Murder-accused Richard Satchwell told his doctor after his wife Tina‘s disappearance that she had assaulted him on multiple occasions and the violence was frequent and sometimes severe, a jury has heard.
GP Patrick Burke on Thursday told the Central Criminal Court that Mr Satchwell had never previously mentioned any such incidents.
Mr Satchwell (58), with an address at Grattan Street, Youghal, Co Cork, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Satchwell (45) at that address between March 19th and 20th, 2017.
Dr Burke, who in 2017 worked at the Medina Medical Clinic in Fermoy, told Gerardine Small SC, prosecuting, he would generally see the couple “eight, 10, 12 times in one year”.
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Dr Burke said Ms Satchwell had some abdominal issues but otherwise enjoyed “excellent general health”.
He said that on March 30th, 2017, he was advised by his practice nurse that Mr Satchwell had said his wife was missing. He said he later that day spoke to Mr Satchwell, who told him she had been missing for a week.
The witness said he had subsequent conversations with the accused, where Mr Satchwell told him about his marital difficulties, their financial issues and other matters that caused him concern over the years.
Dr Burke said he noticed a big change in Mr Satchwell at their last consultation, on May 17th, 2017, when the accused appeared unwell and unkept.
He said Mr Satchwell was very bothered, told him that gardaí had said he needed medication and that he seemed more upset about his wife’s disappearance. He said the accused told him that Ms Satchwell had been acting strangely for the previous few years and had been reluctant to go out.
Asked by Brendan Grehan SC, defending, if he had occasion to deal with situations involving “battered wives”, Dr Burke replied that he had seen “many”.
Mr Grehan put it to him that “husband battery” was a much rarer thing, to which the witness said it is not as rare as people think.
Earlier, the jury heard that Mr Satchwell told gardaí that if they produced any photographs of his wife’s body in interview, he would not look at them.
“I want to remember Tina the way she was, not the way I made her,” he told detectives.
The jury also heard that gardaí told the accused his “second story” about Ms Satchwell’s death, where he said he held her off by the belt of her bathrobe after she attacked him, had “come apart” and did not match up with the evidence.
In his first interview after being rearrested on October 12th, 2023, Mr Satchwell said his wife “flew” at him with a chisel, he fell backwards and held the belt of her bathrobe at her neck “until she got heavier”.
During a fourth interview on October 13th, 2023, Det Sgt David Noonan asked where the marks were in some plasterboard, which Mr Satchwell had claimed his wife was “destroying” with a chisel moments before she “flew” at him.
“You said the marks were still there and to go and have a look at them,” the detective said.
“I also said I can’t remember, the marks weren’t going all the way through the plasterboard and I never said that either ... I said it is there somewhere,” the accused replied.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.
