Double murderer is warned he may never be released
John Paul Duffy and Emma Baillie were found dead days apart
- Published
A man who murdered his partner and his own brother in separate attacks has been warned that he may never be freed from prison.
Peter Duffy was ordered to serve at least 30 years in jail before he can be considered for parole.
The judge, Lord Scott, told him: "Depending on the question of risk, you may never be released."
Duffy, 48, was found guilty of the brutal murders of John Paul Duffy, 51, and 26-year-old Emma Baillie in Coatbridge in 2022.
Lord Scott said Duffy had known that both his victims were vulnerable and that they had been "shown no respect and afforded no dignity".
Peter Duffy was found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow
The court heard that an assessment had found that Duffy - who was subject to three bail orders at the time of the killings - posed the maximum risk of further offending.
Duffy strangled and repeatedly struck his partner Emma Baillie with a knife between 4 March and 12 April 2022 at his home in Coatbridge.
The killing took place before Ms Baillie could appear in court as a witness against him on a charge of assault.
"Whether that was why you murdered her may never be known, but the timing seems more than just a coincidence," said Lord Scott.
"As you put it in one of your messages, having murdered her, in effect, you had one less thing to worry about."
He was also found guilty of repeatedly stabbing his brother John Paul with a knife and hiding his body under rubbish in his flat between 29 March and 10 April 2022.
Duffy also killed his brother's cat with an axe.
The trial at the High Court in Glasgow heard that police went to John Paul's flat on 10 April to carry out a welfare check.
When they forced entry they found the dead cat in the hallway and the flat in a "state of disarray".
Duffy, who was found sleeping on a couch in the living room, claimed his brother was asleep in a bedroom.
However, John Paul's body was found hidden under a pile of rubbish on another couch.
Police said it looked like his body had been there for some time.
Two days later police found Ms Baillie's decomposing body under clothes on a couch in Duffy's living room.
John Paul's body was discovered at the High Coats flats in Coatbridge
While in prison, Duffy told another inmate that he had killed her after an argument got violent.
Duffy also maintained that he became involved in a confrontation with his brother which turned violent.
He claimed that he stabbed him on the shoulder and torso to ward him off and escape while acting in self defence.
Duffy also claimed that his brother had been responsible for murdering Ms Baillie, but both claims were rejected by the jury.
Defence counsel George Gebbie said that Duffy has had difficulties in his life and described his childhood as "hell".