Richard Satchwell was “flogging” his wife Tina’s clothes at a car boot sale just weeks after her alleged murder and claimed she had gone to her sister’s in the UK after contracting a “terrible infection”, witnesses have told his trial.
Earlier, the court heard that a phone linked to Richard Satchwell, who told gardaí that he kept his wife’s body in a freezer before burying her beneath their home, posted an ad for a freezer on Done Deal days after her alleged murder, his trial has heard.
The ad said: “Large chest freezer free to take away, working perfect just needs a clean”.
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 - née Dingivan - at that address between March 19th and March 20th, 2017, both dates inclusive.
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The trial has heard that on March 24th, 2017, Mr Satchwell told gardaí that his wife 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.
The accused reported that she had taken about €26,000 from their savings from a box in the attic.
He formally reported his wife missing the following May but her body was not discovered until October 2023, when gardaí conducting “an invasive search” of the Satchwell’s home found her decomposed remains in a grave that had been dug underneath the stairs.
Forensic accountant Tadhg Twomey told Gerardine Small SC, prosecuting, that he was aware Mr Satchwell had told gardaí that €26,000 was taken by his wife and that it had been raised over a four to five year period.
Mr Twomey said the accused had stated the money was from the sale of the couple’s property in Youghal and they could make up to €200 a week from selling items at car boot sales.
The witness said while looking through the couple’s finances, he was made aware that Tina Satchwell had an account with ‘Littlewoods Ireland’ and had a credit line with the company for a maximum of €4,500.
He said from mid-2016 to February/March 2017 that the line of credit was 90 per cent used and by the end of 2017, it was fully breached. He said there were significant arrears building up on the account at the time.
Mr Twomey said the sale of a house in Fermoy was for €120,000, which was used to pay off fees for the purchase of the house on Grattan Street in Youghal. He said at the end of that process, €372 in remaining funds was left to the Satchwells.
Under cross-examination, the witness agreed with Brendan Grehan SC, defending, that Ms Satchwell had no recorded employment.
Sergeant Ciaran Crowley told Ms Small that he had conducted enquiries with the DoneDeal website about the activities of Richard and Tina Satchwell.
Sgt Crowley said he received a response from DoneDeal on August 10th, 2017 saying that an advert associated with Mr Satchwell’s phone had been published at 9.49am on March 31st, 2017. It said: “Large chest freezer free to take away, working perfect just needs a clean only, giving away because I need the space”.
Witness Mary Crowley told Ms Small that she attended a car boot sale on April 17th, 2017 in Blarney and she saw Mr Satchwell with his stall selling boots.
Ms Crowley said Mr Satchwell told her that he and his wife had moved into a house which had been unoccupied for 12 years and had mould or fungus.
He said Ms Satchwell had gotten a “very serious respiratory illness” and was in the UK.
The witness added: “I must have said what will she [Tina] say when she comes back and you’re flogging her stuff. He said ‘she told me to sell them as we need money to make repairs to the house’.”
She said the accused told her that Tina was immunocompromised.
Another witness, Ger Carey, said he got to know Tina Satchwell through car boot sales in Cork. Mr Carey said he met the accused at his stall at the Blarney car boot sale. “I said ‘has Tina gone walkabout’, he said ‘no she is not here today’. He said she had gotten very ill and was with her sister in England who was looking after her”.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.
In her opening address, Ms Small told the jury that after the body was recovered, Mr Satchwell told gardaí he lost his footing and fell to the ground when his wife tried to stab him with a chisel.
He told detectives that he held her weight off with a belt but that in a matter of seconds, she was dead in his arms.
