Fermoy doctors give evidence as Tina Satchwell’s cousin takes to witness stand
By KATIE GLAVIN
Sarah Howard, a cousin of Fermoy native, Tina Satchwell (nee Dingivan), spoke in the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday (May 21st) as a witness in the trial of murder accused Richard Satchwell.
Related through their mothers, who are sisters, Sarah told the court she was ‘very close’ to Tina, growing up in Fermoy. Mr Satchwell is accused of Tina’s murder.
Although she moved out of Fermoy, she said she remained close with her cousin, but when Tina moved to Youghal, she didn’t see her as much as she didn’t drive.
Ms Howard said the last time she thought she saw Tina was Christmas 2016 and on March 26, 2017, she found out Tina was missing.
Text messages between Sarah Howard and Richard Satchwell, after news of Tina’s disappearance broke, were presented to the jury.
The court heard of how Richard Satchwell asked Ms Howard did she want a chest freezer, to which she responded ‘No’.
Ms Howard became emotional in court, stating she thought it was ‘unusual’, as Mr Satchwell was not the type to ‘just give stuff’.
In the texts, Mr Satchwell mentioned that Tina’s birth and marriage cert were missing, and on April 30, 2017 he texted her asking if she wanted two tickets to Purple Rain, to which Ms Howard did not respond.
Further messages were also read regarding media interviews, garda interviews, and sharing updates of the missing persons case.
On July 12, Mr Satchwell messaged Ms Howard mentioning the suitcase at Tesco, and Ms Howard said that she did not have any further communication with him.
When asked by Gerardine Small SC did she ever witness Tina being violent or aggressive, Ms Howard said ‘never’.
BELT – UNUSUAL POSITION
Earlier in the week, the court heard from Assistant State Pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster, who helped in the excavation of Tina’s body on October 12, 2023.
Dr Bolster carried out a post-mortem examination that night and the following morning.
Underneath the black plastic the body was wrapped in, Dr Bolster said that the body, wearing a dressing gown, was wrapped in a soiled sheet and bones could be seen protruding. A gold coloured purse with a ‘playboy’ logo was recovered from the pocket of the gown.
Dr Bolster said she cut the belt from the dressing gown which was in an ‘unusual position’ she noted, extending from the left side of the neck, under the right shoulder and right arm, under the body and was knotted on the front of the chest.
A number of pieces of glass were recovered from Tina’s body, Dr Bolster added, from her chest, arm and skull, including four from her scalp.
No evidence of any fractures to the bones were reported by Dr Bolster.
Dr Bolster said that the significance of the (dressing gown) belt was unclear, but agreed with Brendan Grehan SC, that it ‘looked like’ it could have been used as ‘leverage’ to carry a body.
Due to the long interval after Tina’s death, Dr Bolster said that a cause of death could not be determined.
She said that it was not possible to say where the glass found on Ms Satchwell’s body had come from.
GP EVIDENCE
The court also recently heard from Fermoy based Dr Patrick Burke, the Satchwell’s GP from 1999, who said Mr Satchwell had told him that he had been assaulted on a number of occasions.
Dr Burke said that Richard Satchwell told him the violence was frequent and severe, however, said that Mr Satchwell had not mentioned any of this to him before his wife went missing in March 2017.
Fermoy GP Dr Deirdre O’Grady, of whom Tina Satchwell was a patient, had been asked to see if she had any records of treating Tina Satchwell in the 1990s.
Dr O’Grady said she had no such notes, even though she had treated Ms Satchwell, stating that Ms Satchwell could have taken them to give to another doctor or they could have been culled, as some records over 8 years old are. She said she had no recollection of Ms Satchwell telling her that her husband had taken an overdose, and had no recollection either of Richard Satchwell coming to see her with scratches on his face.
When put to Dr O’Grady by Mr Grehan that Mr Satchwell remembers attending her office in 1994 with his face ‘destroyed by Tina’s nails’, Dr O’Grady said she had no recollection.
Evidence was heard this week from John Keohane who attended car boot sales and knew both Tina and Richard from attending such sales.
Angela Sheehan, who knew Tina Satchwell from the swimming pool in Fermoy, also gave evidence.
The trial continues in Dublin.
