The jury is still out on how Jeffrey Epstein really died.
Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier and convicted sex offender.
While he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, guards found Epstein unresponsive in his jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City.
After prison guards performed CPR, he was transported in cardiac arrest to the New York Downtown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The New York City medical examiner and the Justice Department Inspector General ruled that Epstein’s death was a suicide by hanging.
Epstein’s lawyers immediately challenged the medical examiner’s conclusion, opening their own investigation and hiring pathologist Michael Baden.
Years later, Ghislaine Maxwell–Epstein’s ex-girlfriend–says she’s also convinced that the disgraced financier’s death was a result of murder.
Maxwell, a former socialite and convicted sex offender, was found guilty of child sex trafficking and other offences in connection with the deceased financier in 2021.
During her first interview behind bars, Maxwell said she believes Jeffrey Epstein was murdered in prison.
The 61-year-old further fueled conspiracy theories surrounding the disgraced billionaire’s death during an interview broadcast on Talk TV’s the Jeremy Kyle Show.
“I believe that he was murdered. I was shocked,” she said.
“Then I wondered how it had happened because as far as I was concerned, he was going to… I was sure he was going to appeal,” Ghislaine said.
She continued, “And I was sure he was covered under the non-prosecution agreement.”
Maxwell declined to apologize to her victims during the interview, saying they should take their anger out on US authorities for allowing Epstein to die.
“I say that Epstein died and they should take their disappointment and upset out on the authorities who allowed that to happen,” she said.
Maxwell continued, “And as I said I hope they have some closure by the judicial process that took place.”
“I wish them time to heal and to be able to have a productive and good life going forward, and that’s what I hope for them,” she concluded.
During her trial, prosecutors outlined how Maxwell operated as Epstein’s enabler throughout the years.
Maxwell lured vulnerable teenage girls with promises of scholarships, gifts and financial assistance for their families, and coerced them into becoming objects for the financier’s sexual gratification.
During the trial, victims described how Maxwell initially came across as a trusting, sisterly figure, who would then work with Epstein to abuse and exploit them.
Ghislaine was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022, and continues to appeal the verdict and sentence.
Despite her assertion that he was murdered, during an interview from Tallahassee Federal Correctional Institution, Maxwell said she wished she had never met Epstein.
“Clearly my association and the fact that I worked for him and spent time with him and knew him has devastated my life and hurt many people that I’ve loved and hold dear around me,” she said.
“I didn’t know that he was so awful,” Maxwell continued. “I mean, obviously now, looking back with hindsight, of course.”
“But at the time, I mean he had lots of friends,” she said. “He was friendly with just about everybody you could imagine.”
“There was no reason to imagine that he was someone who was capable of evil,” Ghislaine concluded.
Both the FBI and the Department of Justice’s Inspector General conducted investigations into the circumstances of Epstein’s death.
The guards on duty were later charged with multiple counts of record falsification.