Tina Satchwell (born Dingivan; 30 November 1972 – ) was an Irish woman who disappeared in mysterious circumstances in March 2017. In October 2023, her remains were found, wrapped in black plastic sheets beneath a one-metre thick layer of concrete, under the stairs of her home in the seaside town of Youghal.

Satchwell's husband Richard, an Englishman, was later arrested and charged with her murder. On 30 May 2025, the trial of Richard Satchwell ended with his conviction for murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on 4 June 2025.Órla O'Donnell, 'Richard Satchwell sentenced to life for murder of his wife'. RTÉ News, 4 June 2025. Retrieved 4 June 2025

Background Tina Dingivan was from St Bernard's Place in Fermoy, County Cork. In the 1980s she moved to Coalville outside of Leicester, England, to live with her grandmother. There she met Richard Satchwell (born 16 June 1966), and, in 1990, they married in Oldham. The couple later moved back to Ireland, and settled in Fermoy.

In November 2001, Richard Satchwell was sentenced to seven days in prison for larceny and three days in prison for fraudulent use of a motor tax disc at Fermoy District Court, as well as being disqualified from driving for one year for driving without insurance. In December 2002, he was sentenced to a month in prison after being found guilty of social welfare fraud. In 2016, the couple moved to Grattan Street in the seaside town of Youghal, where they lived with their two dogs.

Disappearance Tina Satchwell was last seen alive in public on Sunday 19 March 2017, with her husband, at a car boot sale in the town of Carrigtwohill. On 24 March 2017, Richard Satchwell went to Fermoy Garda station around 7 pm and reported that Tina had gone missing from their home in Youghal. He claimed that the last time he had spoken to her was four days previously on the morning of Monday 20 March 2017: at 10:30 am that day, he drove to Aldi (which was 30 kilometres away) in Dungarvan to buy fish at Tina's request; when he returned to their house at around noon, Tina was gone and he had not heard from her since.

Satchwell said his wife had been depressed and was troubled by family disputes. He claimed that she had chosen to leave "to get her head straight". He later added that she might have gone to live with family in the UK with the help of a third party; however, the Dingivan family rejected this idea. Satchwell stated that his wife had taken €26,000 in cash, the proceeds of the sale of a house, in two suitcases now missing from the house. The police said that Tina had not passed through any Irish or UK port or airport and that they believed she had not left Ireland. She did not possess a passport and her identification documents were not missing. Her phone has not been used, nor had her bank account been accessed since the day she disappeared.

Missing person investigations On 7 June 2017, Gardaí conducted a technical examination of the couple's house on Grattan Street; however, nothing of evidential value was discovered. On 19 August 2017, the Garda water unit assisted by the Irish Coast Guard conducted search operations in Youghal harbour at low tide. In March 2018, 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 a blonde haired woman matching Tina's description enter the woods with another person on the night she had disappeared, but that this person thereafter left the woods alone without the blonde woman. 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 also engaged with Interpol.

Media coverage Satchwell's sudden disappearance attracted significant media attention in Ireland, with Satchwell making frequent appeals for information and granting interviews he claimed were intended to generate publicity for her case. Satchwell would later accuse the Irish print media of quoting his words out of context in an effort to create misleading stories, and eventually turned down all requests for newspaper articles in favour of live television or radio interviews, in an attempt to prevent his words, as he said, being "twisted".

RTÉ programming In June 2017, Satchwell appeared alongside Tina's aunt, Margaret Maher, on the RTÉ television programme Crimecall to make a public appeal for information about Satchwell's disappearance. Satchwell later claimed that this appeal generated thousands of phone calls to Gardaí; however, he did not think the authorities "got anything concrete" on Tina's whereabouts. The following month, in response to social media speculation that he was involved in her disappearance, Satchwell stated that Gardaí had recently searched the Grattan Street house without his knowledge, that nothing incriminating had been found and that he would be willing to take a lie detector test to prove his innocence. In January 2018, RTÉ Television aired a Prime Time special programme on Tina's disappearance, featuring Satchwell, Tina's cousin Sarah Howard, and Gardaí involved in the case.

Ray D'Arcy interview On 11 March 2018, Satchwell appeared on The Ray D'Arcy Show on RTÉ Television to discuss Tina's disappearance. During the interview, Satchwell further claimed that €26,000 in cash that he claimed went missing from their house came from the sale of their former home in Fermoy, and claimed it had not been deposited in a bank account as he was receiving unemployment benefit at the time and depositing it would have affected his eligibility to receive social welfare payments. When D'Arcy asked Satchwell why he thought there was speculation that he was involved in Tina's disappearance, he said the husband would be the primary suspect in the majority of missing persons' cases. Satchwell reiterated his claim that Tina was alive, and suggested a man had recently come forward to say he had spoken to a woman who resembled Tina, walking a dog on a beach a few months previously in County Dublin, and who said she was renting accommodation in the area. The man, Satchwell claimed, had approached this woman, concerned for her wellbeing and that she was underdressed for the extremely cold January weather, and, Satchwell claimed, she informed him that she was "just walking a new puppy" she had bought.

Neil Prendeville interview On 12 March 2018, Satchwell was interviewed by Neil Prendeville on Cork's Red FM regarding Tina's disappearance. Satchwell reiterated his claim that Tina was alive and had left to deal with personal problems. Satchwell also claimed that, a few months before his wife vanished, she had asked him for his UK National Insurance number, which, he said, reinforced his belief that she was living with friends or relatives in England. When asked by Prendeville why he did not think to enquire with Tina's best friend about her location in the days before he officially reported her as missing to the police, Satchwell replied that he did not have her phone number and that it was not saved on Tina's phone either. When challenged that it was strange she did not save her best friend's number on her phone, Satchwell claimed they met up daily, always at the same place, when they had lived in Fermoy, so it was unnecessary to pre-arrange any meetups by phone. Regarding continuing speculation that he was involved in her disappearance, Prendeville offered Satchwell the chance to take a lie detector test live on air; however, Satchwell rejected the offer, claiming to be "feeling tired and unwell".

Murder investigation In July 2023, a team of detectives from Cork began reviewing witness statements previously provided by a person of interest and found major discrepancies between what he had stated and what Garda inquiries had subsequently ascertained. The suspect's mobile phone activity and email records in the days and weeks following his wife's disappearance were likewise analysed in detail. Gardaí subsequently discovered that, while the suspect had claimed he was not in County Cork on the morning Tina vanished, mobile device forensics proved this to be untrue. While reviewing the case file, investigating officers also noticed a new brick wall had been built to block off the underside of a stairwell when comparing pictures of the house at Grattan Street taken before and after her disappearance. According to some media reports, in early October 2023, utility workers attempting to clear a blocked drain of the terraced house next door to Satchwell's found suspicious material, which was then reported to Gardaí

On 10 October 2023, Satchwell's disappearance was upgraded to a murder investigation. Satchwell 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 the Satchwell house. A cadaver dog had indicated the stairwell area of the Grattan Street house to Gardaí, who, after knocking down the wall and digging down through a one-metre thick layer of concrete, discovered the dead body of a woman wrapped in black plastic sheets. On 13 October 2023, the remains were identified through dental records and confirmed to be those of Tina Satchwell. Later that day, Satchwell was charged with her murder. When arrested, he stated "guilty or not guilty – guilty".

Trial of Richard Satchwell Preliminaries On 14 October 2023, the then 57-year-old Satchwell appeared before Cashel District Court and was remanded in custody in Limerick Prison to await trial. On 3 November 2023, Satchwell was denied bail, as Judge Siobhan Lankford considered him a flight risk. On 26 March 2024, Satchwell was served with the book of evidence at a sitting of Clonmel District Court. After ordering the release of video recordings of Garda interrogations to the defense team, Judge Brian O'Shea administered the alibi warning to Satchwell, informing him that if he intended to rely on an alibi during his trial he must notify the Director of Public Prosecutions in writing within the next 14 days.

Satchwell's trial for the murder of his wife was scheduled for late April 2025 at the Central Criminal Court. His barrister Brendan Grehan indicated that the defence would call a significant amount of witnesses evidence from persons the accused had "communicated with by way of interview and the media as well". In December 2024, Satchwell's legal team successfully applied to have the venue of his trial moved from Cork to Dublin.

Plea On 28 April 2025, before Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, 57-year-old Satchwell entered a formal plea of not guilty to the murder of his wife. Justice Naidoo thereafter swore in a jury consisting of seven women and five men, warning them to deal with all upcoming evidence objectively in light of previous media coverage. The Director of Public Prosecutions was represented in court by prosecution counsel Geraldine Small SC, while Brendan Grehan SC headed the defence legal team.

Opening statements