It has been five weeks and six episodes since the hit podcast Runaway Joe hit the airwaves.
So far, the series has diligently tracked the last movements of the alleged murderer and escaped fugitive Joe Maloney. It has illustrated the impact of violent crimes on those left behind and educated the public on domestic abuse through the story of Joe's victim June.
Joe allegedly poisoned his former wife at their son’s fifth birthday party in the late 60s, since then, he’s been on the run, crossing borders, taking on new identities and attracting the attention of the FBI, Interpol and An Garda Síochána.
Unfortunately, law enforcement agencies ran out of leads long ago, but since the Documentary On One team got their hands on the case, everything has changed…
Each week the creators have asked listeners to submit any information they have on the podcast namesake and his second wife Sheila Chandler O’Shea. Finally, they are ready to reveal what scoops those tips have yielded… so far.
My advice is to buckle up, as this week’s instalment involves transatlantic travel (which is not cool if you’re a fugitive), an unexpected James Bond connection and a shallow grave…
There is also top-notch scandal from Joe’s former neighbours, some truly doggy property dealings and an exclusive interview with the former FBI special agent assigned to the case.
Beware, this article does contain spoilers, so it might be best to close your eyes and instead hit play above on episode six, Closing the Net.
If you have any information, knowledge or photographs of Michael O’Shea/Joe Maloney please send them through to documentaries@rte.ie
Canada
If you’re a fugitive wanted for murder and feeling a bit stressed there is only one solution; book a transatlantic flight. Well, as crazy as that sounds, it is exactly what Joe Maloney did despite literally being on the FBI’s most-wanted list.
When Joe first arrived in Ireland in the late 1960s, he started working on a fishing trawler in South Dublin. His plan to stay off the grid and away from the system was going perfectly, until he sustained a stomach injury.
Enter: Dr Brian Hanlon. Brian attended to Joe during his internship at St. Michael's Hospital in Dún Laoghaire. Of course, the Doc on One team had to track him down and gather all the information they could.
According to Brian, his new patient was very secretive, had no insurance and did not want any record of his treatment. He also wanted to pay for his care upfront, so basically, he was a walking red flag.
Despite all this, the pair kept in touch and became friends. Eventually, Brian moved to Canada, and that is how he ended up (unbeknownst to him) with a criminal as a house guest.
Brian believes this was Joe’s first trip outside of Ireland since his move. He did mention that his friend had a few issues getting a passport…
As for the authorities, the FBI, the Gardaí, they knew nothing… spookier still Joe borrowed his friend's car and took a solo trip during his stay.
The podcast creators believe he may have crossed the border into the United States and back to the scene of the crime, Rochester New York.
Michael O’Shea was very secretive. Because he had no insurance. And he didn't want any records or anything made - Dr Brian Hanlon
The Good Neighbour
Since the podcast dropped, the team has been flooded with tips from people who knew Joe Maloney, aka Michael O’Shea.
One such person was Fiona Deverell, who grew up close to Capard House and used to go pony trekking across Joe’s country estate.
She takes the listener inside our fugitive world during this point in his life.
Fiona and her sister regularly lunched with Joe and his second wife Sheila. While in Dublin, Joe claimed to be from Kerry, but at Capard House Fiona said he reverted to his American accent.
"He didn't make any secret of the fact that he had come or he'd begun his life in America."
She said he was tall with movie-star confidence. She had no idea that the man who would go clay pigeon shooting with her father had his face plastered on FBI wanted posters across the globe.
Joe was known for throwing lavish parties on his estate. According to Fiona he mixed quite a cocktail…
Michael O’Shea appeared to now have it all. Wealth, assets, a wife, a country estate. He was a party host who sometimes liked to mix cocktails - Journalist Pavel Barter
Something Borrowed
At this point, we need to reintroduce one of the heroes of this tale, prosecutor Wendy Lehmann. Now, if you do not know who Wendy is please stream episodes one and two immediately.
Wendy did a little digging as she waited for an extradition treaty to be established between the US and Ireland so she could finally pounce on Joe.
Her husband Gary was a real estate broker and college professor at the time, and discovered that Joe was borrowing heavily against his country estate.
He owed Allied Irish Bank 514,418 pounds and 27 pence in 1981, which in today's money would be millions. I would question how he managed to borrow over 10 times what he paid for this property, but I lived through the Celtic Tiger.
However, at this point, the authorities were closing in, so money wasn’t the only thing Joe was running out of…
The value of Capard House had quadrupled since Michael O’Shea had bought it just six years earlier. How he was able to have borrowed more than 10 times against what he’d paid for it is anyone’s guess - Journalist Pavel Barter
Watchmen
The FBI has been mentioned copious times throughout the series, but this week, we get to hear about their involvement from the special agent assigned to the case in the 80s.
Gene Harding, the agent in question, explains how local Gardaí had to become the eyes and ears of the bureau as they waited for an extradition treaty between the US and Ireland to be established. If you do not know what I am referring to, please go back and stream the first three episodes with haste.
"I was in touch with the homicide detectives who had that case and the local authorities, and if they came up with any leads, they would pass them over to me."
One just Garda liaison was a close friend of Fiona Deverell’s father, and he eventually felt compelled to divulge Joe’s true identity. Needless to say, the family stopped visiting Capard house after that exchange.
He showed him this FBI file and here was Mike O’Shea being Joe Maloney and, yeah it was quite a shock. My dad had to come home and tell my mum and they didn't tell us because we were a bit young I suppose. But it was in the days following that everything changed and we were told we're not going up there again - Fiona Deverell
Manions Of America
Despite being under constant surveillance, Joe’s film career was booming. He even worked alongside Irish actor and former James Bond Pierce Brosnan on his breakout role, in The Manions Of America.
The assistant director of the six-part TV series, Barry Blackmore spoke to the podcast about working alongside Joe. He said our fugitive was in charge of guns, also known as an armourer on set.
It was around this time that conflict was unfolding in Northern Ireland, so the Garda Special Branch had to monitor weaponry throughout the country, including on film sets.
But none of this worried Joe, so much so that he literally invited the Gardaí into his home… He was in serious debt and decided to rent Capard House out as a movie location.
Director Maurice O’Callaghan, who worked on his film Soldiers of Destiny on Joe's estate, described Joe’s relationship with the roughly 20 Special Branch officers on set.
"You know, they'd come up and play cards and drink Poitín with him in the evenings and sometimes you'd hang around for that if you weren't too busy" - Peter Collins, Former Builder at Capard House.
Isabel Grimson
From the outside, Joe appeared to be living the dream, but there is evidence to suggest he knew his luck was running out. Around 1983, our criminal appears to have put a contingency plan in motion, which involved offloading some assets.
In the early 80s, Joe tried to offload a property about 14 miles from Capard House, called Castletown House.The buyer Annette Sullivan reached out with a truly bizarre tale…
After agreeing on the sale, Annette went to visit her solicitor in Dublin to look over the property deeds. However, Joe Maloney’s name (aka Michael O’Shea) was nowhere to be found, the name on the document wasn’t a man at all.
The owner of the property Joe was attempting to sell was Isabel Grimson.
Who was this woman, how was she connected to Joe, and why was her name on this deed?
To find out, you will have to dig a little deeper into Joe’s property dealings, and for that, you need to hit play.
Well, he didn't sell it to me really because he didn't own it did he? Chancer... - Annette Sullivan
England Calling
After news of an extradition treaty between Ireland and the US finally hit the front page, Joe conveniently began stockpiling cash.
He tried to offload his country estate with its crippling mortgage repayments and cut back on unnecessary expenses like paying his employees and local retailers.
The FBI set up an alert system with border agencies worldwide in case Joe slipped out of the country, but according to the FBI, he stayed in Ireland at all times.
The Doc On One team determined otherwise. We already know he went to Canada, but he also frequently went to the UK for "British Army Royal Engineers reunions" and other reasons which will not be disclosed in this article…
Former Special agent Harding said based on the team's findings, Joe likely had another alias that allowed him to travel freely without detection.
The Governments of the United States and Ireland signed a treaty yesterday to permit the extradition of criminal suspects seeking refuge in the other country. One official said the treaty demonstrated President Reagan’s commitment to stopping terrorism. But he said the agreement would also apply to other crimes ranging from fraud to murder. - News Paper Report
Shallow Grave
At some point in this tale, Joe and his wife Sheila move into a house at number three Kent Terrace in the affluent seaside suburb of Dalkey.
Robert Power, who later owned said property, got in touch to tell, yet another unhinged story about our criminal.
Once upon a time, Robert got chatting with former Detective Frank Mullen. Mr Mullen sadly died in 2017, but in 1973, he took those critically important fingerprints that led to the detection of Joe Maloney in Ireland.
However, when the extradition law changed between the US and Ireland, Joe started to worry (finally), and desperation kicked in. To say he started to act strangely would be a gross understatement, instead of sitting tight our fugitive decided to ring Detective Mullen with a tip-off and the suggestion of a secret solo rendezvous.
What happened next? Tune in to find out, but let’s just say it involves drug deals, sting operations and a shallow grave…
There was a gun and there was a sum of money involved also and he said he believed Michael was going to either try and bribe him or failing that shoot him and put him in that grave - Robert Power
If you have any information, knowledge or photographs of Michael O’Shea/Joe Maloney please send them through to documentaries@rte.ie
New episodes of Runaway Joe are available every Friday, from wherever you get your podcasts - catch up here.
