Ghislaine Maxwell believes Jeffrey Epstein was murdered – and wishes she ‘never met’ him
Ghislaine Maxwell said she believes the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was murdered and she wishes she “never met” him.
The British socialite, 61, was sentenced to 20 years in a US prison last year for luring young girls to massage rooms so Epstein could molest them between 1994 and 2004.
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a Manhattan jail in August 2019 as he waited trial on sex trafficking charges.
His death was ruled a suicide, but Maxwell, who had a relationship with him, said she does not believe that.
In an interview for Talk TV’s Jeremy Kyle Live: Ghislaine Behind Bars, she said: “I believe that he was murdered. I was shocked.
“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. And I was sure he was covered under the non-prosecution agreement.
“But I wasn’t in the indictment. I wasn’t mentioned. I wasn’t even one of the co-conspirators.
“I honestly wish I had never met him.
“Looking back now, I probably wish I had stayed in England. But leaving that aside, you know, I tried to leave and start another new job and move on from the end of ’98, ’99.
“So I wish I had been more successful in moving on… Because I’d been a banker and so I should have moved on completely.”
Maxwell with Epstein
Maxwell, daughter of the late media tycoon and MP Robert Maxwell, said she “didn’t know” Epstein “was so awful”, though he is “obviously now, looking back with hindsight, of course”.
“But at the time, I mean he had lots of friends. He was friendly with just about everybody you could imagine,” she said, speaking from prison.
“There was no reason to imagine that he was someone of interest to people.”
Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell in a photo believed to have been taken in 2001. Pic: Rex/Shutterstock
The convicted sex offender also believes the infamous photograph of the Duke of York next to Virginia Giuffre is fake.
Allegedly taken inside Maxwell’s Mayfair home, the photograph shows Prince Andrew with his arm around Ms Giuffre, who claims he had sex with her while she was underage.
Andrew has questioned the validity of the image and claimed to have never met Ms Giuffre, who was Virginia Roberts at the time.
Epstein and Maxwell
Maxwell said: “Well, it’s a fake. I don’t believe it’s real. In fact, I’m sure it’s not… There’s never been an original. Further, there’s no photograph; I’ve only ever seen a photocopy of it.
“I don’t believe it happened, certainly the way as described. It would have been impossible. I don’t have any memory of going to [the private nightclub] Tramp [where Ms Giuffre said Andrew danced with her].
“Certainly it’s not an outfit I would have worn.”
The duke paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case to Ms Giuffre after previously saying he has “no recollection” of meeting her and he is “not one to hug” or “display affection” in public.
He claimed in 2019 it is not possible to prove if the image has been faked.
Could Prince Andrew settlement be challenged?
Reports at the weekend claimed Prince Andrew is now looking into ways to overturn the settlement.
Lawyer Wendy Murphy said if those reports are correct, the timing of the legal challenge could be significant.
She told Sky News: “I think there is about a 0.0% chance of a court overturning a settlement. Let’s remember the money has already been paid, the court has signed it off.”
Andrew did not accept culpability in the settlement.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
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