A jury has watched footage of a tearful Richard Satchwell making a televised appeal for his wife Tina to come home, telling her “Nobody is mad at you, just ring the guards, let people know you’re alright”, months after the State argues he murdered her and buried her in a shallow grave beneath their Cork home.
The jury finished viewing a total of 14 video clips of the accused making media appeals and statements about his wife Tina’s disappearance.
Mr Satchwell told TV3 News viewers he “never laid a finger on her” when asked whether he had killed her.
He also told the media outlet he was “innocent of any wrongdoing” when asked by Paul Byrne, of TV3 News, in July 2017 whether he was an innocent man.
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The British truck driver also told Mr Byrne on that date: “One day my wife will turn back up or she will get in touch with gardaí. One way or another it will all come out and in time will prove I’ve done nothing wrong.”
When Mr Satchwell was asked by Barry Cummins, of Prime Time Investigates, in January 2018 what his message was to his wife, Mr Satchwell said: “I want you to get in touch ... I believe somebody is out there that does know where she is because she didn’t get up and leave without some help from somebody.”
The Central Criminal Court jury has heard how on March 24th, 2017, Mr Satchwell told gardaí his wife had left their home four days earlier, but he had no concerns over her welfare, feeling she had left due to a deterioration in their relationship.
The accused formally reported Tina missing the following May, but her body was not discovered for more than six years when gardaí found her decomposed remains in a grave that had been dug underneath the stairs of her home.
In her opening address on Tuesday, Gerardine Small SC, prosecuting, told the jury that after the body was recovered, Mr Satchwell told gardaí that 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, the court heard.
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 at that address between March 19th and March 20th, 2017.
The trial has heard there are a total of 14 media clips for the jury to watch.
Media interviews played to the jury on Thursday included clips from TV3 News on July 14th, 2017; RTÉ’s Crimecall on July 25th, 2017; TV3 News on November 20th, 2017; RTÉ Prime Time Investigates in January 2018; TV News on March 7th, 2018; and Youghal’s CRY104FM on March 10th, 2018.
Also included were clips from Neil Prendeville of Cork’s Red FM on March 12th, 2018 and RTÉ Prime Time on March 16th 2018.
In footage from ‘Prime Time Investigates’ broadcast on RTE on January 25th, 2018, Mr Satchwell showed interviewer Barry Cummins a bottle of Cava he had bought for his and Tina’s 25th wedding anniversary, some months previously, which was unopened.
Mr Satchwell said he did not believe Tina was dead and he “truly believed” she was out there somewhere and could be found.
The accused went on to say: “If someone tried attacking her she would pick the nearest thing up and whack them with it. That the type of person she is, she wouldn’t be a pushover”.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.
