Murder suspect cleared, thanks to sitcom

A murder suspect has been cleared – thanks to the American comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Juan Catalan spent more than five months in jail after police accused him of killing 16-year-old Martha Puebla in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley in May last year.

He insisted he had been watching an LA Dodgers baseball match at the time, but  police didn’t believe his alibi.

Catalan’s lawyer Todd Melnik poured over the TV footage of the game, but couldn’t make out his client, CNN reports.

But then he discovered that the HBO network had been at the stadium that night of the killing to record an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm – and asked for the tapes.

Melnik told CNN: “I got to one of the scenes, and there is my client sitting in a corner of the frame eating a hot dog with his daughter. I nearly jumped out of my chair and said, 'There he is!"'

The video recordings had time codes, which helped a judge decide there was no evidence to try Catalan, and he was released.

The episode being recorded that night was about Seinfeld co-creator Larry David’s attempts to get to the ball game in time. His solution was to hire a prostitute, not for sex but to be a passenger, so he could use the carpool lane and beat the traffic.

Published: 2 Jun 2004