The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has directed that 57-year-old Richard Satchwell will stand trial at the Central Criminal Court for the murder of his wife Tina.
Mr Satchwell, who is a native of Leicester in the UK, appeared before Clonmel District Court in Co Tipperary this morning.
Sergeant 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 be given time to serve a book of evidence on him and his legal representatives.
The judge asked Mr Satchwell if he would consent to a remand of four weeks to facilitate the preparation of a book of evidence for service.
“Yeah, I consent,” he replied.
Mr Satchwell was remanded in custody to appear before Clonmel District Court on 12 March.
The date of his trial will be finalised within the next few months.
Mr Satchwell first appeared in court in October of last year charged with the murder of Ms Satchwell on 20 March 2017, at a location in Cork.
He was charged after gardaí found the skeletal remains of Mrs Satchwell while excavating a concrete floor and walled up area underneath the stairwell of her home in Grattan Street in Youghal, Co Cork.
She was reported missing in March 2017.
The defendant was previously denied bail by the High 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 14 October in connection with the alleged offence.
On that occasion evidence of arrest, charge and caution was given by Detective Garda David Kelleher.
Dt Gda Kelleher said that 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.
Mrs Satchwell was a native of St Bernard’s Place in Fermoy, Co Cork and was living in Youghal at the time of her death. She was reported missing on the 24 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 Mrs Satchwell in Mitchel’s Wood in Castlemartyr, Co Cork.
