Richard Satchwell: why did it take eight years for the killer to face justice?

This episode was first published in May 2025.

From the moment he reported her missing in 2017, Richard Satchwell stuck to his story that his wife Tina had run off.

His many media appeals begged her to come home. But as the jury heard during his five-week trial in the Central Criminal Court for her murder, she was indeed home and she had been all along.

Richard had killed her in 2017, dug a hole under the stairs of their terraced Youghal home and buried her.

The Garda did look for her – as a missing person – but “red flags” emerged soon after her disappearance were “simply ignored” by gardaí, the court was told.

What were they? And why did it take until six years after her disappearance for a thorough search of the Satchwell house to take place?

Irish Times legal affairs correspondent Mary Carolan tells In the News how the court case unfolded and what happens next.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey.

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