A murderer freed from prison for being ‘polite’ stabbed his great-uncle 71 times in bed in a frenzied attack.
Direece Roche, 30, was released in 2023 after serving 12 years of a life sentence imposed in 2011 for stabbing an innocent bystander to de@th outside a New Year’s Day party.
Despite this, prison officers described Roche as ‘respectful’ and as showing ‘wisdom beyond his years’ during parole hearings.
A year on from his release, Roche donned a balaclava and dressed in all black before breaking into the home of widower Fintan McDwyer at 3.30am before stabbing him to de@th.
The body of the 64-year-old grandfather, who was Roche’s great-uncle, was found five hours later when his son arrived home after staying out overnight due to a wedding celebration.
Now, Roche, from Longsight, Manchester, has been convicted of murdering Mr McDwyer and will face a second life term when he is sentenced in July.
After the case, Nicola Carter, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: “Direece Roche planned and carried out the brutal murder of his own relative as he lay in bed.
“He attempted to conceal his identity by wearing a balaclava as he walked the streets of Manchester before and after murdering his great-uncle. He has failed to take full responsibility for his actions.”
Mr McDwyer – whose wife Tracy died 20 years ago – had a number of health issues, including a surgically removed spleen as well as type 2 diabetes, depression, and back problems.
His family said: “Fintan was our own gentle giant, with a calm and reassuring presence. He had the most wonderful, soft, Irish lilt. He was a true gentleman, had a wonderful sense of humour, and always had a twinkle in his eye.
“There isn’t anyone who would say a bad word about Fintan, and it breaks our hearts that he has been denied years to be with his sons and grandchildren.”
During the recent murder trial, jurors were allowed to learn of Roche’s previous murder conviction when, aged 16, he stabbed to death care worker Adam Steele, 23, at random in January 2011.
At that time, Roche and his older brother Owen, 23, had been nicknamed “The Krays” in their former neighbourhood in Stockport due to their violent and intimidating behaviour.
Owen was on the run after staging a dramatic breakout from court when he was charged with assault and false imprisonment on his girlfriend.
The two siblings were looking for the woman in the Salford area when they got involved in a fight with another man outside a party in Salford.
During the scuffle, Roche pulled out a knife and, wrongly fearing Adam was a threat to his brother, stabbed him five times before leaving him to die on the pavement.
He later admitted murder and was ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years, with the trial judge blaming his older brother for “failing him.”
Owen was given an indeterminate sentence for public protection after being convicted of manslaughter.
In the first few years of his first life sentence, Roche was repeatedly disciplined for attacking guards and other inmates but in 201,4 prison reports said he had been “reflecting on how to avoid committing further offences.”
It was claimed he had cut ties with criminal associates, including his brother, and was planning to start a psychology degree course.
The reports said he had become the “lynch-pin” of a small therapy group and shown “wisdom beyond his years”. Prison officers praised his “mature and stable behaviour.”
Parole was initially denied early release in 2019 after a High Court judge said Roche had yet to prove that his violent lifestyle on the streets was “well and truly past history” but he was moved to Category D Kirkham jail in Lancs.
In May 2023, while on day release, he was caught in possession of a lock knife inside a bag was still granted parole the following September.
The latest killing occurred in July 2024 after CCTV captured Roche, wearing a balaclava, walking to the victim’s house before breaking in through an upstairs window.
He then slashed Mr McDwyer to the neck, severing his jugular vein, before stabbing him to the face, head, and body 71 times.
In court, Roche had claimed the victim had s£xually abused him as a child and had acted in a “simultaneous loss of control” when Mr McDwyer ran at him with a knife during the break-in.
He also claimed he was only at the house to steal Mr McDwyer’s pet dog. All his claims were dismissed as a “carefully constructed, completely false defence” by prosecutors.
Six weeks prior to the murder he said he had bumped into the victim walking the dog at Platt Field’s Park – and learnt the animal had been named after his late mother Samantha who took her own life in 2008.
He told the court: “I wanted to get the dog so went out to commit the burglary. I just had a torch and went through his bedroom window. I didn’t want no interaction with him at all – I just wanted to take Sammy and leave. But he woke up.
