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

Across two continents and with multiple aliases, Joseph Maloney has stayed on the run, nearly 60 years after he is alleged to have murdered his estranged wife in Rochester by poisoning her at their son's 5-year-old birthday party.

Now, a podcast from Ireland's RTÉ , entitled "Runaway Joe," is hoping it can bring new attention to the story of Maloney. Not only does it tell the compelling saga of Maloney's escapes from both American and Irish authorities, but the podcast also has another goal: Its producers and reporters want Maloney found.

"We genuinely set out to try our very best to find him, and we've actually gotten much further than we ever thought we would," said Liam O'Brien, a podcast producer.

On Friday, the fourth episode of the podcast aired. Initially, there were plans for six episodes, but it is now open-ended, airing weekly, both because of a wealth of material and the vigorous push to find Maloney, who would now be 88.

"I think everybody involved in this case would like to see justice for June," retired former Assistant District Attorney Wendy Lehmann said of Maloney's wife, June Fisk Maloney. She died in June 1967 after allegedly being poisoned by wood alcohol placed in her drink.

How did Joseph Maloney disappear after allegedly killing wife?

It was Lehmann who, in 1985, traveled to Ireland for the extradition of Maloney to Rochester to face prosecution here, where he still faces murder charges. Irish and American authorities had been aware that Maloney was living in Ireland under the name Michael O'Shea for more than a decade.

However, there was no extradition treaty for those years — so authorities could not seek his return to Rochester. O'Shea/Maloney was kept under the watchful eye of police, unaware that he had been identified.

"While that was happening there was nothing the authorities could do but watch and wait and … try not to let him know they were onto him," O'Brien said in a recent interview over Zoom.

In 1985, an extradition treaty went into effect and Maloney was one of the first four fugitives slated to be returned to the United States from Ireland. However, an Irish appellate court invalidated the pact and Maloney was released.

By the time the treaty was reinstated a year later, Maloney was gone. Lehmann said, "he just disappeared."

More of the murder mystery than 'America's Most Wanted'

In the past 30 years Maloney's story has been the focus of several American true-crime television shows, such as "America's Most Wanted." But the Irish podcast is richer, with interviews from Rochester and Ireland, as well as more history, more mystery.

Maloney's life in both Rochester and in Ireland, before his 1985 extradition arrest, are spelled out in vibrant detail.

"He wasn’t really that smart or clever or calculating," said Pavel Barter, a reporter on the podcast along with Tim Desmond. "It was kind of a combination of con artistry, institutional failure and just old fashioned plain luck."

Imagine Walter Mitty with sociopathic or psychopathic tendencies and you have Joseph Maloney, according to the Irish podcasting team.

The podcast details how Maloney may have been a stowaway during one escape, how through a stroke of commercial success and luck he purchased a mansion and how he managed to bamboozle his way into the production team of the film "Excalibur," where he provided weapons.

The evidence against Maloney: His wife was likely poisoned by wood alcohol and, shortly before the birthday party for the couple's son, Maloney had borrowed that very type of alcohol from a friend.

The bottle of wood alcohol was found at Maloney's home after June's death.

The couple had been estranged, with June fearful of her husband's mercurial and unpredictable moods. But the couple were together for their son's birthday party, where it is suspected June was poisoned by a drink mixed by her husband.

While awaiting trial in Rochester, Maloney convinced his lawyer and the court to order a psychiatric exam. He had a familiarity with the psychiatric center and managed to escape from there.

Nearly 20 years later, he reappeared in Ireland, only to elude authorities again after the appellate reversal of the extradition treaty.

Finding 'Runaway Joe': Podcast seeks his return to Rochester

The podcasters say they've made headway in finding Maloney and feel they are getting closer to his whereabouts. They have been able to trace his travels for over a decade after his release from extradition and subsequent disappearance.

"He has been extremely calculating in the choice of places he has run to," O'Brien said. It appears Maloney, after 1985, searched out other locations lacking extradition treaties with the United States.

The tips have been coming in to RTÉ since the podcast's first episode.

"We're hearing all sorts of things from all sorts of angles," Barter said. "... There's lots of rabbit holes.

"By the time we get toward the end we hope we’ll have stuff that isn’t just anecdotal."

If Maloney is found, the podcasters plan to notify the Monroe County District Attorney's Office and the FBI before making any revelations.

Tips welcome, locating the children

The podcasters are seeking tips from the Rochester area as well as internationally, from anyone who has information about Maloney's past and, if possible, present.

As well, Joseph and June Maloney had two young children — Joseph Jr. and Patricia — at the time of June's homicide.

The children were in protective custody after their father's initial escape, then went into the foster care system. Their ability to be adopted, when young, was for years hindered by a lack of consent from their father.

"These kids were kind of left in limbo for years," Barter said.

Some of June's extended family still hope to one day locate them, the podcasters said.

The podcasting team is also seeking information about the children, in hopes of connecting them with June's relatives. RTÉ does not plan to identify the children if they are located and do not want information made public.

Any information about Maloney or the children can be emailed to documentaries@rte.ie. Information can also be sent to Democrat and Chronicle reporter Gary Craig at gcraig@gannett.com.

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— 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 aims to find Joseph Maloney, on lam for decades