Some of the 1000 cases cracked by Qld police super-recognisers

From cowardly thieves to more serious charges, these are the Queensland criminals being brought to justice.

Super-recognisers helped catch a cowardly thief stealing from vulnerable elderly people by matching CCTV to an old photo in which he looked entirely different.

The case is just one of 1000 identifications the specialist super-recognisers in the Queensland Police Service have made.

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Andrew James Murphy went through the drawers and cupboards of the rooms of 17 residents at a Salvation Army aged care home at Brisbane’s Chapel Hill in 2020.

Andrew James Murphy was sentenced to a 12-month jail term for entering aged care homes and rifling through residents’ rooms for money.

His victims were aged from 74 to 104.

Senior Sergeant Chris Tritton, who heads the police super-recogniser team, matched CCTV from the nursing home to a photo of Murphy in which he looked much younger and didn’t have a beard.

“That footage was shared, because one of the family members had a private camera in the room for their own monitoring of their grandparent, and I identified him from that,” he said.

“He was 50 people along (in search results from computer recognition software), and that was from a photo eight years previous.

Andrew James Murphy

Andrew James Murphy in a photo taken eight years earlier

“The guy in the footage looks quite old, grey hair, has a beard.

“He had none of those features when he was much younger, clean shaven.”

Murphy was convicted and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.

“We’ve done breaks, robberies, multiple burglaries, a lot of stolen cars, we’ve also assisted the homicide squad,” Sen Sgt Tritton said.

“We’re covering all aspects of crime.”
In another case Sen Sgt Tritton was able to make an identification of a man who tried to steal a 2020 Ford Mustang in Bundall on the Gold Coast in 2020.
Jason Scott Goodie demanded a woman get out of the car and punched her.

A witness took a photo of the Goodie and Sen Sgt Tritton was able to identify him after the facial recognition database gave a number of results. Goodie received a two-year jail sentence.

Jason Scott Goodie, 41, convicted of assault occasioning bodily harm after trying to steal a green 2020 Ford Mustang at Upton St in Bundall in 2020.

A 22-year-old man was convicted following a stolen car located in waters off Amalfi Drive, Surfers Paradise, April 15, 2022.

In a separate case Sen Sgt Tritton identified a 22-year-old wanted for a stolen car that plunged into the Nerang River. He used CCTV of him leaving the scene, in which his face was partially obscured by a mask, to make the identification.

Sen Sgt Tritton said the team of super-recognisers were also linking crimes across multiple areas.

“I did one last week that had done over 15 fuel drive-offs, right up and down the southeast corner,” he said.

“Across different districts. Everyone was looking for him.”

The Queensland teams have also helped in identifying more than 50 previously unknown people.

“We’ve identified some deceased people,” he said.

“It’s not just about criminals, it’s also to help the public as well.

“If you’ve got someone in hospital on a ventilator or unconscious, they could have all sorts of allergies, medications, you need to find the family to approve different things.”

“People who might have some dementia and also drug affected people going into the back of the ambulance.”