Truck driver jailed for murdering wife after her remains were found under stairs

A truck driver found guilty of murdering his wife, whose remains were found under the stairs at their home in Ireland, has been sentenced to life in prison.

Richard Satchwell, originally from Leicester, had denied the murder of Tina Satchwell on a date between 19 March and 20 March 2017. Her skeletal remains were discovered at the Co Cork property in October 2023, six years after her husband reported her missing.

During his five-week trial, jurors heard from more than 50 witnesses, including police officers involved in the investigation. Police had discovered Mrs Satchwell's remains buried under the stairs in the living room of their home.

Her badly decomposed body was wrapped in a soiled sheet and covered with black plastic. She was wearing pyjamas and a dressing gown, with the belt of the gown wrapped around her.

A state pathologist said she could not establish the exact cause of death because of how decomposed the body was. During police interviews, Satchwell, 58, said that on the morning of 20 March 2017 he found his wife standing at the bottom of the stairs with a chisel in her hand, scraping off the plasterboard, and claimed she came at him with the object and he fell back on to the floor.

He said Mrs Satchwell tried to stab him multiple times with the chisel and he grabbed her clothing and restrained her by putting the belt of the dressing gown against her neck. Satchwell said that in a very short period of time she went limp and fell into his arms.

He said he put her body on the sofa in the living room, before moving her to the chest freezer and then burying her under the stairs. Relatives of Mrs Satchwell wept as the guilty verdict was returned on Friday 30 May.

Satchwell did not react as the unanimous verdict was read to the Central Criminal Court in Dublin. Following the sentencing, the family of Mrs Satchwell described her as a kind and gentle woman who loved animals.

Tina's cousin, Sarah Howard, said that Mrs Satchwell was murdered "by someone who claimed to love her". "The emotional toll of her loss is something I will carry with me always," she said.

Her half-sister Lorraine Howard said the way Mrs Satchwell was buried in plastic in her own home "sends shivers down my spine every time I think about it". "I will never be able to forgive Richard Satchwell for what he has done." Satchwell's barrister Brendan Grehan SC told the court that Satchwell intends to appeal, and that he "never intended to kill Tina".

Mr Grehan also said that Satchwell said "despite anything he said in the trial, Tina was a lovely person". Read more from Sky News:British man goes missing on stag doTwo men charged with murder after boy dies in crash The court was told the couple married in the UK on Tina's 20th birthday, and later settled in Co Cork, first in Fermoy before moving to Youghal in 2016.

The trial heard that on 24 March 2017, Satchwell went to Irish police and claimed his wife had left their Youghal home four days ago because their relationship had deteriorated. Satchwell had also claimed Mrs Satchwell had taken €26,000 euros in cash from savings they kept in the attic, which the court later heard they did not have the capacity to save.

He formally reported his wife missing in May 2017 and claimed to investigators that his wife was sometimes violent towards him. In the following years, he made over a dozen media appearances in which he spoke extensively about the morning he claimed Mrs Satchwell left the house and never returned..