Gardaí have until 5pm on Wednesday before they must either charge or release a man arrested for questioning about the disappearance of Tina Satchwell after he opted not to suspend questioning and continued at interview with gardaí through the night.
The man, who is in his 50s, was arrested by detectives at his home in Youghal at 5pm on Tuesday after he returned home from work, and he was taken to Cobh Garda station for questioning about the disappearance of Ms Satchwell on March 20th, 2017.
Ms Satchwell, then aged 45, was reported missing by her husband, Richard Satchwell, to gardaí in Fermoy on March 24th, 2017. He told gardaí that he returned from shopping in Dungarvan to their home on Grattan St in Youghal four days earlier to discover Ms Satchwell was gone.
“When she didn’t come back, I thought she was gone to Fermoy,” said Mr Satchwell in one of several media interviews he later gave where he explained that he had waited four days before reporting his wife missing as he thought she was looking for some time to “get her head straight”.
The suspect arrested by gardaí on Tuesday consulted with a solicitor shortly after his arrival at Cobh Garda station. Gardaí had assembled a team of six specialist high-level interviewers from the Cork North and West Division to question the man about Ms Satchwell’s disappearance.
The man was arrested on suspicion of murder and is detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, which allows gardaí detain suspects for up to 24 hours before they have to be charged with an offence or released without charge.
The decision to arrest the man followed an extensive review of the file on Ms Satchwell’s disappearance by detectives from the Cork North and West Division which began in November 2021 and saw them forensically examine the detailed file.
As part of their original investigation, gardaí followed 400 different lines of inquiry, viewed 100 hours of CCTV footage and took 170 witness statements. All these were closely re-examined by the Garda review team as they tried to establish what happened to Ms Satchwell.
The review enabled Cork gardaí to make a case at national level for the case to be reclassified from a missing person inquiry, as officers convinced their superiors that the case merited full murder investigation status and the necessary resources were secured.
The decision to upgrade the case to a murder investigation and provide the necessary funds meant that, in August, the Garda were able to draw an investigation plan to enable them to both arrest the suspect and secure his home as a crime scene to allow a major search operation take place.
Gardaí arrested the suspect at his house in Youghal around 5pm on Monday, and within five minutes of the man’s removal, builders moved in. They erected fencing and screening to cordon off the property and allow gardaí move in the various tools and equipment they need to carry out the search.
Gardaí have equipped themselves with chain saws, hedge trimmers and slash hooks to clear undergrowth in an adjacent property that backs on to the suspect’s home, and warrants were obtained to allow searches of both that garden property and the suspect’s property.
Gardaí also equipped themselves with kango hammers, con saws, shovels, pickaxes and crowbars to excavate a yard at the rear of the house, where concrete slabs were laid by the homeowner at some stage since Ms Satchwell’s disappearance.
According to a garda source, the operation, in addition to examining both the adjacent garden and the slabbed back yard, will also involve searching a shed at the rear of the house as well as a detailed examination of the house which has undergone some alteration since Ms Satchwell’s disappearance.
Over 20 gardaí are involved in the operation including a team of four officers from the Garda Technical Bureau in Dublin who have travelled to Youghal, while gardaí also engaged two consultant forensic archaeologists to assist with any discoveries or evidence of earth disturbance they find.
They have also secured the services of a cadaver dog, but it is expected it will be a number of days before the springer spaniel is brought on site. Gardaí must first lift the slabs and drill test bores in the garden from which the dog might pick up a scent if a body is buried in the ground there.
Officers removed the man’s pets and arrangements have been in place for their care, while gardaí have also seized vehicles at his place of work elsewhere in Co Cork and they are also being forensically examined.
Gardaí have also established an incident room at Carrigtwohill Garda station from where the investigation is being co-ordinated and it is understood that Garda telecommunications experts based there have also begun examining phone traffic from around the time Ms Satchwell disappeared.
Gardaí have appointed a Family Liaison Officer to assist Ms Satchwell’s family in Fermoy and the UK and they have also issued a renewed appeal for any person who may have information relevant to the investigation to contact Midleton Garda station on 021 462 1550.
