A man accused of murdering his wife and dumping her body in a shallow grave at their home said he is “not a monster”, and that “once the lies started” about what happened, he could not stop, a court has heard.
The jury at Richard Satchwell’s trial has been watching a police interview carried out after his wife’s remains were found under the stairs in the living room of their Co Cork home.
Satchwell was arrested for the murder of his wife, Tina Satchwell, in October 2023, after her body was found in a shallow clandestine grave, six years after he reported her missing.
Satchwell, 58, of Grattan Street in Youghal, is accused of murdering his wife between March 19-20 2017.
He denies the charge.
Satchwell, originally from Leicester in England, formally reported his wife missing on May 11 2017.
He initially claimed he believed she had left their family home because their relationship had deteriorated, and she had taken 26,000 euro in cash they kept in the attic.
Mrs Satchwell’s decomposed body was discovered in the grave.
Following the discovery, Satchwell was arrested and questioned at Cobh Garda Station.
The jury at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin has been shown the first of several interviews.
Wearing a black polo T-shirt and grey trousers, Satchwell removed his glasses and wept as he claimed that on the morning of March 20 2023, his wife held a chisel in her hand and “flew” at him and he went “flying back on the floor”.
On the morning of the killing, he said he woke up early as he always did and went downstairs to make himself a coffee.
He said he wanted to make an extra special breakfast for his wife as it was her grandmother’s anniversary.
He explained how he was in the shed carrying out some plumbing work on their washing machine when their two dogs came in, wagging their tails.
