26 min
Runaway Joe: How a man on the FBI's Most Wanted list lived in Rosenallis LaoisToday
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On the latest episode of the LaoisToday Podcast, we hear from Pavel Barter who is the presenter of the Runaway Joe podcast from RTE’s Documentary on One series
Runaway Joe tells the incredible, scarcely-believable, story of Joe Moloney, an Irish-American, who is on the FBI’s most wanted list and who lived in Capard House in Rosenallis throughout the 1970s and 80s under an assumed name - Michael O’Shea.
How he came to Rosenallis is a story in itself. In 1967, he was accused of murdering his wife June at their son’s 5th birthday party in New York.
But when he was in custody, he escaped and went on the run, eventually ending up in Dun Laoighaire in Dublin where he took on a new identity, under the name Michael O’Shea.
During his time in Dun Laoighaire he bought a small garage, which later earned him a small fortune when the local council bought it off him - at a largely inflated price - as it stood in the way of a proposed Shopping Centre.
The proceeds of this sale helped him to buy Capard House and 120 acres in Rosenallis and he lived there, along with his new wife Sheila Chandler O’Shea.
However all this time the Gardai were aware of his true identity, having his matched his fingerprints to those of Joe Moloney, who remained on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.
But there was nothing they could do onky keep an eye on him as no was extradition treaty between Ireland and the US.
In the meantime, under his new name, O’Shea threw lavish parties in Capard, renovated the house and built a career in the Irish film industry, working alongside the likes of Pierce Brosnan and Sean Connery.
But he had also racked up serious debt at this stage and when the extradition treaty was eventually passed, he was arrested, jailed and brought to court.
The case collapsed, however, and shortly afterwards, some stage in the mid to late 80s he disappeared again and hasn’t been seen since.
Pavel and his documentary team behind Runaway Joe have been trying to track him down. If he’s still alive, he’d now be 88.
As it’s a live investigation, anyone with any information is asked to come forward and contact Pavel and his team.
We chatted to Pavel about how the documentary started - and where it’s going to go from here with a couple of episodes still to be produced.
On the latest episode of the LaoisToday Podcast, we hear from Pavel Barter who is the presenter of the Runaway Joe podcast from RTE’s Documentary on One series
Runaway Joe tells the incredible, scarcely-believable, story of Joe Moloney, an Irish-American, who is on the FBI’s most wanted list and who lived in Capard House in Rosenallis throughout the 1970s and 80s under an assumed name - Michael O’Shea.
How he came to Rosenallis is a story in itself. In 1967, he was accused of murdering his wife June at their son’s 5th birthday party in New York.
But when he was in custody, he escaped and went on the run, eventually ending up in Dun Laoighaire in Dublin where he took on a new identity, under the name Michael O’Shea.
During his time in Dun Laoighaire he bought a small garage, which later earned him a small fortune when the local council bought it off him - at a largely inflated price - as it stood in the way of a proposed Shopping Centre.
The proceeds of this sale helped him to buy Capard House and 120 acres in Rosenallis and he lived there, along with his new wife Sheila Chandler O’Shea.
However all this time the Gardai were aware of his true identity, having his matched his fingerprints to those of Joe Moloney, who remained on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.
But there was nothing they could do onky keep an eye on him as no was extradition treaty between Ireland and the US.
In the meantime, under his new name, O’Shea threw lavish parties in Capard, renovated the house and built a career in the Irish film industry, working alongside the likes of Pierce Brosnan and Sean Connery.
But he had also racked up serious debt at this stage and when the extradition treaty was eventually passed, he was arrested, jailed and brought to court.
The case collapsed, however, and shortly afterwards, some stage in the mid to late 80s he disappeared again and hasn’t been seen since.
Pavel and his documentary team behind Runaway Joe have been trying to track him down. If he’s still alive, he’d now be 88.
As it’s a live investigation, anyone with any information is asked to come forward and contact Pavel and his team.
We chatted to Pavel about how the documentary started - and where it’s going to go from here with a couple of episodes still to be produced.
26 min