Lawyers for Richard Satchwell, whose wife’s body was found buried beneath the stairwell of their home, intend to apply to have his murder trial moved from Cork to Dublin or Limerick.
Mr Satchwell is due to go on trial in April next year and last June Mr Justice Paul McDermott set Cork as the venue.Â
Senan Crawford BL, for Mr Satchwell, on Friday told Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring at the Central Criminal Court that the defence wishes to apply for the trial to be transferred from Cork to Dublin or Limerick.
Maria Brosnan BL, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the prosecution is not on notice of any application for a change of venue.
Ms Justice Ring said the application for a change of venue should be made “in the ordinary way” and that the prosecution should be put on notice. She adjourned the matter to November 15.
The trial, when it proceeds, is expected to last up to six weeks.
Mr Satchwell (57), with an address at Grattan Street, Youghal, Co Cork, is charged with murdering his wife Tina Satchwell (45) at that address on March 20, 2017.
Mrs Satchwell, a native of St Bernard’s Place in Fermoy, was reported missing on March 24, 2017, by her husband. The British truck driver is originally from Leicester in the UK but has been a resident in Cork for over 20 years.
Gardaà found Mrs Satchwell’s skeletal remains in October 2023, more than six years after she was reported missing, while excavating a concrete floor and walled-up area underneath the stairwell of the home she and her husband shared on Grattan Street in Youghal.
Prior to the discovery of Mrs Satchwell’s remains last year, gardaà followed 400 lines of inquiry, carried out multiple searches, watched hundreds of hours of CCTV and took witness statements from 170 people as part of the investigation.
