Murder of Tina Satchwell

Tina Satchwell (née Dingivan; born 30 November 1972 ) was an Irish woman who went missing under suspicious circumstances on 20 March 2017. Her remains were found hidden in her home in October 2023. Her husband, Richard Satchwell, a truck driver, was arrested and charged with her murder.

Background
Satchwell was from St Bernard's Place in Fermoy, County Cork. In the 1980s she moved to Leicester, England, to live with her grandmother. There she met Richard Satchwell and in 1990 the couple were married in Oldham. They moved back to Ireland, settling in Fermoy. In 2016, they moved to Grattan Street in the seaside town of Youghal where they lived with their two dogs.

Disappearance
Satchwell disappeared from her home on 20 March 2017. She was last seen in public at a car boot sale with her husband in the town of Carrigtwohill on 19 March 2017. Richard was the last person to see her, reportedly at 10 am on 20 March 2017. He stated that Tina asked him to go to an Aldi store in Dungarvan to buy fish, and that she was gone by the time he returned around noon. He reported her missing on 24 March 2017. She was aged 44 at the time of her disappearance.

Richard stated that his wife had been depressed and was troubled by family disputes. He believed that she had chosen to leave "to get her head straight". He later suggested that she may have gone to live with family in the United Kingdom with the help of a third party; however, Tina's family have rejected this idea. Gardaí (Irish police) have stated that Tina did not pass through any Irish or UK port or airport and that they believe she did not leave Ireland. She did not possess a passport and did not take any identification with her. Richard stated that he believed she had taken €26,000 in cash, the proceeds of the sale of a house. Two suitcases were missing from the house. Her phone has not been used, and her bank account has not been accessed since the day of her disappearance.

In June 2017, Richard appeared alongside Tina's aunt, Margaret Maher, on the RTÉ show Crimecall to make a public appeal for information. The following month, in response to media attention and social media speculation, he stated that he would be willing to take a lie detector test. He later declined to take a test during an interview on Cork's Red FM. In January 2018, RTÉ aired a Prime Time special programme on Tina's disappearance, featuring Richard, Tina's cousin Sarah Howard, and gardaí involved in the case. In 2018, Richard appeared on The Ray D'Arcy Show to discuss Tina's disappearance.

In March 2018, an Garda Síochána carried out a search in Mitchel's Wood near Castlemartyr in County Cork, 20 minutes from Youghal. The operation was based on a tip from a member of the public who claimed to have seen someone leave the woods on the night of Satchwell's disappearance. A no-fly zone was established over the area. Despite an extensive search, which included the use of detection dogs, no trace of Satchwell was found. Searches were also carried out in scrubland and off the quays in Youghal, but nothing was discovered. Gardaí have also engaged with Interpol.

Murder investigation
On 10 October 2023, Satchwell's disappearance was upgraded to a murder investigation. A man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of murder and taken to a Garda station in Cork for questioning. A Garda team was brought in to search a premises in Youghal, County Cork. On 11 October 2023, the suspect was released without charge. The suspect was re-arrested the next day following the discovery of human remains at Satchwell's home. On 13 October 2023, the remains were identified through dental records and confirmed to be those of Tina Satchwell. Later that day, Richard Satchwell, Tina's husband, was charged with her murder. When arrested, he stated "guilty or not guilty - guilty". On 14 October 2023, Richard Satchwell appeared before Cashel District Court. He was remanded to Limerick Prison. On 3rd November 2023, he was denied bail as Judge Siobhan Lankford considered him to be a flight risk. His trial for the murder of Tina Satchwell is scheduled for April 2025 in the Central Criminal Court.