Runaway Joe, a multi-episodic podcast series from RTÉ Documentary On One, has been telling the story of an Irish-American man, Joseph Maloney, accused of murdering his wife June in upstate New York in the 1960s.

Having begun releasing on January 19^th, the series quickly topped the charts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify in Ireland and continues to do so whilst also being downloaded in over 140 countries to date.

Through their investigations, and since the podcast began publishing, the team have come further than anyone else – even the U.S. federal authorities – in discovering the final destination of Joseph Maloney, one of the oldest open cases in the FBI’s books. They have also uncovered the most up to date photograph of Joseph Maloney, dating back to the early 1980s when Maloney would have been in his early to mid-40's working in Ireland. This photograph, courtesy of Michael Nagy, updates the most up to date photo the FBI had of him by 20 years approximately.

Escaping American custody, Joseph Maloney is discovered living in Ireland under a different identity, Michael O’Shea. Due to institutional failures, he escapes justice 20 years after his alleged crime, and he remains wanted by the FBI to this day.

Although this case is approaching sixty years old investigative journalist Pavel Barter, with the team at RTÉ Documentary on One, tells the long and winding journey of Joseph Maloney and goes in search of what really happened him.

The podcast series includes interviews with law enforcement in the US, FBI agents, Gardaí, Judge Gillian Hussey who approved his extradition, friends and family of June Maloney and experts in coercive control and domestic violence.

With more revelations to come over the next few weeks, podcast makers Tim Desmond and Pavel Barter had this to say: “To see the series at the top of the Apple and Spotify charts has given us a real sense that this is a story worth telling and that we are telling it in the best way for people to engage with and follow this extraordinary tale.

The help we've had from listeners since the first episode of the series dropped has been really important both to us and to the people directly affected by the actions of Joe Maloney here in Ireland and in the United States. And we’ve been contacted by people we never thought we could find, all of whom have a unique insight into Joe Maloney.

Having been given access to testimony and memories from people who haven't spoken before - and as the series goes on – we hope that people who have information about Joe Maloney's life as a fugitive and of where he went after leaving Ireland in 1986 will now come forward. We’re hopeful ltoo that someone somewhere might recognise the man in this newest photograph of Joe Maloney we’re releasing – as we believe Maloney changed his identity again in the late 1980s ”.

If you, or anyone you know has any information about Joseph Maloney / Michael O'Shea, please email documentaries@rte.ie

Listen to Runaway Joe here