Lives Less Ordinary

Juan Catalan was facing the death penalty for a murder he didn’t commit. There was one man he thought could save him: US comedian Larry David.
On 12 May 2003, Juan attended a baseball game that he would later say saved his life. It was his local team, the LA Dodgers, versus the Atlanta Braves. The game was exciting, but unremarkable for Juan – apart from a television crew that was filming in his section.
Three months later, Juan arrived at work only to be surrounded by undercover police and arrested in front of his girlfriend and daughter. It was several hours before Juan found out he had been charged with the murder of a 16-year-old girl called Martha Puebla. It was a crime that carried the death penalty. Juan protested his innocence, and later realised he had been at the baseball game the night of her murder. Perhaps, he thought, he could prove his alibi if he had been caught on camera by that TV production.
Eventually, Juan's lawyer Todd Melnik figured out that the show in question was Curb Your Enthusiasm, created by comedian Larry David. The network HBO finally let Todd view the tapes, which contained a direct shot of Juan. But the footage was filmed well before the murder was committed, so Todd had to keep searching for evidence to exonerate Juan. In the end, it was cell tower records that proved Juan could not have killed Martha Puebla.
Since his case was dismissed, Juan has gone on to write a memoir called Played and Todd and Juan's relationship has also blossomed into a friendship. They have even attended Dodgers games together.
Credits: Curb Your Enthusiasm/Whyaduck Productions in association with HBO Entertainment/Jeff Schaffer and Robert B. Weide
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Saskia Collette
Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.
 
Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
 
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

In the 1970s and 80s, a spate of mysterious disappearances were reported along Japan’s coast. One of those was 19-year-old nurse Hitomi Soga, who was walking with her mother when they were kidnapped. She was blindfolded and dragged to a boat destined to the world's most secretive state, North Korea. But why was she taken? Hitomi's stay in North Korea would last 24 years and include a forced marriage to America's most well-known defector, Charles Jenkins. The world watched when eventually she returned home, still desperate to uncover the truth about the mother who vanished with her into the darkness.
Presenter: Asya Fouks
Translation: Nancy Roberts
Voiceover: Yoko Gravestock
Producer: Edgar Maddicott
Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.
 
Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
 
You can read our privacy notice here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

Many years after he’d held a gun to her daughter’s head, Michelle wrote to Robert Ortiz seeking closure. It took him years to write back – and then they met.
In 2000, Michelle Renee was at home with her seven-year-old daughter Breea when armed men burst through the door. They held Breea hostage while they took Michelle to the bank where she worked. She was told to remove all the money from the vault or her daughter would die. The gang were later caught and imprisoned but the fallout from that day and the accusations hurled at her during the trial would leave a lasting scar. Ten years after the event Michelle and Breea chose to write one of the gunmen a letter. It was a way of bringing the story to a close, they weren’t expecting a response. It took him years but Robert Ortiz did write back – asking did she want to meet? 
This story is told in two episodes, in episode one Michelle tells the story of the day of the robbery and the impact of the trial when suddenly she stands accused. In episode two we bring in Robert and hear how two people have built a friendship from the most unlikely start.
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder and Andrea Kennedy
Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.
 
Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
 
You can read our privacy notice here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

In 2000, armed men burst into Michelle Renee's home and held her child hostage while she was forced to rob her own bank. None of them could have predicted what happened next.
Michelle Renee was at home with her seven-year-old daughter Breea when armed men burst through the door. They held Breea hostage while they took Michelle to the bank where she worked. She was told to remove all the money from the vault or her daughter would die. The gang were later caught and imprisoned but the fallout from that day and the accusations hurled at her during the trial would leave a lasting scar. Ten years after the event Michelle and Breea chose to write one of the gunmen a letter. It was a way of bringing the story to a close, they weren’t expecting a response. It took him years but Robert Ortiz did write back – asking did she want to meet? 
This story is told in two episodes, in episode one Michelle tells the story of the day of the robbery and the impact of the trial when suddenly she stands accused. In episode two we bring in Robert and hear how two people have built a friendship from the most unlikely start.
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder and Andrea Kennedy
Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.
 
Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
 
You can read our privacy notice here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

Chris 'Brolga' Barns fell in love with joeys and became a kangaroo 'mum'. He rescues orphaned baby kangaroos, or joeys, carrying them around in a pillowcase to mimic their mum’s pouch. While working as a tour guide in the Australian outback, Brolga would always check the pouches of kangaroos killed by cars lying on the side of the road, where often the joeys would still be alive. The plan was to look after them until they could be released back into the wild, but sometimes they had been injured and couldn't outrun dingoes or bush fires.
So Brolga gave up his job to create a kangaroo sanctuary for them in Alice Springs, in Australia's red centre. After leading some land and digging for 18 months to build a giant dingo-proof fence, he spent all his money. He ended up living in a tin shack on site, without any electricity or a toilet, sharing his bed with the orphaned joeys he was caring for. But the visitors he had hoped for did not come, and he had no income. Things were looking bleak. Then he starred in a BBC documentary series called Kangaroo Dundee. The title was a play on the hit comedy film Crocodile Dundee, about a man from the outback who wows everyone in the big city. Brolga's TV appearance wowed too - much to his surprise, he received hundreds of emails from female fans, who were unaware that he had a brand-new girlfriend (now his wife).
The show guaranteed the Kangaroo Sanctuary's survival, and Brolga was able to dedicate all his time to mothering orphaned joeys. One of his first rescues, an alpha male kangaroo called Roger, became an internet sensation for always trying to attack his 'mum', Brolga, who he now saw as a rival. And recently some of Brolga's joeys starred in a family film called Kangaroo, inspired by his life.
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Vibeke Venema
Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.
 
Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
 
You can read our privacy notice here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice