Runaway Joe RTÉ

It's 1985 and a country estate owner and movie industry worker in Ireland finds himself up before a Dublin court facing an extradition trial. His wife pleads his innocence. He tells the judge - and anyone who'll listen - "you have the wrong man". None of this story makes sense. Apart from his fingerprints. Fingerprints don't lie. Has his true identity finally been rumbled? The real question is - how did he end up here? (Ep1/9)

We travel to Rochester, New York, back to the beginning, to find out where this story really starts. What we find is a young girl who grew into a woman, living her dream and looking for true love. And a young boy who liked to talk with an Irish accent who grew into a man but never really grew up. Love blossomed between them. But then control kicked in. And what began as a whirlwind love story spirals into a hellish nightmare. This was never going to end well. (Ep2/9)

Having been charged with the first-degree murder of his ex-wife, Joseph Michael Maloney is imprisoned and awaits trial. But in a huge embarrassment to the authorities, the defendant tricks his own lawyers - and the judge - into a ploy which allows him to escape. Local and state police, an army of bloodhounds and the FBI all take part in this pursuit. As they begin to close in on this fugitive the net becomes tighter and tighter. (Ep3/9)

Different countries. Different lives. One man becomes another and creates a life the other could never have imagined. Within two years of allegedly murdering his wife, Joe Maloney has become Michael O'Shea. He marries a shy Dublin woman and through a series of lucky breaks, begins to live the life of a wealthy property owner. Eclectic. Extravagant. Is this all fantasy? And if it is, when and where will it all end? (Ep4/9)

The actions of Joe Maloney have far reaching effects, beyond what even he could ever have imagined. Broken families. Broken homes. Broken lives. We manage to find close family members of both June and Joe and are shocked by what they have to tell us. (Ep5/9)

As new information is sent into us by listeners, we begin to piece together new, unknown parts of Joe Maloney's story. We also focus in on the transatlantic efforts being made to arrest him and to bring him to justice - all of which leads to blowing the cover on the alias identity of Michael O'Shea. (Ep6/9)