CASHEL, CO TIPPERARY — The jury in the ongoing murder trial of Richard Satchwell heard dramatic testimony this week regarding strange financial transactions and internet activity around the time of his wife Tina’s disappearance in March 2017.
On Wednesday, the court was told that Satchwell had been sending “significant amounts of money” to an alleged monkey-buying scam, claiming he was purchasing two marmosets named Terry and Thelma from an “International Monkey Organisation.”
Detective Garda Dave Kelleher, the lead investigator, testified that an email was uncovered from the morning of March 20, 2017—the same day Satchwell now claims Tina died. In it, Satchwell wrote to the supposed monkey sellers that his wife was threatening to leave him because the monkeys hadn’t arrived.
In additional messages, Satchwell claimed he had lost his job and traveled “all over Ireland” to wire money to the group. His correspondence was primarily with someone named “Mr James,” which was later described in court as clearly part of a scam.
Detective Kelleher also revealed that one of the laptops seized from the couple’s Youghal home in June 2017 showed a Google search on March 27, 2017—a week after Tina’s reported death—for the term “quicklime.” The search led to a YouTube video titled “Quicklime and water reaction”, which the user watched.
When questioned about the purpose of quicklime, Garda Kelleher explained it is commonly used in construction and, more grimly, in mass graves as an odour suppressant.
The evidence raises serious questions around Satchwell’s behavior and intentions following Tina Satchwell’s disappearance. The trial continues.
