Richard Satchwell will stand trial at the Central Criminal Court for the murder of his wife Tina, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has directed.
Mr Satchwell (57), a truck driver originally from Leicester in England, appeared before Clonmel District Court in Co Tipperary on Tuesday morning.
Sgt Tom O'Brien told Judge Brian O’Shea that final instructions in the case had been given by the DPP.
"The DPP has directed that he (Satchwell) is to be tried on a single charge of murder before a judge and jury at the Central Criminal Court.”
Mr Satchwell, who has an address in Grattan Street in Youghal, Co Cork appeared in court by video link.
Judge O’Shea confirmed the DPP instructions to him. He told the defendant that the State will now be given time to serve a book of evidence on him and his legal representatives.
Judge O'Shea asked Mr Satchwell if he would consent to a remand of four weeks to faciliate the preparation of a book of evidence for service. “Yeah, I consent," Mr Satchwell replied.
He remanded Mr Satchwell in custody to appear before Clonmel District Court on March 12th next. The date of his trial will be finalised within the next few months.
Meanwhile, Richard Satchwell first appeared in court in October of last year charged with the murder, contrary to common law, of Tina Satchwell on March 20th 2017, at a location in Cork.
Mr Satchwell was charged after gardaí found the skeletal remains of Ms Satchwell while excavating a concrete floor and walled up area underneath the stairwell of her home in Grattan Street in Youghal, Co Cork. Tina Satchwell was reported missing in March 2017.
The defendant was previously denied bail at a High Court sitting at Cloverhill Court. Gardaí objected to bail, saying that the accused was a flight risk.
Refusing the application, Judge Siobhan Lankford said that Mr Satchwell faces "very serious charges, the most serious charges on the criminal canon."
Mr Satchwell first appeared in court on October 14th in connection with the alleged offence.
On that occasion evidence of arrest charge and caution was given by Detective Garda David Kelleher. Dt Garda Kelleher said Mr Satchwell had been formally charged with the murder of his wife in Cobh Garda Station the previous day. Legal aid was granted in the case.
Tina Satchwell was a native of St Bernard’s Place in Fermoy, Co Cork who was living in Youghal at the time of her death. She was reported missing on the 24th of March 2017 by her husband, Richard.
After she was reported missing gardaí followed 400 lines of inquiry, watched hundreds of hours of CCTV and took witness statements from 170 people.
A major sea and land search was carried out by gardaí following her disappearance.
In March 2018 gardaí led a major search for Tina in Mitchel’s Wood in Castlemartyr, Co Cork.
Tina Satchwell would have turned fifty in 2022. She hailed from a family of eight and is survived by her siblings.
Vigils in her memory have been held in Youghal and Fermoy. A private family funeral has also taken place.
