reported

The accused formally reported Ms Satchwell missing the following May but her body was not discovered for over six years, when gardaí in October 2023 conducting "an invasive search" of the Satchwell's home found her decomposed remains in a grave that had been dug underneath the stairs.

The trial has heard gardaí went with a search warrant to the accused's home on Grattan Street in Youghal on October 10 2023, where they arrested him for the murder of Tina Satchwell on or about March 19, 2017 and brought him to Cobh Garda Station. An invasive search of Grattan Street was conducted simultaneously, with gardaí bringing in building equipment to excavate the couple's home.

Mr Satchwell (58), with an address at Grattan Street, Youghal, Co Cork has pleaded not guilty to murdering his 45-year-old wife Tina Satchwell - nee Dingivan - at that address between March 19 and March 20, 2017, both dates inclusive.