Killer stalks streets before frenzied home invasion murder in terrifying footage

Chilling new footage shows a murderer stalking the streets before launching into a deadly home invasion.

Direece Roche, 31, broke into 64-year-old Fintan McDwyer’s home in the early hours of June 30 last year through an open window in his bedroom, before stabbing him 77 times. The victim, a retired grandfather, was home alone after his son and girlfriend were away for the night at a wedding.

Roche later told police that he wanted to steal Mr McDwyer’s dog Sammy, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross. The dog belonged to his grandmother, who was Fintan’s sister.

In footage shown in court, Roche is seen climbing through back gardens and walking down alleyways on his way to the house in Fallowfield, Manchester, wearing dark clothes, gloves and a balaclava. After carrying out the killing, he climbed over fences to escape.

Mr McDwyer's body lay on his bed until two days later, when his adult son returned home.

Following a search of nearby properties, police officers spotted a small trace of blood on one of the fences Roche used to escape - a discovery later hailed by one detective as an 'outstanding' piece of police work, reports Manchester Evening News.

The blood was forensically tested and came back as a match to Direece Roche, while a small torch was found also with Roche’s DNA profile.

In 2011 Roche, aged 16, was convicted of the murder of a 23-year-old Adam Steele in Salford on New Year's Day. He was handed a life sentence and ordered to serve at least 12 years. Roche killed Mr McDwyer about nine months after being released from that life sentence.

Mr McDwyer was Roche's great uncle, and in court, Roche claimed he had sexually abused him as a child. A jury rejected his case, and he was found guilty of murder.

On Friday, Roche, now 31, was sentenced to a whole life order, meaning he will never be eligible for parole. He is now among the less than 100 prisoners out of Britain's population of about 80,000 serving this type of sentence, a category which includes baby killer Lucy Letby, Mark 'The Iceman' Fellows and former police officer Wayne Couzens.

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Bright told Roche: "It is right that I say publicly that it seems extremely unlikely what you said was accurate." He described Mr McDwyer as an 'entirely innocent person'.

Describing the murder as 'premeditated with significant planning', the judge told Roche: "My clear impression is that you have no remorse or regret of any kind."

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Lee Shaw of Greater Manchester Police’s Major Incident Team said: "The investigation team worked tirelessly to identify evidence which linked Roche to the murder of Mr McDwyer.

"The CCTV recording at the home was crucial in identifying what happened to Mr McDwyer and assisted us in building a thorough timeline of events.

"The attack was nothing short of horrific and Fintan’s loved ones have had to suffer the horrendous consequences. They have shown incredible strength during this trial.

"As police officers, we always want to bring justice to families of victims. We are pleased that this sentencing may offer Mr McDwyer’s family a very small amount of comfort and allow for them to have an element of closure in such tragic circumstances."