A missing woman’s body was discovered after a police officer spotted different-looking cement under the stairs of the home she shared with her husband, according to court documents.
Tina Satchwell was discovered wrapped in black plastic, dressed in her nightgown and pyjamas, with shards of glass in her head and arm, the Central Criminal Court in Dublin heard.
She was buried deep beneath the stairs of the home she shared with her husband, Richard Satchwell.
During a search of the property in County Cork in October 2023, a forensics officer became suspicious when he noticed poured concrete that appeared different and newer than other cement on the ground under the stairs.
Satchwell, 58, of Grattan Street, Youghal, is accused of murdering his wife between March 19 and 20, 2017.
He denies the charges.
Satchwell, originally from Leicester, England, formally reported his wife missing on May 11, 2017.
He initially claimed that she had left their family home because their relationship had deteriorated, and that she had taken 26,000 euros in cash from the attic.
Detective Garda Karen McCarthy told the Central Criminal Court in Dublin that on October 12, she took samples from Mrs. Satchwell’s body at Cork University Hospital, where a post-mortem examination was being conducted.
Detective McCarthy stated that she found Mrs Satchwell’s dressing gown with a belt around it, her pyjama top and bottoms, underwear, and a purse with a Playboy logo in the gown’s pocket.
She stated that the purse contained Tina Satchwell’s Public Services Card, a Holland & Barrett rewards card, and a Rathcormac car boot sale membership card.
Shards of glass were discovered in her head and arm, she had been wrapped in a blanket, and she had a belly button piercing, according to the court documents.
A sample of her head hair and toenail were also collected for DNA analysis.
The jury also heard about how a forensic archaeologist discovered a hand while digging under the stairs of the Satchwell home.
Detective Garda On October 10, 2023, Brian Barry was accompanied by building contractors who assisted in the search.
He told the court that he was chatting with the builders and looking at the brick wall in the sitting room, which he described as “very poorly” built.
He said it did not appear to have been built by someone who knew how to construct a wall, and it “looked suspicious.”
Fern, a Garda search dog, alerted them to an area near the stairs.
Detective Barry stated that he used purple lighting to look under the stairs and discovered different coloured concrete flooring.
He described it as “newer concrete,” which he found “very suspicious and unusual.”
“I certainly took an interest in this,” he informed the court.
The builders used heavy-duty hammers to break the concrete and dug until they found black plastic sheeting about 64cm below ground level.
Detective Barry described the soil as loose and sandy, noting that the property was near the sea and that he remembered seeing shells in the soil.
He also stated that the discovery of the plastic sheeting was unusual and that he was “very suspicious”.
The contractors were told to stop digging, and Detective Barry informed the crime scene manager about the discovery and requested that forensic archaeologists attend the scene.
Retired detective sergeant Shane Curran, a former member of the technical bureau and crime scene manager of the search, stated that the dog was returned to the scene and confirmed the presence of human remains by entering “freeze mode”.
Mr Curran stated that two archaeologists and a forensic anthropologist assisted in the recovery of the remains.
He stated that they discovered Mrs Satchwell’s remains buried approximately 84cm beneath the concrete.
The retired detective agreed that the process was slow and painstaking in order to preserve all evidence.
He described the excavation as “complex” and stated that Mrs. Satchwell’s remains were completely excavated on October 12.
He stated that metal detection equipment and ground-penetrating radar were used during the week-long search.
The court was told that the initial plan for the search was to knock down an extension at the back of the building and remove walls inside the property.
This plan was abandoned following the discovery of Mrs Satchwell’s remains.
Dr. Niamh McCullagh, a senior forensic consultant who specializes in the search for hidden human remains in criminal cases, said she excavated the burial site on the evening of October 11.
Dr. McCullagh told the court that she discovered human interference with the natural soil composition, as well as the presence of thin white plastic strips and other materials in the fill soil.
She also discovered a piece of yellow plastic, similar to one found on a loaf of bread, with a best before date of March 3, 2017.
The court heard that Ms Satchwell’s remains were covered with a long sheet of black plastic that had been folded underneath. She found soft tissue and fabric among the remains.
Dr. McCullagh stated that the soil contained non-modern animal bone and shells dating back to the early nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The grave was rectangular with a rounded edge, measuring 1.8 metres long and 73 cm wide at the top.
She stated that the grave’s deepest point was slightly more than one metre.
Dr McCullagh told the court that in September 2022, she was asked to conduct a thorough review of the evidence gathered during the investigation into the then-missing Mrs Satchwell.
She reviewed all documents, correspondence, data sources, and materials gathered before submitting the report in September 2023.
The consultant stated that the material contained various narratives provided by Satchwell, including his description of what his wife was wearing when he last saw her.
Dr McCullagh stated in the report that her recommendations were based on domestic homicide research as well as recent studies on the concealment of human remains and detection avoidance strategies.
She stated that studies have found that domestic homicide has the highest incidence of crime staging, which occurs when the offender makes the murder appear to be something else.
She went on to say that the most common method is to provide a verbal narrative and file a false missing persons report.
The specialist told the court that her own research into the concealment of victims revealed that women’s remains are more likely to be disposed of closer to home.
She stated that in the Satchwell case, there were three possible outcomes: Ms Satchwell was killed at her home address and her body was hidden there; she was killed in her home and her body was disassembled and disposed of in various locations; or she was killed at her home and her body was removed in its entirety and disposed of outside her home.
She said number one was the most likely possibility and suggested a more thorough search of the Youghal home.
The trial continues.
