The trial of Richard Satchwell, who has denied murdering his wife Tina in Cork almost eight years ago, has heard her remains were discovered under the stairs in the couple's living room by a trained victim recovery search dog.
Mr Satchwell, who is 58, told gardaí his wife was missing in March 2017. Her body was found more than six-and-a-half years later.
A statement was read to the jury from dog handler Alan Ward from Sprucefield, in Northern Ireland, who trains dogs to locate human remains at various times after death in a variety of environments.
He said he trained a dog named Fern in April 2022, and in October 2023, they were asked to be part of the search for Ms Satchwell at her home on Grattan Street in Youghal.
He said he firstly assisted in the removal of a parrot and a small dog from the house before entering the scene with Fern.
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He and the dog began a systematic search of the house from top to bottom. A small number of areas piqued her interest, he said, but as they searched the stairs from the first floor to the ground floor, Fern became very active.
He said she showed huge interest in a red brick wall on the side of the stairs, but because there was a large settee against it, they were unable to continue. They returned the next day when the scene had been cleared.
Fern was very active and interested when she searched the outside of the stairs, he said, and when they went under the stairs, she indicated the presence of human remains.
The following day, they went back to the scene, and Mr Ward said Fern went into a "full freeze indication" at something wrapped in black plastic, indicating human remains.
The jury saw video footage and photographs of the scene at the house in Grattan Street before and after it was cleared and during the search itself.
A video taken by garda photographer Mairead Crowley showed a large couch and other items, including a cement mixer and tools, against the side of the stairs.
There were items on every surface and strewn around the floors. She said there was evidence of animals as there were a lot of dog faeces and dog bowls, and a parrot was removed from the house.
Photographs taken by Garda Crowley showed the area under the stairs with lino on the ground, followed by further photographs at different stages of the excavation by gardaí. Ms Satchwell's remains were found in black plastic buried 74 centimetres below the floor.
Garda Crowley agreed with defence counsel, Brendan Grehan, that the lino on the floor under the stairs was the same lino visible in photographs of the same area taken when the house was originally searched in June 2017.
Richard Satchwell was arrested on 10 October 2023, as the search began. The jury watched video footage of gardaí showing him photographs of the area under the stairs as the search continued.
Mr Satchwell told gardaí he kept "bits and pieces" in the cubby hole. He replied he did not know when asked if he had any idea what was behind it.
Mr Satchwell was released from his first arrest at 4.39pm on 11 October 2023, and provided with overnight accommodation and a new mobile phone.
The jury has been told he was arrested again after the remains were found.
Earlier, during his first period in custody, Mr Satchwell told gardaí that his wife’s personality changed after her brother’s suicide in 2012.
Mr Satchwell said Ms Satchwell had been threatening to leave him on and off since then. He said her personality changed completely at that stage.
He said sometimes his wife would tell him "I’ll f*****g leave you," or "I f*****g hate you" and then she would apologise.
Asked how this made him feel, he said he felt miserable and after her brother’s death, they "never took sexually again". This made him feel useless, he told gardaí, although he said he never pestered her for sex at any point during the relationship.
He said there was no sex since 2012, but they "weren’t that sexually active at any point in the relationship".
"If it happened, it happened," he said.
He said he wanted kids, and his wife didn’t - and he always bowed to the way she wanted it.
Ideally, he said, he would have liked two kids - one of each. But he said Ms Satchwell had told him from day one that if he wanted kids, she was not the right person.
Mr Satchwell said something about Ms Satchwell had captivated him from the beginning.
He said it was her "100% confidence", as well as the way she walked and the way she "wouldn’t take shit" from him.
He said he was 22 when he met Ms Satchwell and had no previous relationships, although he had had sex once.
Mr Satchwell was asked about Ms Satchwell’s friendships and then asked about his own friends. He said there was "nothing to tell" about his friendships. Asked if he had friends, he said he did now, but he "didn’t back then".
Mr Satchwell said he used to collect the dole for both himself and Ms Satchwell and would give the money to his wife.
He told gardaí that was the way it was with his parents - his father had given his mother his wages every Friday night. He said he had no control over the money, and he was happy enough.
He said Ms Satchwell was saving money because they were trying to get a central heating system installed.
Mr Satchwell was asked about the violence he said he had been subjected to hundreds of times in the relationship. He said he had a couple of rules - you do not cheat on a partner, you do not hit your partner, you do not abuse kids.
He said in certain situations, slapping from a woman could be "a bit sexy".
But he said violence was not a slap - it was "someone throwing a plate at you, hitting you over the head, punching you".
He said it was when he had "30 plus bite marks" down his back.
He said the last time Ms Satchwell physically did anything to him was when she threw a lamp at him in January or February 2017.
He said it was around the time it started to get big in the news, "about women being violent to men".
He said after that time, she never laid a finger on him.
Mr Satchwell said he was on edge when he discovered his wife was missing.
He said he took the dogs for a walk the following morning but did not leave the house again until the following Friday, three days later, when he went to Fermoy and reported his wife missing.
He said after his wife went missing he was thinking "what the fuck is going on". And was asking "where are ya? Why would you do this? Why wouldn’t you let me know where you are?"
He said all kinds of things go through your head.
In a second interview the following day, gardaí told Mr Satchwell that they had evidence that the picture he had been painting and what he had been telling people for many years, was not true.
Mr Satchwell described statements by witnesses, put to him, as "mistaken," and said he could not comment on what other people were saying.
