Richard Satchwell replied "guilty, or not guilty, guilty" when charged with the murder of his wife Tina Satchwell, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
Mr Satchwell has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Satchwell in March 2017.
Her body was found more than six-and-a-half years later buried under the stairs in their home in Youghal, Co Cork.
Detective Garda David Kelleher charged Mr Satchwell with murder after the discovery of his wife's remains in their home in October 2023. He cautioned Mr Satchwell that he was not obliged to say anything but anything he did say would be taken down and used in evidence.
Mr Satchwell responded "guilty, or not guilty, guilty".
Under cross examination from defence counsel, Brendan Grehan, Gda Kelleher said he did not recall gardaí explaining to Mr Satchwell the difference between murder and other forms of homicide, such as manslaughter, at any stage.
Gda Kelleher agreed that Mr Satchwell had admitted to gardaí that he had lied about his wife having disappeared when he was rearrested following the discovery of her body. He agreed that Mr Satchwell told them she died during a struggle with him and had not deviated from that position throughout his detention.
Gda Kelleher said he would not use the terminology "perp walk" to describe Mr Satchwell being walked from the garda car to Cashel District Court to be charged with murder on 14 October 2023.
Asked if gardaí were trying to "overcompensate" for their failure to find Ms Satchwell’s remains in 2017, Gda Kelleher said he could only speak for his involvement in the investigation since November 2021 and he could stand over everything done since then.
Mr Grehan asked him if gardaí needed the services of a forensic archaeologist to tell them where bodies are discovered in most homicide cases. Gda Kelleher said experts were consulted and their assistance proved invaluable.
He agreed that during his garda interviews, Mr Satchwell claimed a family member of his wife's had made a statement which could support what he had said about Ms Satchwell being violent. He said he had taken a statement from the family member in August 2020.
Earlier, GP Deirdre O'Grady said Ms Satchwell had attended her practice in Fermoy briefly in the 1990s but Richard Satchwell had not been a registered patient. She said she had not treated him on any occasion, although she knew him from attending with his wife.
She said she had no recollection of Tina Satchwell attending her to tell her that Mr Satchwell had taken an overdose. She said she would have notes if something as serious as that had been brought to her attention.
She said she had no medical notes in relation to a claim by Mr Satchwell that he had attended her on one occasion in 1993 or 1994, with his face all scratched and she said she had no recollection of such an attendance.
She said she kept excellent notes and she and her practice manager had gone through all her notes and found no records related to Richard Satchwell. After cross examination she agreed to check her records to find dates when Tina Satchwell had attended in the 1990s and to come back to court with any such records.
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John Keohane, who regularly attended car boot sales in Co Cork, told the court he knew Tina Satchwell and described her as a "very nice person" who was always "well dressed." He said he had met her on 19 March 2017 at a car boot sale in Carrigtwohill. He told the court she bought a "beautiful jacket" and some expensive perfume and he said he joked with her that she must be meeting someone.
Mr Keohane said she told him she would never touch another man – that she had one man and one man only and loved him so much and that she loved Richard and would never hurt him.
The following Sunday he said he met Mr Satchwell on his own and asked him where his wife was. He said Mr Satchwell told him his wife had left him and took money with her. He said Mr Satchwell told him Tina was a "street angel and house devil" and had hit him in the face previously and had broken two of his teeth. He agreed that he told gardaí in 2017 that Mr Satchwell also told him that she hit him across the face after the car boot sale the previous week.
Angela Sheehan gave evidence that she knew Tina Satchwell from the swimming pool in Fermoy. She described herself as an acquaintance and said they were not best friends. She said they both loved animals and talked about "fashion, high heels, shoes, hair, make up in general, girly stuff". She described Ms Satchwell as pleasant to talk to, bubbly and good for a laugh.
She said they never exchanged phone numbers and she never saw her again after she moved to Youghal. She said she met Richard Satchwell one day in Fermoy when he asked her if she knew where Tina was.
Garda Conor McCarthy described finding a chisel during the search of the house in October 2023. The jury members were shown the chisel which was described as a wood chisel with a red and black handle and a sharp pointed top.
It was found in a shopping bag in a bedroom along with other items including pipe insulation.
