Richard Satchwell guilty of murder after wife's remains found under stairs

Richard Satchwell, 58, has been found guilty of after his wife's remains were found under stairs at their home.

The British truck driver had denied murdering his wife Tina at their home in Co Cork, , in 2017. Her remains where horrifically found under the stairs in the living room of their home in October 2023, six years after the husband, originally from , had reported her missing. Satchwell had pleaded not guilty to her murder and he did not react as his guilty verdict was read out to the court in Dublin on Friday.

Irish found her badly decomposed body was found wrapped in a soiled sheet and covered with a black plastic sheet, after a search of the property in Grattan Street. She was wearing pyjamas and a dressing gown, with the belt of the gown wrapped around her.

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A state pathologist said the exact date of her death could not be determined due to the state her remains were found but said she died between March 19 and March 20 2017.

During police interviews, Satchwell said that on the morning of March 20 2017, he found his wife standing at the bottom of the stairs with a chisel in her hand, scraping at the plasterboard. He claimed that she came at him with the chisel, and he fell back on to the floor.

He added that Tina tried to stab him multiple times with the chisel and that he grabbed her clothing and restrained her by putting the belt of the robe against her neck. Satchwell said that in a very short period of time, she went limp and fell into his arms.

He then placed her body on the couch in the living room, before moving her to the chest freezer and then burying her under the stairs. It was more than six years before police discovered her body. Satchwell claimed to cops, in 2023, that there was "no premeditation" and he had not called police and paramedics due to "panic and shame".

Satchwell, who sat with his head in his hand as the jury entered the courtroom, will be sentenced on June 4. Tina's family wept as the guilty verdict was read out today.

The jury deliberated for four days at the end of the five-week trial. The jury heard from more than 50 witnesses including police involved in the investigation.