Podcast about Rochester fugitive has yet another twist: Siblings learn of each other

The creators of the Irish podcast "Runaway Joe" wanted to hunt down Joe Maloney, who'd fled to Ireland after alleged to have fatally poisoned his wife in Rochester in 1967.

With investigative reporting that constructed an expansive and compelling nine-episode podcast, the "Runaway Joe" team instead learned that Maloney is likely dead. But they also discovered something else: He has six children, many who were unaware of the others.

"It was a very happy outcome to the entire series," said Pavel Barter, one of the RTÉ investigative reporters who created the podcast. "... Indeed, we didn't even know going into it that Joe Maloney had more than two children."

Those two were Joseph and Patricia Maloney, the children of Joe and June Fisk Maloney.

It was in Rochester at the fifth birthday party of Maloney' son, Joe Jr., where Maloney is suspected of having poisoned June's drink. He was then separated from her. Their daughter, Patricia, was then 18 months old.

Joe Jr., who now lives in Florida and asked that his last name not be used, said in a telephone interview, "It turns out there's two half brothers and two half sisters."

He has been reaching out and speaking with his half-siblings, he said. Some expect to meet in the future.

Of one of his half-brothers, Joe said, "I told my wife I can hang with him. He likes rock concerts and craft beer like I do."

Maloney had two children from another marriage as well as two other children with local women while he was married to June. Those women, like June, were nurses. He convinced them he was a doctor, which he wasn't.

The podcast prompted some of the children to submit their DNA to a genetic matching firm, and that led to the discovery of the half-siblings.

More: Mystery solved? Irish podcast uncovers fate of Rochester man accused in 1967 wife murder

More: Rochester man has evaded capture for decades after wife's killing: Podcast aims to find him

The fate of "Runaway Joe"

While readying for his murder trial, Maloney was able to convince a judge of the need for a psychiatric evaluation. He then escaped from the Rochester State Hospital, where he was being held.

Maloney fled to Ireland, where he lived under the name Michael O'Shea. His identity was discovered in the mid-1980s, but an extradition was temporarily blocked and he disappeared again.

The podcasting team tracked him to pre-unification East Germany and to Northern Cyprus, a notorious location for fugitives trying to sidestep arrest and extradition. There, it appears Maloney died in 2005, suffering from Alzheimer's.

"Runaway Joe" revealed this in its final episode, then received even more information afterward that also further confirmed Maloney's death. His burial site, if there was one, was not found.

The woman whom he married in Ireland, and who traveled with him as he avoided police and prosecution, is also deceased.

"There are still questions to be asked," Barter said. "Where did he die, under what name, who diagnosed him with Alzheimer's, what did (the couple) do for money?"

Learning of his father's crimes

Joe Jr. learned of the podcast from a February Democrat and Chronicle story and from Evan Dawson's talk show, "Connections," on WXXI radio that focused an episode on "Runaway Joe."

Joe said he'd long thought that his father had reacted in a "crime of passion" after an argument in 1967. He had little proof, but it was a story that seemed less vengeful.

Instead, he learned from the podcast that his father was an abusive and controlling man fully capable of premeditated murder.

"He was just an all-around bad man," Joe said. "... He was obviously a slippery and clever man."

Still, Joe said, he would have liked to have again seen his father.

"I had the pre-1967 life and the post-1967 life," he said. "I never forgot about the pre-1967 life because I have some vivid memories of it. But I've moved on."

Among the memories: The family home and his tree swing in the front yard "that Joe had built for me."

Joe and Patricia went into foster care after the homicide, then were adopted by the foster family. They have remained close.

The Democrat and Chronicle connected with other half-siblings, who did not want to be interviewed.

Barter said the podcasters did not want to produce a salacious true-crime saga, one that would be "exploitive of the people involved." It wanted to be respectful of the survivors and the memory of June.

"It's almost accidental but it's helped the family unite," he said.

"We could never have predicted it would end on a note of hope."

 Gary Craig is a veteran reporter with the Democrat and Chronicle, covering courts and crime and more. He is the author of two books, including "Seven Million: A Cop, a Priest, a Soldier for the IRA, and the Still-Unsolved Rochester Brink's Heist." The heist was the focus of an earlier RTÉ podcast, "The Seven Million Dollar Man."

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: 'Runaway Joe' podcast about fugitive Joe Maloney has yet another twist