Facial-recognition software used to track Rosie’s killer
INTERPOL is now using facial recognition technology to track down the convicted sex offender who is a key suspect in the brutal murder of Co Limerick pensioner Rosie Hanrahan (78).
Interpol and Europol are helping gardaí to trace an east European national who was living in Limerick, but vanished from the city within 48 hours of the murder of the widow during a suspected bungled burglary on December 15.
The widow was badly beaten by her attacker in an apparent attempt to force her to divulge what cash and valuables were in her property – but she was not sexually assaulted.
Her killer then fled the Thomondgate property without having found a sum of cash that Ms Hanrahan hid in her kitchen for Christmas.
The man, who has convictions for sex offences in his native eastern Europe, left Ireland by ferry and arrived in a French port on December 17 or 18. He then vanished. Gardaí asked their European colleagues to focus on countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands in a bid to trace the suspect.
Detectives say their probe is now at “a critical stage”.
A key asset in the Interpol and Europol hunt is now high-tech facial recognition technology.
This allows the biometric data of the suspect to be loaded onto a special computer programme, along with a recent photo of the individual.
Once loaded into the software programme, it will scan through thousands of hours of CCTV security camera footage.
The software then offers ‘hits’ on individuals caught on footage who match the biometric ‘fingerprint’ of the suspect.
Until now, such facial recognition technology has primarily been used in the battle against terrorism.
However, it is increasingly being harnessed by Interpol to track down violent criminals.
Launched in November 2016, Interpol now has a database of 44,000 images from 137 countries.
Earlier this year, the system was credited with helping catch a Czech murderer on the run for a decade and who had fled to South America.
Gardaí are determined to use every resource to find the widow’s brutal killer.
The man is believed to have been hiding under a false name and has strong connections to Romania and Albania, as well as Hungary.
Gardaí are convinced he must be getting support from former associates – and hope that with their European police colleagues tracing those known associates, the whereabouts of the individual can be uncovered.
The man has been linked to the Thomondgate home in Limerick of Ms Hanrahan by forensic tests.
Gardaí obtained a significant amount of forensic data from a painstaking analysis of the Thomondgate cottage by Garda Technical Bureau staff.
Several thousand hours of CCTV security camera footage have also been studied while gardaí have spoken to 1,900 people as part of their investigation.