BOSTON, Sept. 5, 2018—Beloved Dorchester barber Sean Michael Dwyer was recalled as a man wholly devoted to his family at a sentencing hearing for the man who took his life outside his shop four years ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Convicted yesterday of plunging a knife into Dwyer’s heart and then attempting to influence witnesses who cooperated with the investigation, 36-year-old DOMINIC SHINER was sentenced today for voluntary manslaughter and witness intimidation. Assistant District Attorney Julie Higgins recommended the maximum penalties for both offenses – terms of 19 to 20 years and nine to 10 years, respectively, asking the court to impose those sentences consecutively. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins sentenced Shiner to 14 to 16 years on the manslaughter conviction followed by two to three years on the intimidation conviction.

Prior to sentencing, Wilkins heard from Dwyer’s closest relatives, members of the family he was building, and a longtime friend who was also a co-worker and roommate. All of them spoke of him as a kind, compassionate, and generous man forging a life for himself and those he loved, a “mama’s boy” who took special care to nurture the confidence and self-respect of young people around him. But they also spoke of the void in their lives after his sudden, violent death at the hands of someone who had once been a friend.

“My heart is shattered,” Dwyer’s mother said, asking the court to impose the maximum sentences allowed under the law. “My spirit is shattered.”

“I never knew true love until he came into my life,” said his girlfriend. “He was generous, gentle, and thoughtful. He was an amazing father figure to my daughter. He was a smart man and a good friend. And I still look for him everywhere.”

Her daughter, who was just 10 years old at the time of the homicide, expressed her regret at not being able to protect him that night, 13 days before Christmas 2014. “I know no one is really a saint. But in my eyes, Sean Michael was a saint,” she said.

Dwyer’s aunt read a note from her daughter, who wrote that her cousin “saw potential in me that I didn’t see in myself.” And an older neighbor who became a friend, co-worker, and roommate to Dwyer praised him as hardworking, selfless, and contemplative – “with the qualities of someone many years his senior.”

Conley noted the array of people, young and old, who came forward to speak of Dwyer’s positive role in their lives.

“They came from many walks of life to tell us how much he meant to them,” Conley said. “The sad fact of prosecuting homicides is that we never get to meet the people we speak for in court. But everything we learned about Sean Michael Dwyer tells us how remarkable he was, and what a terrible loss we suffered when his life was taken.”

During about seven days of trial, Assistant District Attorneys Julie Higgins and Colby Tilley introduced evidence and testimony proving that Shiner and Dwyer knew one another, and that Shiner had visited Dwyer’s Adams Street barbershop asking for money on Dec. 10, 2014, two days before the stabbing.

Witness statements, video footage, telephone records, social media postings, and other evidence proved that Shiner returned to the shop on the evening of Dec. 12 and stabbed Dwyer twice in the chest, including one blow to the heart that caused fatal injuries.

Boston Police responded to the area at about 6:20 that evening to find him dead at the scene. After an exhaustive investigation by Boston Police homicide detectives on the street and Suffolk prosecutors in the grand jury, Shiner was indicted for first-degree murder and taken into custody on Sept. 13, 2015.

While held without bail at the Nashua Street Jail, Shiner attempted to mail a friend the grand jury transcripts he had received as discovery. The witnesses’ names had been redacted, but Shiner wrote them in and told his friend “you know what to do.” Employees at the jail intercepted the package and notified Suffolk prosecutors, leading to his Nov. 8, 2016, indictment on witness intimidation charges.

Jennifer Sears was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Shiner was represented by attorney Michael Doolin.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.