A man accused of murdering his wife was told by a detective that the “picture he painted” for years and the evidence were “very different”, a court heard.
Richard Satchwell was arrested for murder in October 2023 by detectives investigating the five-year disappearance of his wife Tina.
The couple’s Cork house was searched as he was interviewed and the jury was shown a video of police showing Satchwell photos of the stairs in their Cork home.
Satchwell, 58, from Grattan Street in Youghal, Co Cork, is accused of murdering Mrs Satchwell at their home between March 19 and 20 2017.
He denies the charge.
Satchwell, originally from Leicester in England, formally reported his wife missing on May 11 2017.
On Friday, the jury of five men and seven women were shown the end of a video of a police interview with Satchwell after his arrest on October 10 2023.
The couple’s Youghal home was being searched by gardai as Detective Sergeant David Noonan interviewed Satchwell at Cobh Garda Station in Cork.
The Central Criminal Court was shown police interview footage of Satchwell saying his wife’s threats to leave him made him feel “miserable”.
He said that after Tina Satchwell’s brother died by suicide in 2012, “her personality changed” and she had threatened to leave.
“After her brother died, we never took sexually again,” he said, adding that this “made me feel useless”.
He told gardai that she had told him she hated him and would leave him, and would later apologise, and that this made him feel “not good” and “miserable”.
He was asked about the incidents of violence in the relationship, to which Satchwell said he would not count a slap as violence.
“Would I slap a woman, no,” he said.
He said that “violence to me is when it’s not a slap” and that a slap was “nothing”, adding: “I think in some situations a slap from a woman can be sexy.”
Asked about their relationship during the garda interview, Satchwell said: “There was just something about her that captivated me.”
He said this included her “confidence”, “the way she walked”, and that she “wouldn’t take shit from anybody”.
In a separate garda interview held the following morning, a transcript of which was read in court, Mr Noonan said Satchwell had painted a picture of him, Tina and their life.
He said the picture he had painted was “very different” from the picture that the evidence was painting.
Mr Noonan asked Satchwell about his account of conversations with people who had said Satchwell’s account was not true.
“We have three different things that you have said which are very different to the picture that you have painted,” Mr Noonan said.
Satchwell said to Mr Noonan that they were “mistaken” and said he did not want to call anyone a liar.
He was told that his phone holds data about locations where it had been and Mr Noonan outlined instances where the evidence was “in line with what you’re saying”.
He was also shown photos of Tina Satchwell, a parrot Pearl, Ruby, a chihuahua, and another pet dog, Heidi, during the interview.
Mr Noonan also asked Satchwell about the “clear” attempts made to buy monkeys, which he said was of “significant relevance to this case”.
A three-minute video was played in court where Mr Noonan showed Satchwell photos of the house taken from that day as it was being searched by gardai.
The trial continues.
