GARDA COMMISSIONER DREW Harris has confirmed that the investigation into Tina Satchwell’s murder will be reviewed, acknowledging that her remains were ultimately found in a “very obvious” location initially searched by gardaí in 2017.

The review will be presented to both the Minister for Justice and the Policing and Community Safety Authority.

Harris was asked by reporters if he was satisfied with how the 2017 search of the house – where Tina Satchwell’s remains were later discovered – had been conducted.

He said the inintial investigation gathered extensive information, including financial records and communications, and that a forensic expert found no evidence of blood splatter during the initial search.

He described it as a “complex investigation” – however, he noted that the early stages of the investigation were “hamstrung by the lack of information” compared to what became available in the more recent inquiry.

Tina’s body was found buried beneath the stairwell of their home in Youghal, Co Cork in October 2023, over six years after she was first reported missing.

Gardaí later revisited the case, and were able to arrest her husband Richard Satchwell in 2023. He was sentenced to life in prison this week for the murder of Tina.

“I know when you look at it in hindsight, some of these things can seem very obvious,” Harris told reporters at the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary today. 

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris speaking at the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary. Eamonn Farrell Eamonn Farrell

“But in the moment what was known… what was being said in terms of the victim by her husband – one has to recognise the victimology that was being applied here – his suppression of her, the coercive control that she was obviously subject to for many years, her isolation in that particular community.

“That meant there was very few other people we could speak to who was able to give a victimology and an idea of what Tina Satchwell’s life was like.”

Asked if he was “satisfied with the initial search, and if cadaver dogs should have been brought in, Harris said: “I think it’s very early for me to make a judgment on that”.

“There are definitely lessons that we wish to learn from all of these homicides,” he added.

Harris went on to say that gardaí are also subjecting the Michael Gaine investigation to a peer review.

“I think there’s learning for us around those who commit crime and then attempt to dispose of the body, and often are successful in disposing of the body,” Harris said.