Good, R. P. J. (Robert Patrick Joseph)

Patrick and James Kenniff, cattle duffers, were born in the 1860s in New South Wales. They were the sons of Irish-born James Kenniff, selector, and his wife Mary Stapleton. The brothers were known as horse and cattle thieves having frequent encounters with the law. The family moved to the Springsure district of Queensland in 1891 and in 1893 they moved to the Upper Warrego where they engaged in stealing cattle from neighbouring properties. When neighbouring cattlemen complained the government terminated the Kenniffs' lease on their land known as Ralph block and established the Upper Warrego Police Station. The Kenniffs moved their base across the Dividing Range to Lethbridge's Pocket and assumed a more aggressive attitude. During Easter 1902 Constable George Doyle and Albert Dahlke, the manager of Carnarvon Station, set out to arrest the Kenniffs for horse stealing. The charred remains of the two men were found in Lethbridge's Pocket and suspicion fell on the Kenniff brothers. Although he did not witness the murders, Doyle's aboriginal tracker, Sam Johnson, heard shooting and when he came close to the arrest scene the Kenniffs pursued him. Despite a large police manhunt and a substantial reward the Kenniffs were not captured until 23 June 1902 at Arrest Creek, south of Mitchell. Despite the circumstancial evidence they were both found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, although James' sentence was commuted to 16 years in jail and a royal pardon saw him released in November 1914. Patrick was executed on 12 January 1903 and buried in South Brisbane cemetery. He proclaimed his innocence to the last. The publication "Ketching the Kenniffs: the origins and expolits of the Kenniff brothers - Patrick and James" was written by police constable, Robert Patrick Joseph Good, and was first published in 1996, a second revised edition was released in 2001 and was reprinted in 2010.