By Paul Healy

Copyright irishmirror

Murderer Richard Satchwell is still trying to control his dead wife by holding onto her belongings, her niece has revealed.

Monster Satchwell (58), is serving a life sentence for the March 2017 murder of his wife Tina – who he killed and then hid under the stairs of his home in Youghal, Co Cork for six and a half years- all the while maintaining the lie that she was missing.

Now speaking for the first time as the killer launches a desperate appeal, Tina’s heartbroken niece Sarah Howard revealed her fight to get Tina’s belongings off her killer – who she discovered still has a right to them.

“His whole thing was about controlling her in the marriage and now he’s trying to have that control even when she’s gone. He has all of her stuff still and we as a family have no right to them. He remains her next of kin and so he has a right to everything,” Sarah revealed.

Even though Satchwell is now locked up in Limerick Prison, he remains the owner of the grim gravesite at number 3 Grattan Street in Youghal – where many of Tina’s possessions – such as clothes and jewellery, once lay. Tina’s family have no interest in the home – but have appealed through solicitors for ownership of Tina’s belongings – which remain Richard’s property.

“The house doesn’t bother me like I don’t think anyone would want that house. It’s more her personal belongings. We’re just not entitled to anything,” Sarah told us. “I haven’t even been down and past the house since she’s been missing. I just can’t bring myself to walk past it, never mind have it.” We still don’t have an entitlement to any of her personal belongings – like her photos or some jewellery. “We’ve been through solicitors and everything. Now there is a process we’ve been told to go through but we’ve basically been told like it’s not going to happen. Everything is his.”

Devastated Sarah, who Satchwell sent relentless bizarre messages to throughout the time he claimed Tina was missing, says neither she nor any of the family want to go through the court process again. It comes as Satchwell mounts a hopeless appeal against his conviction. “I don’t think any of us would be able to physically or mentally go through another court case.What we went through was horrific. To go through it again would be unbearable,” Sarah said.

Sarah, who had just recently given birth, gave powerful evidence against Satchwell during his trial – with the court hearing of a chilling message the killer sent her – offering up a chest freezer to her – just ten days after he killed his wife.

It subsequently emerged that Satchwell had told gardai in October 2023 – only after they discovered Tina’s body buried beneath the staircase of his home – that he had first placed her body into that chest freezer in March 2017. Officers also uncovered a chilling DoneDeal ad in which the killer tried to give away that same freezer.

Speaking today, Sarah told of how she only learned of the true disturbing significance of Satchwell’s strange text to her, during the course of the trial. “I actually only found out about that the morning of the court. They just need to keep everything under wraps. It was very disturbing. I thought about it so many times. I still don’t know why he sent me that or why he wanted me to have that,” she said. “Yeah, like a kick off of it, I don’t know. He would have known we were so close as well.”

Speaking about taking the stand in court and giving evidence just days after giving birth Sarah said: “Taking the stand in court was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life. After having a baby your emotions are all over the place anyway but to go in there and to even be in the same room as him, I just found it really hard.”

Satchwell attempted to portray Tina to gardai as an abuser – claiming his wife attacked him with a chisel and that he acted in self defence when he killed her on the morning of March 20, 2017. In reality gardai believe the panicked killer attacked Tina in the bathroom of their home, and then began a campaign of lies that lasted over six years.

However the jury saw through his manipulative lies – and key evidence from Sarah and Tina’s sister Lorraine Howard revealed the truth. “Everything he was claiming was not true,” Sarah said. It was very hard to hear that even after what he had done he was trying to give her a bad name. He was speaking about a whole different person that none of us knew. We knew it wasn’t true and we were just thinking how can he do this after what he’d done. He was still trying to turn it around as if it was her fault.”

Desperate Satchwell called Tina’s sister Lorraine in his defence – only for her to reveal how he manipulated and controlled his wife – taking her away from everyone she knew and cared about. Sarah told of how Satchwell’s supposed evidence ultimately fell flat on its face – and sealed his fate. “When he called Lorraine we wondered what he was doing. Yes families are not perfect and people do fall out. But he tried to play it like our family was not together, that we were all kind of fighting or that we weren’t united. “I think it backfired on him.”

As Sarah tries to move on from the massive murder trial which made headlines every day, she says she now wants to have Tina be remembered for the fun loving, bubbly person she was. “We would like to have Tina remembered as a fun bubbly outgoing person who had such a caring side especially towards animals. She loved her two dogs Ruby and Heidi as her babies. “She also loved her fashion. I will cherish all the memories I have with Tina since losing Tina.

“We are missing a piece to our family. It’s not just the big moments I miss, but the small ones—her laugh, her hugs and her voice. Even though she’s gone, a piece of her will always live within me, and I’ll carry her with me in my heart forever.”

Meanwhile Tina’s sister Teresa, who travelled from the UK to attend every day of the trial earlier this year, spoke of her pain that her name was tarnished by Richard throughout. “I travelled over from England for a month to go to the court to get justice for Tina. Hearing all the evidence was so hard for all of us. Having Tina’s name tarnished was very difficult to hear. “We knew it wasn’t true. Leaving all my family in Ireland after the trial was also very hard. Since Tina’s passing we are even more united as a family as we cherish all the memories we all have of her. She was very much loved by us all.”

The jury in Richard Satchwell’s trial watched and heard extensive interviews conducted with him by the media and gardai over the course of the six and a half year period that he claimed Tina was missing. During the course of the trial the jury were able to see and hear his many lies, and heard from key witnesses who contradicted his claims of abuse.

When gardai finally uncovered the remains following an “invasive” second search of the Satchwell home on October 12, 2023, Satchwell changed his narrative for the first time – admitting to gardai while in custody that he had in fact killed his wife. However he presented a narrative in which he still remained the victim – claiming Tina “flew” at him with a chisel – and that he accidentally strangled her with the belt of her dressing gown amidst the struggle. Insisting he was “not a monster,” Satchwell said “it all happened so fast,” and that “the worst thing of all of it is once the lie started I couldn’t stop it.”

He further told how he held her body all night, later put her on the couch and sat with her before putting her in the chest freezer in his shed and subsequently burying her under the stairs. He also told how he placed flowers in the grave, that he often spoke to her at it, that he dreamt of her on the night after his first arrest, and how he often thought of suicide or handing himself into gardai over the years.

He also said he knew it was “sick” but that after she died, “I wanted to keep her with me” and spoke of doing “enough lying and enough covering up” over the past six years. Making stabbing motions he described his wife on top of him with the chisel at his head and that he grabbed her dressing gown that she was wearing and the belt of it was at her throat.

“One thing I didn’t tell you, she was angry.” “This happened so fast,” he said. “All I can remember..was flying back. She flew straight at me and I went flying back. She flew for me, went straight for me. I don’t know which other way to describe it. She jumped at me, just went for me,” he said. “I don’t know why the belt was that high. I don’t know why the back of the belt was at the front. I cannot say how many times she came down towards me, I was just holding her away from me. She was going for the head with the chisel. My head,” he said.

He said his wife then fell down on top of him and he “just lay there” for a period of time. He later went to the shop, he said, to try and purchase roses for his wife, but ended up buying tulips from Tesco. He also went to the church to light a candle for his wife, he said – having previously claimed it was for a parrot. When he returned to the house his wife was still laying on the floor and he made a decision to cut the belt to “get it out of the way” so he could hold her. “I sat there, against a bit of wall, between the French doors and the hall and I just pulled her into my arms,” he said. “It’s like you know it’s happened but part of you is telling you it’s not reality.”

Tina’s remains were so badly decomposed that the State Pathologist was unable to determine a cause of death. However it was noted that there were glass shards in her hair and around her body – which were not explained by her husband’s narrative. Gardai have suspected that Satchwell may have killed his wife in the bathroom of their home – noting how he had replaced shower doors and a bath following the killing.

The Irish Mirror’s Crime Writers Michael O’Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week