A man freed from prison after being acquitted of stabbing his mother to death is on the run accused of killing his father in exactly the same way.

Suspect Muriel Marshall Madeira was released from jail three years ago after being declared innocent of the savage murder of his mother.

Now he is on the run after his 71-year-old father was found dead in an identical killing.

Police say Madeira, 29, is accused of killing victim Renato Jose Madeira in a frenzied knife attack at the family home in Joinville, Santa Catarina state, Brazil.

Madeira is believed to have fled in the victim’s car after the attack. The missing Citroen C4 was later found abandoned in Guaratuba, Parana state.

Renato’s partially-decomposed body was found inside the house with multiple stab wounds on 8th November.

It is not clear when the alleged crime took place, but neighbours reported not having seen him for days.

Madeira had been living in the home with his father and his intellectually-disabled younger brother, who was left without food or water for days.

He has since been taken in by other family members, while Renato’s corpse was taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for an autopsy.

Police believe Madeira and Renato fell out when the former asked for money to buy drugs and the latter refused.

The Homicide Police Department is investigating the case.

Madeira had been seized for murdering his mother at her home in Curitiba, Parana, in 2017 but had been acquitted and released from custody three years ago.

Police had found the body of teacher Denise Simionatto, 64, covered in stab wounds on the floor of her home.

Madeira had been living with her but, after the crime, had fled to his father’s home in Joinville, where he was swiftly arrested.

He admitted to the killing, bizarrely telling police he had done it because he suspected that his mother was planning to kill him.

Police believed he carried out the sick act with a kitchen knife while she was napping on the sofa in the living room.

At the time of Madeira’s arrest, he did not show signs of drunkenness or intoxication, but police found marijuana and black magic paraphernalia at the home in Curitiba.

He was charged with aggravated homicide, and it is not clear why he was later acquitted.