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category: "Landmark"
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tags: [Place, JeffreyEpstein, PalmBeach, Florida, Property, SexTrafficking, MichaelReiter, NonProsecutionAgreement]
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alias:
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- 360 El Brillo Way
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- Epstein Palm Beach mansion
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summary: "Waterfront Palm Beach mansion owned by Jeffrey Epstein where the 2005 Palm Beach Police Department investigation began after a parent reported that her teenage stepdaughter had been molested there."
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location: Palm Beach, Florida
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created: 2026-06-20
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updated: 2026-06-20
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updated: 2026-09-25
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relations:
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- type: owned
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with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1990
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end: 2019-08-10
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fn: 2
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- type: owned
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with: "[[Todd Michael Glaser]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2021-03
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fn: 2
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---
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The house at 358 El Brillo Way was a waterfront mansion in the Town of Palm Beach, Florida, owned by [[Jeffrey Epstein]] from 1990 until his 2019 death. The 2005 investigation by the [[Palm Beach Police Department]] into conduct at the house produced the first criminal case against Epstein and identified dozens of teenage girls who said they had been abused there.[^1]
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@ -21,31 +36,54 @@ The waterfront location placed the house a short distance from other prominent P
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In March 2005 a woman reported to the Palm Beach Police Department that her fourteen-year-old stepdaughter had been molested by a wealthy man who lived on El Brillo Way, and detectives quickly identified the man as Epstein.[^4] From that account, investigators learned that Epstein had been paying girls from a West Palm Beach high school for sessions described as massages, and that the conduct extended to a network of dozens of girls.[^4] Police Chief [[Michael Reiter]] supervised the inquiry, and lead detective [[Joseph Recarey]] conducted the interviews over a probe that ran for roughly a year.[^4]
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The complaint was received on March 15, 2005, and the girl identified "Jeff" from a photo lineup. Between March 2005 and February 2006 detectives took sworn taped statements from five victims and seventeen witnesses. Recarey's affidavit described [[Haley Robson]], who had been approached at 17 and paid 200 dollars for a massage, bringing other girls to the house; Robson told police that Epstein said he "would pay her if she brought over some girls" and that "the younger the better." Epstein's assistant [[Sarah Kellen]] recorded the girls' names and telephone numbers, and the affidavit put payments at 200 to 1,000 dollars per visit. Detectives obtained trash from the house through the supervisor of the Town of Palm Beach sanitation bureau, subpoenaed Kellen's telephone records, and matched her calls to the girls against the arrival records of Epstein's aircraft at [[Palm Beach International Airport]]; the calls clustered "in the days just prior to [Epstein's] arrival or during the time Epstein was in Palm Beach."[^5]
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Detectives documented a recruitment pyramid in which girls were paid roughly 200 to 300 dollars per visit and given money or incentives to bring other girls, who in turn recruited still more, building outward from a small number of initial contacts.[^4] Investigators interviewed two dozen girls and their parents on camera, obtained phone records, and conducted surveillance, and they later said Epstein's own representatives surveilled the police and pulled investigators' garbage during the case.[^4] The girls' accounts described being taken to the upstairs massage room at the house and paid in cash.[^4]
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Reiter said the volume and ages of the victims were unlike anything in his experience and that he came to believe Epstein's earlier offers of donations to the department had been attempts to probe whether police were investigating him.[^5] When the state prosecution narrowed, Reiter wrote to the State Attorney objecting to the handling of the case and ultimately referred the matter to the FBI.[^5]
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Reiter said the volume and ages of the victims were unlike anything in his experience and that he came to believe Epstein's earlier offers of donations to the department had been attempts to probe whether police were investigating him.[^4][^6] According to the Palm Beach Post, Epstein had given the department 90,000 dollars before the investigation began, and the money was returned after his arrest.[^7] Reiter told NBC News that when police executed their search warrant at the house it had been cleaned and a surveillance computer removed, "with all the wires left hanging there."[^6] When the state prosecution narrowed, Reiter wrote to the State Attorney objecting to the handling of the case and ultimately referred the matter to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]].[^6]
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### The Case and the Non-Prosecution Agreement
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State Attorney [[Barry Krischer]] presented the case to a Palm Beach County grand jury, and prosecutors called a single victim while emphasizing material that cast doubt on her credibility; the grand jury returned one count of solicitation of prostitution in 2006.[^4] Recarey and Reiter objected that the charge did not reflect the conduct against minors that detectives had documented, and the police chief's referral moved the matter into federal jurisdiction.[^5]
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Recarey's probable cause affidavit, sworn May 1, 2006, recommended charging Epstein with four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor under Florida Statute 794.05(1) and one count of lewd and lascivious molestation of a 14-year-old under 800.04(5), all second-degree felonies, and a companion affidavit sought charges against Kellen.[^5] State Attorney [[Barry Krischer]] did not file those charges and instead took the case to a Palm Beach County grand jury. In 2006 Reiter wrote to Krischer that his office's handling was "highly unusual" and asked him to consider whether "good and sufficient reason exists to require your disqualification."[^8]
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Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida, led by U.S. Attorney [[Alexander Acosta]], prepared a sex-trafficking case but in 2007 negotiated a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein's lawyers.[^6] Under the 2008 resolution Epstein pleaded guilty in state court to two prostitution-related charges, registered as a sex offender, and served about thirteen months in the Palm Beach County stockade with extensive work-release privileges, while the agreement also conferred immunity on potential co-conspirators and was not disclosed to the victims.[^6] A federal judge later ruled that the failure to notify the victims violated the Crime Victims' Rights Act.[^6]
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The grand jury heard the case on July 19, 2006. Recarey testified first, and Assistant State Attorney [[Lanna Belohlavek]] called two of the girls, out of the roughly two dozen police had interviewed, questioning them in terms that cast doubt on their credibility. The grand jury returned one count of felony solicitation of prostitution under Florida Statute 796.07.[^4][^9] Recarey and Reiter objected that the charge did not reflect the conduct against minors that detectives had documented, and the police chief's referral moved the matter into federal jurisdiction.[^6] The transcript remained sealed until Circuit Judge [[Luis Delgado]] released it on July 1, 2024 under a statute enacted that year.[^9]
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The Palm Beach investigation and the non-prosecution agreement became the factual basis for the 2018 Miami Herald series that renewed national attention on Epstein, leading to his July 2019 federal indictment in New York on sex-trafficking charges.[^6]
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Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida, led by U.S. Attorney [[Alexander Acosta]], prepared a sex-trafficking case but in 2007 negotiated a [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]] with Epstein's lawyers.[^10] On September 21, 2007 Krischer wrote to the federal line prosecutor: "Glad we could get this worked out for reasons I won't put in writing." The agreement was signed on September 24, 2007, and that day the line prosecutor wrote that the colleague calling Reiter "knows not to tell Chief Reiter about the money issue" and was "telling Chief Reiter not to disclose the outcome to anyone."[^11] Under the 2008 resolution Epstein pleaded guilty in state court to two prostitution-related charges, registered as a sex offender, and served about thirteen months in the Palm Beach County stockade with extensive work-release privileges, while the agreement also conferred immunity on potential co-conspirators and was not disclosed to the victims.[^10] During his incarceration Epstein spent his work-release days at the [[Florida Science Foundation]], an entity he had incorporated, co-located at the West Palm Beach office of one of his attorneys, and the foundation paid the [[Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office]] 128,136 dollars.[^12] In August 2019, after a letter from Sheriff [[Ric Bradshaw]], Governor [[Ron DeSantis]] ordered the [[Florida Department of Law Enforcement]] to investigate; its May 2021 reports found that Epstein "received differential treatment" in the sheriff's custody, that the off-duty deputies had been hired mainly for his protection rather than to monitor him, and that there was no evidence of bribery or influence or of any crime by sheriff's or prosecutors' staff.[^13] A federal judge later ruled that the failure to notify the victims violated the [[Crime Victims' Rights Act]].[^10][^11]
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### Work Release Visits and Home Detention
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Epstein's work release ran through the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Extra Duty Permits System, where the paid deputy detail was carried as Permit No. 7804, "Florida Science Foundation," with a "Plain Clothed Position" and an "Unmarked only - Plain Clothed Position," and a work summary reading "Provide security for Jeffrey Epstein." Deputies' July 2009 overtime reports record the midday trips to the house. On July 5, 2009 a deputy maintained front office security until 11 a.m., then "FOLLOWED MR. EPSTEIN TO HIS RESIDENCE" and kept security until 2:45 p.m. before following him back to the office. On July 11, 2009 the deputy on the day shift wrote that Epstein arrived at the office at about 7:15 a.m., that "At 1149 hours we departed the office and arrived at 1200 hours at his residence at 358 El Brillo Way, Palm Beach," that he "backed into the drive way and provided security to prevent unwelcome guest from entering his property. I did not go into the residence," and that Epstein left the house at 2:31 p.m.; he added that when he asked a sheriff's official about his duties "at the residence," he was told "the function is to provide security." Another report reads: "At approximately 1200, escorted Mr. Epstein to his residence. At approximately 1430, escorted Mr. Epstein back to the office." The sheriff's media relations office faxed the July reports on July 21, 2009, the day before Epstein's release from the stockade to home confinement.[^14][^15]
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A retired deputy who escorted Epstein home told the [[Associated Press]] in 2019: "I didn't do an interior sweep of the residence. I followed instructions to the letter." In August 2009, during his home detention, Epstein was stopped by police while walking on the beach and said he was walking "to work" at an office nearly eight miles from his home. Michael Gauger, the sheriff's chief deputy during Epstein's incarceration, acknowledged coming to the mansion for dinner with Epstein; emails released in 2026 dated the dinner to September 2009. In the privacy waiver his lawyer filed with the FBI in 2010 for a records request, later reused for a request to the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], Epstein listed a St. Thomas address as his current residence and 358 El Brillo Way as his prior address.[^15][^16][^17][^18]
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The Palm Beach investigation and the non-prosecution agreement became the factual basis for the 2018 [[Miami Herald]] series that renewed national attention on Epstein, leading to his July 2019 federal indictment in New York on sex-trafficking charges.[^10]
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### The 2021 Sale and Demolition
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After Epstein's death the Palm Beach house was listed by his estate, initially around 22 million dollars, and in March 2021 it sold for 18.5 million dollars to the developer [[Todd Michael Glaser]].[^2] The proceeds, like those of the New York townhouse sale, went to the estate and its victim-compensation fund.[^7]
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After Epstein's death the Palm Beach house was listed by his estate, initially around 22 million dollars, and in March 2021 it sold for 18.5 million dollars to the developer [[Todd Michael Glaser]].[^2] The proceeds, like those of the New York townhouse sale, went to the estate and its victim-compensation fund.[^19]
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Glaser filed a notice of commencement for total demolition, and razing of the house began in April 2021.[^7] He changed the address of the cleared parcel to 360 El Brillo Way, citing the notoriety attached to the original number, and the lot was redeveloped.[^2] A new estate built on the site was later marketed at a figure far above the demolished house's sale price.[^2]
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Glaser filed a notice of commencement for total demolition, and razing of the house began in April 2021.[^19] He changed the address of the cleared parcel to 360 El Brillo Way, citing the notoriety attached to the original number, and the lot was redeveloped.[^2] A new estate built on the site was later marketed at a figure far above the demolished house's sale price.[^2]
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The demolition removed the physical site where the 2005 investigation had begun, and the redevelopment proceeded as the estate continued to resolve civil claims arising from conduct that victims said had occurred at the house.[^7]
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The demolition removed the physical site where the 2005 investigation had begun, and the redevelopment proceeded as the estate continued to resolve civil claims arising from conduct that victims said had occurred at the house.[^19]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: For Epstein's 1990 acquisition of the Palm Beach house and its place among his residences through the 2019 timeline, see the contemporaneous press (*Palm Beach Daily News*, Associated Press, *Miami Herald*).
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[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, "Investigation into the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida's Resolution of Its 2006-2008 Federal Criminal Investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and Its Interactions with Victims during the Investigation," Executive Summary, November 2020, p. i, on the 2005 Palm Beach Police Department investigation and Epstein's residences in Palm Beach, New York, and elsewhere. https://www.justice.gov/opr/page/file/1336471/dl ; "Notorious Palm Beach mansion Jeffrey Epstein bought for $2.5M," *Palm Beach Post / Yahoo,* on the 1990 purchase. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/notorious-palm-beach-mansion-jeffrey-202519748.html
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[^2]: "EXCLUSIVE: Jeffrey Epstein house sold for $18.5M in Palm Beach," Darrell Hofheinz, *Palm Beach Daily News,* via Corcoran, and "Notorious Palm Beach mansion Jeffrey Epstein bought for $2.5M," *Palm Beach Post / Yahoo,* on the 1990 purchase for about 2.5 million dollars, the roughly 14,000-square-foot six-bedroom John Volk house, the March 2021 sale for 18.5 million dollars to Todd Michael Glaser, and the renumbering to 360 El Brillo Way. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/notorious-palm-beach-mansion-jeffrey-202519748.html
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[^3]: For Owen Ray Skelton, a founder and chief engineer of Chrysler, as the prior owner of the house until his death in Palm Beach in 1969, see the Palm Beach property history summarized in contemporaneous Palm Beach Daily News reporting. https://www.corcoran.com/nyc/press-mention/display/30508
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[^4]: "The Palm Beach cop who Jeffrey Epstein couldn't stop," *Union-Bulletin / Associated Press,* on the March 2005 report by the stepmother of a fourteen-year-old, the identification of Epstein, the West Palm Beach high-school victims, Chief Michael Reiter and detective Joseph Recarey, the recruitment pyramid paying 200 to 300 dollars per visit, the on-camera interviews of two dozen girls, the surveillance, and the 2006 grand jury's single solicitation count. https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/national/the-palm-beach-cop-who-jeffrey-epstein-couldn-t-stop/article_699648e0-ce21-53fe-aaad-6e797deaeebf.html
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[^5]: "Ex-Florida police chief: Epstein case 'the worst failure of the criminal justice system' in modern times," *NBC News,* 2019, on Michael Reiter's account of the donations probe, his objections to the State Attorney's handling, and his referral of the case to the FBI. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ex-florida-police-chief-epstein-case-worst-failure-criminal-justice-n1057226
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[^6]: Julie K. Brown, "Perversion of Justice," *Miami Herald,* 2018, on the 2007 to 2008 non-prosecution agreement negotiated under U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, the state guilty plea and roughly thirteen-month sentence with work release, the immunity for co-conspirators, the non-disclosure to victims later found to violate the Crime Victims' Rights Act, and the 2019 federal indictment. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article220097825.html
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[^7]: "Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach mansion is being demolished," *The Real Deal,* 2021, on Todd Michael Glaser's notice of commencement, the April 2021 start of demolition, and the disposition of sale proceeds. https://therealdeal.com/miami/2021/04/20/jeffrey-epsteins-palm-beach-mansion-is-being-demolished/
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[^5]: Palm Beach Police Department, probable cause affidavit of Detective Joseph Recarey regarding Jeffrey Epstein, sworn May 1, 2006 (redacted). https://archive.org/stream/JeffreyEpstein/Jeffrey%20Epstein%20Redacted%20Probable%20Cause%20Affadavit_djvu.txt
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[^6]: "Ex-Florida police chief: Epstein case 'the worst failure of the criminal justice system' in modern times," *NBC News,* 2019, on Michael Reiter's account of the donations probe, his objections to the State Attorney's handling, and his referral of the case to the FBI. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ex-florida-police-chief-epstein-case-worst-failure-criminal-justice-n1057226
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[^7]: Hannah Phillips, "Congresswoman's claims about Epstein police probe were misleading," *Palm Beach Post* (via AOL), May 13, 2026. https://www.aol.com/articles/congresswomans-claims-epstein-police-probe-181112537.html
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[^8]: Holly Baltz, "Who is Jeffrey Epstein's first prosecutor? It's not his first rodeo in the national glare," *Palm Beach Post* (via Yahoo News), July 10, 2024. https://www.yahoo.com/news/jeffrey-epsteins-first-prosecutor-not-090053542.html
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[^9]: "Judge releases Jeffrey Epstein grand jury investigation transcripts," *WUSF / Associated Press,* July 1, 2024. https://www.wusf.org/courts-law/2024-07-01/florida-judge-releases-transcripts-2006-grand-jury-investigation-jeffrey-epstein-sex-trafficking ; U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, Executive Summary, November 2020, p. i. https://www.justice.gov/opr/page/file/1336471/dl
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[^10]: Julie K. Brown, "Perversion of Justice," *Miami Herald,* 2018, on the 2007 to 2008 non-prosecution agreement negotiated under U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, the state guilty plea and roughly thirteen-month sentence with work release, the immunity for co-conspirators, the non-disclosure to victims later found to violate the Crime Victims' Rights Act, and the 2019 federal indictment. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article220097825.html
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[^11]: Opinion and Order, *Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 v. United States*, No. 9:08-cv-80736-KAM (S.D. Fla. Feb. 21, 2019), ECF No. 435, at 7, 9 (Marra, J.), quoting ECF No. 407 at paragraphs 33, 52. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867.435.0.pdf
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[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, Executive Summary, November 2020, p. iii. https://www.justice.gov/opr/page/file/1336471/dl ; "Jeffrey Epstein paid Palm Beach Sheriff's Office $128,000 during incarceration for prostitution charges," *WPTV,* 2019. https://www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/new-jeffrey-epstein-paid-palm-beach-sheriffs-office-128-000-during-incarceration-for-prostitution
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[^13]: "Florida authorities find no evidence of criminal activity in state's handling of Jeffrey Epstein case," *NBC News,* May 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-authorities-no-evidence-criminal-activity-state-s-handling-jeffrey-n1266888
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[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01308629, DataSet 10, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Extra Duty Permits System overtime report forms, Permit No. 7804, "Florida Science Foundation," July 1 to 14, 2009, faxed by PBSO Media Relations July 21, 2009. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01308629.pdf
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[^15]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284, Prior DOJ Disclosures, Office of Professional Responsibility report on the Southern District of Florida's resolution of the Epstein investigation, November 2020, pp. 117 to 118. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Prior%20DOJ%20Disclosures/Memos.%20&%20Correspondence/EFTA02847284.pdf
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[^16]: "Florida Sheriff To Investigate Epstein's Work Release," *Associated Press* via *WUSF,* July 20, 2019. https://www.wusf.org/law-order/2019-07-20/florida-sheriff-to-investigate-epsteins-work-release
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[^17]: Julie K. Brown, "Ex-aide says Epstein paid Palm Beach deputy to get special treatment in jail," *Miami Herald* via *Jefferson City News-Tribune,* June 16, 2026. https://www.newstribune.com/news/2026/jun/16/ex-aide-says-epstein-paid-palm-beach-deputy-to/
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[^18]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00624683, DataSet 9, FBI Privacy Waiver and Certification of Identity signed by Jeffrey Epstein; EFTA00687827, DataSet 9, email, Martin Weinberg to Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: CIA FOIA Request," July 18, 2011. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00624683.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00687827.pdf
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[^19]: "Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach mansion is being demolished," *The Real Deal,* 2021, on Todd Michael Glaser's notice of commencement, the April 2021 start of demolition, and the disposition of sale proceeds. https://therealdeal.com/miami/2021/04/20/jeffrey-epsteins-palm-beach-mansion-is-being-demolished/
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---
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category: "Landmark"
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tags: [Place, JeffreyEpstein, Manhattan, Property, SexTrafficking, LesWexner, UpperEastSide, MapleInc]
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tags:
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- Place
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- JeffreyEpstein
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- Manhattan
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- Property
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- SexTrafficking
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- LesWexner
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- UpperEastSide
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- MapleInc
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alias:
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- Nine East 71st Street
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- Herbert N. Straus House
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- Epstein townhouse
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summary: "Seven-story limestone townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side that served as Jeffrey Epstein's primary New York residence and the site of conduct detailed in the federal sex-trafficking case against him."
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location: New York, New York
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created: 2026-06-20
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updated: 2026-06-20
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updated: 2026-09-25
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relations:
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- type: owned
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with: "[[Leslie Wexner]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1989
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role: "through a trust"
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fn: 1
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- type: owned
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with: "[[Maple Inc.]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2011-12-23
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end: 2021-03
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fn: 2
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---
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The townhouse at 9 East 71st Street stands on the north side of the block between Fifth and Madison Avenues on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Built as the Herbert N. Straus mansion in the early 1930s, the roughly 21,000-square-foot limestone residence ranked among the largest single-family houses in New York City and became the primary New York base of [[Jeffrey Epstein]] from the early 1990s until his 2019 arrest.[^1]
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The townhouse at 9 East 71st Street stands on the north side of the block between Fifth and Madison Avenues on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Built as the Herbert N. Straus mansion in the early 1930s, the limestone residence, measured at between about 19,000 and 28,000 square feet, ranked among the largest single-family houses in [[New York City]]. [[Leslie Wexner]] bought it through a trust in 1989, and it became the primary New York base of [[Jeffrey Epstein]] from 1996, when he moved in, until his 2019 arrest. From December 2011 it was held by [[Maple Inc.]], a Virgin Islands corporation whose filings to the territory omitted the house.[^1][^2][^3]
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### The Straus Mansion
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Herbert Nathan Straus, an heir to the R. H. Macy & Co. department-store fortune and a son of [[Isidor Straus]] and Ida Straus, who died in the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, bought the lot in 1928 and commissioned the Philadelphia architect [[Horace Trumbauer]] to design a French neoclassical mansion.[^2] Construction began at the end of the 1920s, and Straus imported eighteenth-century European rooms and fixtures for the interior.[^2] The stock-market crash of October 1929 disrupted the project, and Straus halted work in 1931 with the house roughly ninety percent complete after spending about 600,000 dollars.[^2]
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Herbert Nathan Straus, an heir to the R. H. Macy & Co. department-store fortune and a son of [[Isidor Straus]] and Ida Straus, who died in the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, bought the lot in 1928 and commissioned the Philadelphia architect [[Horace Trumbauer]] to design a French neoclassical mansion.[^4] Construction began at the end of the 1920s, and Straus imported eighteenth-century European rooms and fixtures for the interior.[^4] The stock-market crash of October 1929 disrupted the project, and Straus halted work in 1931 with the house roughly ninety percent complete after spending about 600,000 dollars.[^4]
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Straus remained at his Park Avenue apartment and died in 1933 without ever living in the unfinished mansion.[^2] His heirs left the structure vacant for more than a decade while property-tax obligations accumulated.[^2] The house later passed through institutional and residential uses before returning to private ownership, and by the late 1980s the seven-story building was measured at about 21,000 square feet on a lot fifty feet wide.[^1]
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Straus remained at his Park Avenue apartment and died in 1933 without ever living in the unfinished mansion.[^4] His heirs left the structure vacant for more than a decade while property-tax obligations accumulated.[^4] The house later passed through institutional and residential uses before returning to private ownership; until 1989 it housed the Birch Wathen School, a private school.[^1]
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The exterior was finished in limestone in the French neoclassical manner, set off by a fifteen-foot oak entrance door and tall arched windows, and the residence stood out of scale with its four- and five-story neighbors.[^3] A 2003 Vanity Fair profile of the interior described the residence as among the city's grandest townhouses and recorded unusual furnishings, including framed prosthetic eyeballs that the account said had been manufactured in England for injured soldiers and a life-size sculpture of a naked warrior.[^3]
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The exterior was finished in limestone in the French neoclassical manner, set off by a fifteen-foot oak entrance door and tall arched windows, and the residence stood "almost ludicrously out of proportion with its four- and five-story neighbors."[^1] A 2003 Vanity Fair profile described an entrance hall hung with "row upon row of individually framed eyeballs," which Epstein told visitors had been made in England for injured soldiers, a foyer with a "twice-life-size sculpture of a naked African warrior," a "leather room" where tea was served by menservants in white gloves, and an upstairs office with a gilded desk Epstein said had belonged to the banker J. P. Morgan and a stuffed black poodle on a Steinway grand piano. Much of the decoration was the work of the French decorator [[Alberto Pinto]]. Epstein told people the house had 51,000 square feet and that he bought it because he knew he "could never live anywhere bigger."[^1]
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### Wexner Purchase and Transfer to Epstein
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[[Leslie Wexner]], the founder of The Limited and [[L Brands]], purchased the townhouse in 1989 for about 13.2 million dollars, and control of the property then moved through a chain of corporate entities during the 1990s with Epstein listed in various officer or trustee roles.[^4] Epstein, who held a sweeping power of attorney over Wexner's finances granted in 1991, used the house as his Manhattan residence while title remained with Wexner-linked entities.[^4]
|
||||
Leslie Wexner, the founder of The Limited and [[L Brands]], bought the townhouse through a trust in 1989 for a reported 13.2 million dollars. Wexner married Abigail Koppel in 1993 and the couple moved to Ohio; in 1996 Epstein moved into the house. Vanity Fair reported in 2003 that "public documents suggest that the house is still owned by the trust that bought it, but Epstein has said that he now owns the house."[^1] Epstein, who held a sweeping power of attorney over Wexner's finances granted in 1991, used the house as his Manhattan residence while title remained with Wexner-linked entities. A 1998 purchase and sale agreement for the house involved a 10 million dollar promissory note and a personal guaranty signed by Epstein.[^5] An [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] internal memo released in 2026 stated that Epstein "controlled all of Wexner's personal finances with virtually no oversight" and described his sale to himself of a New York home that had belonged to Wexner at a discounted price; the financial mechanics of that transfer are detailed on the Leslie Wexner page.[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
In 2011 the mansion was conveyed to [[Maple Inc.]], an Epstein-linked U.S. Virgin Islands entity, for zero dollars in recorded consideration, with Epstein signing the transaction for both the seller and the buyer.[^4] Reporting at the time valued the property in the tens of millions of dollars, and the terms were never fully explained publicly.[^4] An FBI internal memo released in 2026 stated that Epstein "controlled all of Wexner's personal finances with virtually no oversight" and described his sale to himself of a New York home that had belonged to Wexner at a discounted price; the financial mechanics of that transfer are detailed on the Leslie Wexner page.[^5]
|
||||
By 2011 the house was held by Nine East 71st Street Corporation, which the Virgin Islands government described as "owned by Epstein." In November 2011, after registering as a sex offender in the Virgin Islands, Epstein formed three Virgin Islands corporations, [[Cypress Inc.|Cypress, Inc.]], Maple, Inc. and [[Laurel Inc.|Laurel, Inc.]], with himself as president and director, [[Darren Indyke]] as vice president, secretary and director, and [[Richard Kahn]] as treasurer and director. Maple acquired the townhouse from Nine East 71st Street Corporation "on or about December 23, 2011," a transfer between two companies Epstein controlled; Cypress took the [[Zorro Ranch]] and Laurel the Palm Beach house the same month. The territory alleged that Epstein "transferred ownership of them to the Virgin Islands, and then concealed this fact even from Virgin Islands authorities in an attempt to shield the properties from any judgment in the states where they are located."[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein listed Manhattan as his residence in legal filings, and the townhouse functioned as the hub of his New York operations, with staff, a large household and the art and furnishings later catalogued during the federal search.[^1]
|
||||
Maple's annual reports to the Office of the [[Lieutenant Governor of the Virgin Islands]], signed by Epstein and Kahn under the attestation "ALL STATEMENTS CONTAINED IN THIS APPLICATION, AND ANY ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTS, ARE TRUE AND CORRECT," never listed the house or its expenses for 2011 through 2016. For 2017 Maple reported cash of 18,281 dollars as its only asset and expenses of 150 dollars while paying 327,497.48 dollars and 6,487.04 dollars in New York City property taxes; for 2018 it reported cash of 21,265 dollars and expenses of 300 dollars while paying 336,471.87 dollars. The territory alleged that Indyke and Kahn "knew or should have known that their attestations were false" and that the transfers "were made for the sole purpose of sheltering these assets from collection." When Epstein died in August 2019, the estate valued its shares in the corporation holding the townhouse at 56 million dollars.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein listed Manhattan as his residence in legal filings, and a 2018 federal complaint by investors in [[Towers Financial Corporation]] gave his residence as 9 East 71st Street; the townhouse functioned as the hub of his New York operations, with staff, a large household and the art and furnishings later catalogued during the federal search.[^7][^8] After his death a plaintiff identified as "VE" sued the estate's co-executors, Nine East 71st Street Corporation, [[Financial Trust Company]] and NES, LLC in the Southern District of New York (No. 1:19-cv-07625); all were represented by Troutman Sanders, the firm that had defended Epstein against Towers claims.[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
### Interior Accounts and Surveillance
|
||||
|
||||
Court testimony, photographs entered as evidence and journalistic accounts described an interior filled with framed photographs of women and girls, including images displayed in the stairwells and private rooms.[^6] Witnesses and reporters described a chessboard whose pieces were dressed to resemble Epstein's staff, a life-size hanging female doll, a mural depicting a prison yard and a painting that appeared to depict Bill Clinton.[^3]
|
||||
Court testimony, photographs entered as evidence and journalistic accounts described an interior filled with framed photographs of women and girls, including images displayed in the stairwells and private rooms.[^10] Witnesses and reporters described a chessboard whose pieces were dressed to resemble Epstein's staff, a life-size hanging female doll, a mural depicting a prison yard and a painting that appeared to depict [[Bill Clinton]].[^11]
|
||||
|
||||
Investigators who searched the house in 2019 reported finding hidden cameras positioned to monitor bedrooms and bathrooms, and photographs of partially nude and apparently underage females were recovered from multiple rooms.[^6] Compact discs and hard drives containing images were found in plastic bins and drawers distributed throughout the residence.[^7]
|
||||
Investigators who searched the house in 2019 reported finding hidden cameras positioned to monitor bedrooms and bathrooms, and photographs of partially nude and apparently underage females were recovered from multiple rooms.[^10] Compact discs and hard drives containing images were found in plastic bins and drawers distributed throughout the residence.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
Several women who later gave testimony in civil suits and in the prosecution of [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] described being brought to the townhouse as minors or young adults and directed to upstairs massage rooms, accounts that form part of the body of allegations against Epstein and his associates rather than adjudicated findings as to this address.[^6] Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 of sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges arising from conduct that prosecutors said occurred at Epstein's residences, including the New York townhouse.[^6]
|
||||
Several women who later gave testimony in civil suits and in the prosecution of [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] described being brought to the townhouse as minors or young adults and directed to upstairs massage rooms, accounts that form part of the body of allegations against Epstein and his associates rather than adjudicated findings as to this address.[^10] Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 of sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges arising from conduct that prosecutors said occurred at Epstein's residences, including the New York townhouse.[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
### The July 2019 Federal Search
|
||||
|
||||
Federal agents executed a search warrant at 9 East 71st Street on the evening of July 6, 2019, the day Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport, and continued into July 7.[^7] An FBI team from a child-exploitation and human-trafficking task force forced entry when no one answered, and agents located a locked safe in a fifth-floor dressing area, which they opened with a saw; the supervising agent later testified that "we brought a saw."[^7]
|
||||
Federal agents executed a search warrant at 9 East 71st Street on the evening of July 6, 2019, the day Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport, and continued into July 7.[^8] An FBI team from a child-exploitation and human-trafficking task force forced entry when no one answered, and agents located a locked safe in a fifth-floor dressing area, which they opened with a saw; the supervising agent later testified that "we brought a saw."[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
Prosecutors said the safe held about 70,000 dollars in cash, dozens of loose diamonds, compact discs, hard drives and an expired foreign passport.[^8] The passport had been issued by Austria in 1982, was valid until 1987 and bore a photograph of Epstein under the name Marius Robert Fortelni, listing an occupation of "manager" and a residence in Dammam, Saudi Arabia; its pages carried entry stamps for France, England and Saudi Arabia from the early 1980s.[^9] Prosecutors cited the diamonds, the cash and the false passport at Epstein's bail hearing as evidence that he had the means and intent to flee, and Judge Richard Berman denied bail.[^8]
|
||||
Prosecutors said the safe held about 70,000 dollars in cash, dozens of loose diamonds, compact discs, hard drives and an expired foreign passport.[^12] The passport had been issued by Austria in 1982, was valid until 1987 and bore a photograph of Epstein under the name Marius Robert Fortelni, listing an occupation of "manager" and a residence in Dammam, [[Saudi Arabia]]; its pages carried entry stamps for France, England and Saudi Arabia from the early 1980s.[^13] Prosecutors cited the diamonds, the cash and the false passport at Epstein's bail hearing as evidence that he had the means and intent to flee, and Judge Richard Berman denied bail.[^12]
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein's defense lawyers said the passport had been given to him by a friend decades earlier for personal protection during travel, asserting that some Jewish Americans had been advised to carry identification bearing a non-Jewish name when traveling internationally during a period of hijacking risk, and that Epstein never used it to clear immigration.[^9] Epstein was found dead in his federal jail cell on August 10, 2019, and the ruling was suicide.[^1]
|
||||
Epstein's defense lawyers said the passport had been given to him by a friend decades earlier for personal protection during travel, asserting that some Jewish Americans had been advised to carry identification bearing a non-Jewish name when traveling internationally during a period of hijacking risk, and that Epstein never used it to clear immigration.[^13] Epstein was found dead in his federal jail cell on August 10, 2019, and the ruling was suicide.[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
### Post-Death Sale
|
||||
|
||||
After Epstein's death the townhouse was placed on the market by his estate, listed in 2020 at 88 million dollars, a price that was cut by 23 million dollars to 65 million dollars in January 2021.[^10] In March 2021 the mansion sold for 51 million dollars to Michael Daffey, a former [[Goldman Sachs]] executive who had managed hedge-fund clients for the bank and was retiring from its global-markets division.[^10]
|
||||
After Epstein's death the townhouse was placed on the market by his estate, listed in 2020 at 88 million dollars, a price that was cut by 23 million dollars to 65 million dollars in January 2021.[^3] In March 2021 the mansion sold for 51 million dollars to Michael Daffey, a former [[Goldman Sachs]] executive who had managed hedge-fund clients for the bank and was retiring from its global-markets division.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
A spokesman said Daffey financed the purchase with cash and a bridge loan, and the proceeds went to Epstein's estate, which had established a fund to compensate his alleged victims.[^10] Coverage placed the building at about 19,000 to 28,000 square feet across seven stories with roughly forty rooms, the wide variance reflecting differing measurements of the much-altered house over the decades.[^10]
|
||||
A spokesman said Daffey financed the purchase with cash and a bridge loan, and the proceeds went to Epstein's estate, which had established a fund to compensate his alleged victims.[^3] Coverage placed the building at about 19,000 to 28,000 square feet across seven stories with roughly forty rooms, the wide variance reflecting differing measurements of the much-altered house over the decades.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
The sale closed the chain of ownership that ran from the Straus heirs through the mid-century institutional uses to Wexner, to the Epstein-controlled Maple Inc. entity, and finally to a private buyer who paid roughly 1,800 dollars per square foot.[^10] The fund established from the estate's assets, including the proceeds of this and the Palm Beach sale, processed claims from women who said they had been abused at Epstein's properties.[^10]
|
||||
The sale closed the chain of ownership that ran from the Straus heirs through the mid-century institutional uses and the Birch Wathen School to Wexner's trust, to Nine East 71st Street Corporation, to the Epstein-controlled Maple Inc. entity, and finally to a private buyer who paid roughly 1,800 dollars per square foot.[^1][^2][^3] The fund established from the estate's assets, including the proceeds of this and the Palm Beach sale, processed claims from women who said they had been abused at Epstein's properties.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
[^1]: For the townhouse as Epstein's primary New York residence, the approximately 21,000-square-foot late-1980s measurement, and the timeline through his July 2019 arrest and August 10, 2019 death, see the contemporaneous press (Associated Press, *New York Times,* CNBC).
|
||||
[^2]: "The 1933 Herbert Straus Mansion, No. 9 East 71st Street," *Daytonian in Manhattan,* on Herbert N. Straus as a Macy's heir and son of Isidor and Ida Straus, his 1928 purchase of the lot, the commission to Horace Trumbauer, the imported European rooms, the 1929 crash, the 1931 halt at roughly ninety percent completion after about 600,000 dollars, and his 1933 death without occupying the house. http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-1933-herbert-straus-mansion-no-9.html
|
||||
[^3]: "A Scandal in Stone: The Infamous Epstein Townhouse," *East Side Feed,* summarizing the 2003 Vanity Fair profile of the interior (the fifteen-foot oak door, arched windows, framed prosthetic eyeballs and naked-warrior sculpture) and the artwork later observed during the FBI search. https://eastsidefeed.com/real-estate/a-scandal-in-stone-the-infamous-epstein-townhouse/
|
||||
[^4]: "What the Records Show: The Townhouses on East 71st Street," summarizing NYC ACRIS deed records and 2019 reporting on Leslie Wexner's 1989 purchase for about 13.2 million dollars and the 2011 zero-dollar transfer to Maple Inc. signed by Epstein for both sides. https://www.habituallychic.luxury/2020/07/a-look-inside-9-east-71st-street/
|
||||
[^5]: "FBI memos, bank record, odd emails mention Wexner in new Epstein files," *AOL,* 2026, quoting the FBI memo that Epstein "controlled all of Wexner's personal finances with virtually no oversight" and describing his discounted sale to himself of a Wexner home and aircraft. https://www.aol.com/articles/les-wexner-appears-latest-epstein-171239980.html
|
||||
[^6]: Trial coverage of United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell (S.D.N.Y. 2021), on the December 2021 conviction and on victim testimony describing the New York townhouse, the displayed photographs and the upstairs massage rooms; abuse described at this address is testimony and allegation. https://www.foxnews.com/us/ghislaine-maxwell-trial-epstein-nude-photos-evidence-tape
|
||||
[^7]: "'We brought a saw': FBI found diamonds, cash, passports, CDs and hard drives after cracking open safe in 2019 raid on Epstein's Upper East Side townhouse," *inkl,* on the July 6 to 7, 2019 search, the fifth-floor safe, the sawing open, the agent's testimony, and the CDs and hard drives found throughout the house. https://www.inkl.com/news/we-brought-a-saw-fbi-found-diamonds-cash-passports-cds-and-hard-drives-after-cracking-open-safe-in-2019-raid-on-epstein-s-upper-east-side-townhouse
|
||||
[^8]: "Epstein's safe had 'piles of cash' and a fake passport, prosecutors say," *Seattle Times / Associated Press,* 2019, on the roughly 70,000 dollars in cash, the diamonds, the expired foreign passport cited at the bail hearing, and Judge Richard Berman's denial of bail. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/epsteins-safe-had-piles-of-cash-and-a-fake-passport-prosecutors-ssay/
|
||||
[^9]: "Jeffrey Epstein's Fake Foreign Passport Was Used in Saudi Arabia and Other Countries," *The Daily Beast,* 2019, on the Austrian passport issued in 1982 and valid until 1987 in the name Marius Robert Fortelni, the Dammam, Saudi Arabia residence, the early-1980s entry stamps for France, England and Saudi Arabia, and the defense's personal-protection explanation. https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epsteins-fake-foreign-passport-was-used-in-saudi-arabia-and-other-countries/
|
||||
[^10]: "Former Goldman Sachs exec is mystery buyer of $51 million Jeffrey Epstein mansion, boosting victim fund," *CNBC,* 2021, and "Former Goldman Exec Behind Epstein Townhouse Buy," *The Real Deal,* 2021, on the 88 million dollar listing, the January 2021 cut to 65 million dollars, the March 2021 sale to Michael Daffey for 51 million dollars financed with cash and a bridge loan, the proceeds going to the estate's victim fund, and the square-footage and room figures. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/16/goldman-sachs-exec-daffey-buys-jeffrey-epstein-mansion-in-new-york.html
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Vicky Ward, "The Talented Mr. Epstein," *Vanity Fair,* March 2003, as republished by the author, on the exterior, the Birch Wathen School, the interior and its decoration, Epstein's size claim, Wexner's 1989 purchase through a trust, Epstein's 1996 move, and the public-record ownership. https://vickyward.com/article/the-talented-mr-epstein/
|
||||
[^2]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Darren K. Indyke et al., No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint (filed November 30, 2022), paragraphs 15, 137, 177 to 195; reproduced as ECF No. 1-1 in Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y., filed December 27, 2022). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
|
||||
[^3]: "Former Goldman Sachs exec is mystery buyer of $51 million Jeffrey Epstein mansion, boosting victim fund," *CNBC,* 2021, and "Former Goldman Exec Behind Epstein Townhouse Buy," *The Real Deal,* 2021, on the 88 million dollar listing, the January 2021 cut to 65 million dollars, the March 2021 sale to Michael Daffey for 51 million dollars financed with cash and a bridge loan, the proceeds going to the estate's victim fund, and the square-footage and room figures. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/16/goldman-sachs-exec-daffey-buys-jeffrey-epstein-mansion-in-new-york.html
|
||||
[^4]: "The 1933 Herbert Straus Mansion, No. 9 East 71st Street," *Daytonian in Manhattan,* on Herbert N. Straus as a Macy's heir and son of Isidor and Ida Straus, his 1928 purchase of the lot, the commission to Horace Trumbauer, the imported European rooms, the 1929 crash, the 1931 halt at roughly ninety percent completion after about 600,000 dollars, and his 1933 death without occupying the house. http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-1933-herbert-straus-mansion-no-9.html
|
||||
[^5]: "Les Wexner Was Warned About Epstein, And Other Things We Learned From the *Times* Investigation," *Rolling Stone,* December 2025, summarizing the December 16, 2025 New York Times Magazine investigation. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/epstein-investigation-times-report-finance-crimes-1235486388/
|
||||
[^6]: "FBI memos, bank record, odd emails mention Wexner in new Epstein files," *AOL,* 2026, quoting the FBI memo that Epstein "controlled all of Wexner's personal finances with virtually no oversight" and describing his discounted sale to himself of a Wexner home and aircraft. https://www.aol.com/articles/les-wexner-appears-latest-epstein-171239980.html
|
||||
[^7]: Marvin Gerber and Kalma Koenig v. The Financial Trust Company, XYZ Corp., ABC, Inc., and Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. 1:18-cv-07580-JPO (S.D.N.Y.), Complaint, ECF No. 7 (filed August 21, 2018), paragraph 11. https://truthinadvertising.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Gerber-v-The-Financial-Trust-Co-complaint.pdf
|
||||
[^8]: "'We brought a saw': FBI found diamonds, cash, passports, CDs and hard drives after cracking open safe in 2019 raid on Epstein's Upper East Side townhouse," *inkl,* on the July 6 to 7, 2019 search, the fifth-floor safe, the sawing open, the agent's testimony, and the CDs and hard drives found throughout the house. https://www.inkl.com/news/we-brought-a-saw-fbi-found-diamonds-cash-passports-cds-and-hard-drives-after-cracking-open-safe-in-2019-raid-on-epstein-s-upper-east-side-townhouse
|
||||
[^9]: VE v. Darren K. Indyke and Richard D. Kahn, as Joint Personal Representatives of the Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, Nine East 71st Street, Corporation, Financial Trust Company, Inc., NES, LLC, No. 1:19-cv-07625-AJN (S.D.N.Y.), Notice of Appearance of Charles L. Glover, Troutman Sanders LLP, May 12, 2020 (ECF No. 62). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117012714/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/VE%20v.%20Nine%20East%2071st%20Street,%20No.%20119-cv-07625%20(S.D.N.Y.%202019)/062.pdf
|
||||
[^10]: Trial coverage of United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell (S.D.N.Y. 2021), on the December 2021 conviction and on victim testimony describing the New York townhouse, the displayed photographs and the upstairs massage rooms; abuse described at this address is testimony and allegation. https://www.foxnews.com/us/ghislaine-maxwell-trial-epstein-nude-photos-evidence-tape
|
||||
[^11]: "A Scandal in Stone: The Infamous Epstein Townhouse," *East Side Feed,* on the artwork later observed during the FBI search. https://eastsidefeed.com/real-estate/a-scandal-in-stone-the-infamous-epstein-townhouse/
|
||||
[^12]: "Epstein's safe had 'piles of cash' and a fake passport, prosecutors say," *Seattle Times / Associated Press,* 2019, on the roughly 70,000 dollars in cash, the diamonds, the expired foreign passport cited at the bail hearing, and Judge Richard Berman's denial of bail. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/epsteins-safe-had-piles-of-cash-and-a-fake-passport-prosecutors-ssay/
|
||||
[^13]: "Jeffrey Epstein's Fake Foreign Passport Was Used in Saudi Arabia and Other Countries," *The Daily Beast,* 2019, on the Austrian passport issued in 1982 and valid until 1987 in the name Marius Robert Fortelni, the Dammam, Saudi Arabia residence, the early-1980s entry stamps for France, England and Saudi Arabia, and the defense's personal-protection explanation. https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epsteins-fake-foreign-passport-was-used-in-saudi-arabia-and-other-countries/
|
||||
[^14]: Associated Press, "Jeffrey Epstein's mentor, who once ran a Ponzi scheme, was found dead. He was 77," *NPR,* August 26, 2022, noting Epstein's 2019 death by suicide in a New York jail. https://www.npr.org/2022/08/26/1119746511/jeffrey-epstein-mentor-steven-hoffenberg-dead
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -8,19 +8,31 @@ tags:
|
|||
- Island
|
||||
- ShellCompany
|
||||
- Construction
|
||||
summary: "Great St. James is the larger island adjacent to Little St. James that Jeffrey Epstein acquired in 2016 for 22.5 million dollars through a shell company whose listed beneficial owner was a Dubai businessman used without consent, on which Epstein conducted extensive unpermitted construction that drew U.S. Virgin Islands stop-work orders and fines, and which his estate sold with Little St. James to Stephen Deckoff in 2023."
|
||||
summary: "Great St. James is the island beside Little St. James that Jeffrey Epstein bought in January 2016 through Great St. Jim LLC, developed without permits, and whose estate sold it to Stephen Deckoff in 2023."
|
||||
location: "U.S. Virgin Islands (off St. Thomas)"
|
||||
created: 2026-06-20
|
||||
updated: 2026-06-20
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-25
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: owned
|
||||
with: "[[Great St. Jim, LLC]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2016-01-28
|
||||
role: "title holder, Epstein manager"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: owned
|
||||
with: "[[Poplar, Inc.]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "title holder per estate probate petition"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Great St. James is a private island of roughly 160 to 165 acres in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], lying directly across a narrow channel from [[Little St. James]] off the southeastern end of [[St. Thomas]]. [[Jeffrey Epstein]] acquired it in January 2016 for a total of about 22.5 million dollars through the shell entity Great St. Jim LLC, after the seller declined to deal with him directly because of his status as a registered sex offender. Epstein then conducted extensive construction across the island without the required permits, drawing a cease-and-desist order in 2016 and a stop-work order in December 2018 from the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources, along with a 70,000 dollar penalty for unpermitted land clearing. The estate sold Great St. James together with Little St. James to the investor [[Stephen Deckoff]] in 2023.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
Great St. James is a private island in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], made up of at least three recorded parcels totaling about 5.15 million square feet,, lying directly across a narrow channel from [[Little St. James]] off the southeastern end of [[St. Thomas]]. [[Jeffrey Epstein]] acquired it in January 2016 for a total of about 22.5 million dollars through the shell entity Great St. Jim LLC, after the seller declined to deal with him directly because of his status as a registered sex offender. Epstein then conducted extensive construction across the island without the required permits, drawing a cease-and-desist order in 2016 and a stop-work order in December 2018 from the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources, along with a 70,000 dollar penalty for unpermitted land clearing. The estate sold Great St. James together with Little St. James to the investor [[Stephen Deckoff]] in 2023.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Acquisition and the Shell Company
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein sought to buy Great St. James from Christian Kjaer, described as one of Denmark's wealthiest men, who according to later reporting did not want to be publicly associated with Epstein given his sex-offender status. Epstein structured the purchase through the shell entity Great St. Jim LLC and arranged for the name of the Dubai businessman [[Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem]], the longtime chairman of the ports operator DP World, to appear as the ultimate beneficial owner on contractual paperwork. Reporting indicated that bin Sulayem had declined Epstein's request to use his name and that no signature of his appeared on the documents.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
The acquisition closed in two recorded transactions in January 2016: a purchase of Kjaer's parcels through Great St. Jim LLC for about 17.5 million dollars, and a further purchase of additional parcels through the same LLC for about 5 million dollars, totaling roughly 22.5 million dollars. Some accounts cite an 18 million dollar figure that reflects only part of the transaction; the combined recorded total is about 22.5 million dollars.[^4]
|
||||
Great St. Jim, LLC was organized under Virgin Islands law on October 26, 2015, three months before the purchase, with Epstein as manager and member and its business described as "holding assets." According to the Recorder of Deeds, it acquired three parcels on January 28, 2016: Parcel 109801010100 (3.5 million square feet, valued at 17.5 million dollars), Parcel 109801010200 (450,000 square feet, valued at 2.8 million dollars), and Parcel 109801010300 (1.2 million square feet, valued at 2.7 million dollars). The warranty deed shows Epstein paid 5 million dollars each for the two smaller parcels, about 10 million dollars against their combined valuation of 5.5 million. The territory's complaint gives no purchase price for the largest parcel; reporting at the time of the 2023 sale put the total price at about 22.5 million dollars. The estate's petition for probate listed a second Epstein company, Poplar, Inc., incorporated November 22, 2011 with Indyke and Kahn as officers, as holding title to Great St. James, and a certificate of incumbency filed with the Department of Planning and Natural Resources authorized Poplar to handle "transactions related to permitting matters submitted on behalf of Great St. Jim, LLC."[^1][^4]
|
||||
|
||||
After the deal closed, bin Sulayem's name did not appear on subsequent filings, and local land-use permit documents identified Epstein as the sole member of Great St. Jim LLC, revealing his ownership. The concealment surfaced again in 2026 when the connection to bin Sulayem drew renewed scrutiny; on February 13, 2026 he was removed from his chairman and chief-executive roles at DP World and a related Dubai entity after disclosures tied him to Epstein.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -38,15 +50,27 @@ Great St. James was sold together with Little St. James in May 2023 to an entity
|
|||
|
||||
Deckoff announced plans to develop a luxury resort of about 25 rooms on one of the islands, with reporting citing a planned opening in 2025. The sale resolved part of the estate's obligation under the 2022 U.S. Virgin Islands settlement, which had also directed half of the Little St. James sale proceeds to the territorial government and required environmental remediation on Great St. James.[^7][^8]
|
||||
|
||||
The transaction transferred both islands out of the Epstein estate. The combined sale ended Epstein's ownership of the two adjacent islands he had assembled off St. Thomas, the second of which he had acquired and developed largely outside the territory's permitting system.[^8]
|
||||
The transaction transferred both islands out of the Epstein estate. Poplar, Inc. was listed as the signatory for Great St. Jim's 2017 annual report, with a signature that appears to be Epstein's; at his death the estate valued Great St. James and Little St. James together at 86 million dollars, against the 60 million dollar sale price. As of February 2026 no resort had been built, and the only construction permit Deckoff had requested for either island was for a warehouse on Little St. James.[^1][^9] The combined sale ended Epstein's ownership of the two adjacent islands he had assembled off St. Thomas, the second of which he had acquired and developed largely outside the territory's permitting system.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Purpose and Inspections
|
||||
|
||||
The territory's 2020 complaint against the estate alleged that Epstein bought Great St. James, "the island with closest proximity to Little St. James," to "further shield his conduct on Little St. James from view, prevent his detection by law enforcement or the public," and continue the enterprise, and that the scale of the investment showed an intent to expand it "for years to come." It alleged that Epstein's organization repeatedly objected to routine Department of Planning and Natural Resources site visits to inspect unpermitted construction on the island, calling them "invasions" of Epstein's constitutional right to privacy in his home, "which he described defined as the entire island."[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### The 2019 Stop-Work Dispute and the Governor
|
||||
|
||||
In May 2019 [[Jean-Pierre Oriol]], Governor [[Albert Bryan|Albert Bryan's]] nominee for commissioner of the [[Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources|Department of Planning and Natural Resources]], told the Virgin Islands Daily News that Epstein was continuing illegal construction on Great St. James despite the stop-work order. Epstein complained to Bryan in text messages later released by the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]: "Jp going after me in the press!! Army corps told us ok. This is very wrong!" and "Accusing me of illegality!!!" Bryan replied, "We got u." Bryan did not answer the Daily News's questions about why he told Oriol to recuse himself. At a March 2026 briefing he said he had not helped Epstein secure permits, and that "even if I had told DPNR to grant his permit, it's perfectly within the right and power of the governor of the Virgin Islands."[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
The stop-work order had been issued on December 21, 2018, in the last weeks of Governor [[Kenneth Mapp|Kenneth Mapp's]] administration; Bryan was inaugurated on January 7, 2019, and Epstein contacted him days later, corresponding with him in the months before his arrest. Epstein was arrested in [[New Jersey]] on July 6, 2019, two months after the exchange over Oriol.[^10] Under the estate's 2022 settlement with the territory, the 450,000 dollar remediation payment for Great St. James covered damage where, according to the government, Epstein had razed the remains of structures built by enslaved workers.[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: "Great Saint James, U.S. Virgin Islands" entry, used here for non-controversial geographic data only (acreage, channel position relative to Little St. James); claims sourced solely to it are omitted. For ownership and price, see the reporting in notes 2 and 4.
|
||||
[^1]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 14, 28 to 32, and 135, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 4 to 8, 29. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
|
||||
[^2]: "Jeffrey Epstein used name of wealthy Dubai businessman to acquire second island in Caribbean, report finds." *Fox News,* 2026. https://www.foxnews.com/us/jeffrey-epstein-used-name-of-wealthy-dubai-businessman-to-acquire-second-island-in-caribbean-report-finds ; "Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem: Powerful Dubai tycoon replaced after DOJ reveals sexually explicit emails with Epstein." *CNN Business,* February 13, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/business/epstein-files-bin-sulayem-friendship-intl (shell entity Great St. Jim LLC; bin Sulayem named without consent; February 2026 removal from DP World).
|
||||
[^3]: "DPNR Orders Cease and Desist for Unauthorized Development on Great St. James." *St. Thomas Source,* November 1, 2016. https://stthomassource.com/content/2016/11/01/dpnr-orders-cease-and-desist-for-unauthorized-development-on-great-st-james/ (October 28, 2016 cease-and-desist; coastal-zone development).
|
||||
[^4]: For the two January 2016 recorded transactions through Great St. Jim LLC (approximately 17.5 million dollars and 5 million dollars, totaling about 22.5 million dollars) and the discrepancy with the 18 million dollar figure, see the contemporaneous Virgin Islands land records as summarized in reporting on the Epstein islands; "Billionaire Stephen Deckoff buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands." *CNBC,* May 3, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/03/jeffrey-epstein-private-islands-bought-by-billionaire.html
|
||||
[^4]: "Billionaire Stephen Deckoff buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands." *CNBC,* May 3, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/03/jeffrey-epstein-private-islands-bought-by-billionaire.html (total purchase price of about 22.5 million dollars; the complaint cited in note 1 gives 5 million dollars each for the two smaller parcels and a 17.5 million dollar valuation, not a price, for the largest).
|
||||
[^5]: "Corporation cited by DPNR for development on Great St. James Island." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* 2016. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/corporation-cited-by-dpnr-for-development-on-great-st-james/ (70,000 dollar penalty and corrective-action settlement for unpermitted land clearing).
|
||||
[^6]: "DPNR planning visit to Epstein's island." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* 2019. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/dpnr-planning-visit-to-epstein-s-island/ (planned complex of buildings; single minor permit approved; December 21, 2018 stop-work order; alleged violations involving a beach-bar cabana and a driveway).
|
||||
[^7]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million." *U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/ (450,000 dollars for environmental remediation on Great St. James; razed structures associated with enslaved workers).
|
||||
[^8]: "Financier buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands, with plans to create a resort." *NPR,* May 4, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173956903/jeffrey-epstein-island-sold-st-james ; "Jeffrey Epstein's two private islands sell for $60m." *AOL/The Independent,* May 2023. https://www.aol.com/jeffrey-epstein-two-private-islands-160710392.html
|
||||
[^9]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Still no resort plans for Epstein's islands purchased by Deckoff." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 6, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/still-no-resort-plans-for-epsteins-islands-purchased-by-deckoff/article_84d776de-8427-4080-a1b5-6cf81418e23d.html
|
||||
[^10]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Bryan unapologetic for texts with Epstein, doubles down on denial of wrongdoing." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 3, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bryan-unapologetic-for-texts-with-epstein-doubles-down-on-denial-of-wrongdoing/article_8bab46a1-6075-4c7c-abec-6efb19622e62.html
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -8,17 +8,30 @@ tags:
|
|||
- Property
|
||||
- GhislaineMaxwell
|
||||
- Island
|
||||
summary: "Little St. James is the roughly 70-acre private island off St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands that Jeffrey Epstein bought in 1998 and developed into his main Caribbean compound, where victims alleged repeated abuse occurred, which federal agents searched after his 2019 death and which his estate sold with the adjacent Great St. James in 2023."
|
||||
summary: "Little St. James is the roughly 70-acre island off St. Thomas that Jeffrey Epstein owned from 1998 through shell companies, where victims alleged abuse, and which his estate sold to Stephen Deckoff in 2023."
|
||||
location: "U.S. Virgin Islands (off St. Thomas)"
|
||||
created: 2026-06-20
|
||||
updated: 2026-06-20
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-25
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: owned
|
||||
with: "[[Nautilus, Inc.]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2011-12-30
|
||||
role: "title holder, Epstein president"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: owned
|
||||
with: "[[L.S.J., LLC]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 1998-04-27
|
||||
end: 2011-12-30
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Little St. James is a private island of roughly 70 to 78 acres in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], lying about a mile and a half off the southeastern coast of [[St. Thomas]] and accessible only by boat or helicopter. [[Jeffrey Epstein]] acquired it in April 1998 through the entity L.S.J. LLC, of which he was the sole member, for 7.95 million dollars, and over the next two decades built it into his principal Caribbean residence and compound. Victims and locals referred to it by names including "the island" and "pedophile island," and victim testimony placed sexual abuse there across the period of Epstein's ownership. Federal agents searched the island in August 2019 after Epstein's death, the U.S. Virgin Islands government settled a civil trafficking and racketeering case against his estate in 2022, and the estate sold Little St. James together with [[Great St. James]] to the investor [[Stephen Deckoff]] in 2023.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
Little St. James is a private island of about 3.1 million square feet, roughly 70 to 78 acres, in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], lying about a mile and a half off the southeastern coast of [[St. Thomas]] and accessible only by boat or helicopter. [[Jeffrey Epstein]] acquired it by warranty deed dated April 27, 1998 through the Delaware entity L.S.J., LLC, of which he was the sole member, for 7.95 million dollars, and over the next two decades built it into his principal Caribbean residence and compound. Victims and locals referred to it by names including "the island" and "pedophile island," and victim testimony placed sexual abuse there across the period of Epstein's ownership. Federal agents searched the island in August 2019 after Epstein's death, the U.S. Virgin Islands government settled a civil trafficking and racketeering case against his estate in 2022, and the estate sold Little St. James together with [[Great St. James]] to the investor [[Stephen Deckoff]] in 2023.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Acquisition and the Compound
|
||||
|
||||
L.S.J. LLC purchased Little St. James in April 1998 for 7.95 million dollars, with Epstein listed as the sole member of the company. The island's recorded area is given as roughly 70 to 78 acres, and a 2019 territorial valuation assessed it at about 63.9 million dollars. The property sits in the East End subdistrict of St. Thomas and can be reached only by private boat or helicopter, a feature that kept the compound isolated from casual observation.[^1]
|
||||
L.S.J., LLC purchased Little St. James by warranty deed dated April 27, 1998 for 7.95 million dollars, with Epstein listed as the sole member of the company. The Virgin Islands Recorder of Deeds lists the island as Parcel Number 109803010100, 3.1 million square feet, with land valued at 3.2 million dollars and buildings and improvements at 4 million dollars. After Epstein's death his estate valued its holding in Nautilus, Inc., the company holding title to the island, at 63.9 million dollars, and valued Little St. James and Great St. James together at 86 million dollars. The property sits in the East End subdistrict of St. Thomas and can be reached only by private boat or helicopter, a feature that kept the compound isolated from casual observation.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein expanded the built environment substantially across the late 2000s and early 2010s, adding a main residence, guest cottages and cabanas, staff quarters, a large swimming pool, a helipad, a dock, and a prominent sundial. At the island's southwest point he constructed a blue-and-white striped, boxlike structure surrounded by a square pavilion decorated with red geometric patterns on a white ground, a building variously described in reporting as a chapel, a temple, and a music room.[^2] Reporting in 2026 stated that internal Epstein documents and the [[New York Times]] indicated Epstein intended the striped building as a "mosque," envisioned with large tapestries, Islamic gardens, and tiles sourced from a mosque in Uzbekistan.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -36,7 +49,7 @@ Minsky's name later surfaced in litigation over the trafficking operation. [[Vir
|
|||
|
||||
Virginia Giuffre alleged that she was present on Little St. James across roughly 2001 to 2003, after [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] recruited her in 2000 from [[Mar-a-Lago]] when she was a teenager. Giuffre stated in court filings and interviews that "orgies were a constant thing that took place" on the island and described being passed among Epstein's associates there. These accounts are victim testimony and allegations rather than adjudicated findings.[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
An FBI report cited in later reporting recorded that one victim told agents Epstein spoke of building a "harem" on the island to house multiple girls, and that he wanted "a castle like structure, resembling the Alhambra in Spain." Other victim accounts described the island as a site where Epstein and guests subjected young women and girls to sexual abuse, with the isolation of the location limiting any ability to leave or seek help. The U.S. Virgin Islands later alleged in its civil suit that trafficking continued on the island as late as 2018.[^2][^3]
|
||||
An [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] report cited in later reporting recorded that one victim told agents Epstein spoke of building a "harem" on the island to house multiple girls, and that he wanted "a castle like structure, resembling the Alhambra in Spain." Other victim accounts described the island as a site where Epstein and guests subjected young women and girls to sexual abuse, with the isolation of the location limiting any ability to leave or seek help. The U.S. Virgin Islands later alleged in its civil suit that trafficking continued on the island as late as 2018.[^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
Giuffre also alleged that [[Prince Andrew]] and other prominent men were present during abuse on or connected to the island, claims that were central to her civil suit against Andrew, which he settled in 2022 without admission of liability. The unsealing of [[Giuffre v. Maxwell]] exhibits and the 2021 trial of Maxwell produced additional victim accounts describing the island's role in the operation. Each remains attributed testimony.[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -52,7 +65,7 @@ The search followed Epstein's July 2019 federal indictment in New York on sex-tr
|
|||
|
||||
In January 2020 the U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General [[Denise George]] filed a civil enforcement action against Epstein's estate under the territory's Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the local analog to federal RICO, alleging that Epstein operated a trafficking enterprise based on the islands and that abuse of girls and young women continued on Little St. James until 2018. The suit named the estate, the co-executors Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, and ten Epstein-created entities.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
On November 29, 2022, George announced a settlement requiring the defendants to pay the Government of the Virgin Islands more than 105 million dollars in cash penalties and forfeitures, plus one half of the proceeds from any sale of Little St. James, with funds directed toward law enforcement, victim services, and human-trafficking and sexual-assault support in the territory. The agreement separately required 450,000 dollars to remediate environmental damage on Great St. James, where the government found Epstein had razed the remains of centuries-old structures associated with enslaved workers to make room for his development.[^8]
|
||||
On November 29, 2022, George announced a settlement requiring the defendants to pay the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands|Government of the Virgin Islands]] more than 105 million dollars in cash penalties and forfeitures, plus one half of the proceeds from any sale of Little St. James, with funds directed toward law enforcement, victim services, and human-trafficking and sexual-assault support in the territory. The agreement separately required 450,000 dollars to remediate environmental damage on Great St. James, where the government found Epstein had razed the remains of centuries-old structures associated with enslaved workers to make room for his development.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
George stated that the settlement "restores the faith of the People of the Virgin Islands that its laws will be enforced, without fear or favor, against those who break them." The settlement resolved the territory's nearly three-year action and conditioned part of the recovery on the eventual sale of the island.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -64,9 +77,29 @@ Deckoff stated that he intended to develop a luxury resort of about 25 rooms on
|
|||
|
||||
The sale ended Epstein's decades-long association with the U.S. Virgin Islands, transferring both islands to new ownership. Reporting noted the unusual challenge of marketing properties so closely identified with the trafficking operation, which informed both the discounted price and the announced plan to rebrand the islands for resort use.[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
### Ownership Structure
|
||||
|
||||
On November 22, 2011, a year after Epstein registered in the territory as a sex offender, he incorporated Nautilus, Inc. in the Virgin Islands, with himself as president and director, his lawyer [[Darren Indyke]] as secretary, and his accountant [[Richard Kahn]] as treasurer, and a stated purpose of "holding property for personal use." A quitclaim deed recorded on December 30, 2011 moved Little St. James from L.S.J., LLC to Nautilus for "TEN DOLLARS ($10.00) and other good and valuable consideration." Most of Epstein's other territorial companies were created in 2011 and 2012, among them LSJ Employees, LLC (registered October 27, 2011 "to provide services"), followed by LSJ Emergency, LLC (December 2, 2015).[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
The island was served by aircraft held through companies that listed Epstein's pilot [[Larry Visoski]] as a manager or member. Hyperion Air, LLC, organized October 19, 2012 with Epstein and Visoski as managers, owned a Bell helicopter (N331JE) and a Keystone helicopter (N722JE) that the territory alleged Epstein used "to transport young women and underage girls between St. Thomas and Little St. James." Plan D, LLC, which owned the Gulfstream N212JE, listed Visoski as its sole manager until a July 31, 2019 annual report named Epstein as the principal.[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
### Verification, Staff, and Records
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein registered annually as a Tier 1 sex offender in the territory from 2010, and the [[Virgin Islands Department of Justice]] periodically visited or tried to visit the island to verify his address. At the last verification, in July 2018, he refused to let the department's investigators, assisted by [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals]], go beyond the dock, calling it his "front door," and arranged to meet them instead at his office on St. Thomas.[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
Island employees and others were required to sign confidentiality agreements that barred them from speaking with law enforcement, and were told that if contacted they should notify the Epstein organization and be represented by its counsel; they were also told not to interact with guests or disclose what happened on the island. The former Attorney General Denise George told the FBI in 2023 that when she tried to interview estate employees, they "had nondisclosure agreements and were informed if questioned by law enforcement to say nothing and alert Kellerhals," a reference to Epstein's St. Thomas attorney [[Erika Kellerhals]]. In a December 2014 email to Epstein, his office manager [[Cecile de Jongh]] reported that an employee was "working on the scanning and shredding for all of the entities, FTC, LSJ, Zorro, NES, JEGE, Hyperion, and JEVIF." Documents released by the Justice Department in 2026 included photos and receipts that federal agents reassembled from a bag of shredded paper found during the search of Epstein's house on the island, portions of which remain redacted.[^10][^11][^12]
|
||||
|
||||
### Henry Smock
|
||||
|
||||
The St. Thomas attorney [[Henry Smock]] assisted Epstein in the 1998 purchase of the island. Smock later served for years as counsel to the board of the [[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority]], which oversees the [[Economic Development Commission]] program that granted Epstein's companies their tax benefits, and to the board of the [[University of the Virgin Islands]]. According to FBI notes of George's 2023 interview, Governor [[Albert Bryan]] told her to settle the territory's case against the Epstein estate for 80 million dollars and to "select Henry Smock" as mediator. Smock later represented Bryan in a 2023 divorce and obtained an order sealing its records. Bryan has said Epstein received no special privilege from his administration.[^11][^13]
|
||||
|
||||
### After the Sale
|
||||
|
||||
Under the 2022 settlement the estate agreed to sell both islands to independent third parties and to wind down its business in the territory; the government's half of the Little St. James proceeds came to about 11 million dollars. As of February 2026 the only construction permit the new owner, Stephen Deckoff, had requested was for an 8,800 square foot concrete warehouse on Little St. James, and the territory's Coastal Zone Management director said the application was incomplete without an environmental assessment.[^8][^11][^14]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: "Who owns Jeffrey Epstein's island?" *Britannica.* https://www.britannica.com/question/Who-owns-Jeffrey-Epsteins-island ; "Jeffrey Epstein's Islands." *Britannica.* https://www.britannica.com/place/Jeffrey-Epsteins-Islands (purchase via L.S.J. LLC, 7.95 million dollars, April 1998; acreage; 2019 valuation).
|
||||
[^1]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 14, 22 to 25, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 4 to 7. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf ; "How did Jeffrey Epstein make all of his money?" *CBS News,* July 2019. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-did-jeffrey-epstein-make-his-money/ (7.95 million dollar purchase in 1998).
|
||||
[^2]: "Inside Jeffrey Epstein's Caribbean Island, Little St. James." *CNN,* March 13, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/13/us/jeffrey-epstein-little-st-james-island-invs-vis (compound expansion, striped "temple"/"mosque" structure, "harem"/"Alhambra" FBI account, surveillance, debunked "Moloch" claims).
|
||||
[^3]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Officials: Epstein Trafficked Girls On Private Island Until 2018." *NPR,* January 16, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/01/16/797011139/u-s-virgin-islands-officials-epstein-trafficked-girls-on-private-island-until-20 (the territorial civil suit; trafficking alleged through 2018).
|
||||
[^4]: Minsky, Marvin; Singh, Push; Sloman, Aaron. "The St. Thomas Common Sense Symposium: Designing Architectures for Human-Level Intelligence." Symposium proceedings, April 2002. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2902676_The_St_Thomas_Common_Sense_Symposium_Designing_Architectures_for_Human-Level_Intelligence
|
||||
|
|
@ -75,3 +108,8 @@ The sale ended Epstein's decades-long association with the U.S. Virgin Islands,
|
|||
[^7]: "FBI agents swarm Jeffrey Epstein's private Caribbean island." *NBC News,* August 12, 2019. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-agents-swarm-jeffrey-epstein-s-private-caribbean-island-n1041596 (August 12, 2019 search; arrival by boat and helicopter; seizure of electronic devices).
|
||||
[^8]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million." *U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/ ; "U.S. Virgin Islands reaches a $105M settlement with Jeffrey Epstein's estate." *NPR,* December 1, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/12/01/1140096222/jeffrey-epsteins-estate-reaches-a-105m-settlement-with-the-u-s-virgin-islands
|
||||
[^9]: "Financier buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands, with plans to create a resort." *NPR,* May 4, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173956903/jeffrey-epstein-island-sold-st-james ; "Jeffrey Epstein's two private islands sell for $60m." *AOL/The Independent,* May 2023. https://www.aol.com/jeffrey-epstein-two-private-islands-160710392.html ; "Billionaire Stephen Deckoff buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands." *CNBC,* May 3, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/03/jeffrey-epstein-private-islands-bought-by-billionaire.html
|
||||
[^10]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 6, 12 to 14, 22 to 25, 34 to 36, 128 to 133, 137 to 139, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 3 to 9, 28 to 30. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
|
||||
[^11]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html (shredded-paper reconstruction; George's FBI interview; Smock; 11 million dollars from the sale).
|
||||
[^12]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Court filings show V.I. First Lady's loyalty to Epstein." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* June 21, 2023. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/court-filings-show-v-i-first-ladys-loyalty-to-epstein/article_c2dca0a7-a243-5365-88c0-389c576ad022.html
|
||||
[^13]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Bryan unapologetic for texts with Epstein, doubles down on denial of wrongdoing." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 3, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bryan-unapologetic-for-texts-with-epstein-doubles-down-on-denial-of-wrongdoing/article_8bab46a1-6075-4c7c-abec-6efb19622e62.html
|
||||
[^14]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Still no resort plans for Epstein's islands purchased by Deckoff." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 6, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/still-no-resort-plans-for-epsteins-islands-purchased-by-deckoff/article_84d776de-8427-4080-a1b5-6cf81418e23d.html
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
category: "Landmark"
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Place
|
||||
- Prison
|
||||
- JeffreyEpstein
|
||||
- BureauOfPrisons
|
||||
- NewYorkCity
|
||||
- DeathInCustody
|
||||
- Surveillance
|
||||
alias:
|
||||
- Metropolitan Correctional Center
|
||||
- MCC New York
|
||||
- MCC Manhattan
|
||||
- MCC
|
||||
- Metropolitan Correctional Center (New York)
|
||||
summary: "The Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York was the Bureau of Prisons pretrial jail at 150 Park Row in Lower Manhattan where Jeffrey Epstein died in August 2019, closed in 2021."
|
||||
end: 2021-10
|
||||
location: "150 Park Row, Lower Manhattan, New York, New York"
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: owned
|
||||
with: "[[Federal Bureau of Prisons]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: head_of
|
||||
with: "[[Lamine N'Diaye]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2018-05
|
||||
end: 2019-08-13
|
||||
role: "warden, reassigned by order of the attorney general"
|
||||
fn: 3
|
||||
- type: investigated
|
||||
with: "[[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2019-08
|
||||
end: 2023-06
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
created: 2026-09-25
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-25
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York (MCC New York) was a [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]] detention facility at 150 Park Row in Lower [[Manhattan]], adjoining the federal courthouses at [[Foley Square]], that held pretrial defendants for the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York|Southern]] and [[U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York|Eastern Districts of New York]]. It housed about 750 inmates in normal operation, and its former inmates included [[Joaquín Guzmán|Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman]], [[John Gotti]], [[Bernard Madoff]], and associates of [[Osama bin Laden]]. [[Jeffrey Epstein]] was found hanged in a cell in its Special Housing Unit on the morning of August 10, 2019, after two officers skipped the overnight counts, the facility's cellmate order went unexecuted, and the recording system for half its cameras had been dead since July 29. The Bureau of Prisons closed the jail, "at least temporarily," in October 2021.[^1][^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Facility
|
||||
|
||||
MCC New York was a federal administrative detention facility, and most of its inmates were awaiting trial rather than serving sentences. Epstein was held in the Special Housing Unit (SHU), where inmates are "securely separated from the general inmate population and kept locked in their cells for approximately 23 hours a day." The SHU had six tiers of eight cells each, reached only through a locked door at the top or bottom of each tier's staircase, and the officers' desk sat directly outside the tier where Epstein was housed, diagonally across from his cell.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
In the autumn of 2018 the Bureau of Prisons awarded contracts to two companies, identified in the Inspector General's report only as Company 1 and Company 2, to upgrade the jail's security cameras, which then recorded to a Digital Video Recorder system split into two halves (DVR 1 and DVR 2). From March 2019 the bureau's Northeast Regional Office rotated technicians from other prisons to MCC New York to do the wiring, but "work is not consistently conducted on the camera upgrade because TDY personnel are sometimes used to cover shortages at MCC New York's custody posts." [[Lamine N'Diaye]] had been warden since May 2018.[^1][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Epstein's Detention
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein was arrested at [[Teterboro Airport]] on July 6, 2019 on his return from [[France]] and brought to MCC New York, where he was placed in general population. The next day a staff member asked the Psychology Department to evaluate him because he appeared "distraught, sad, and a little confused," and he was moved to the SHU because of media attention and his notoriety among inmates. On July 18 Judge [[Richard M. Berman]] ordered him detained pending trial as a danger to the community and a flight risk.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
At about 1:27 a.m. on July 23, 2019, staff found Epstein on the floor of his cell "with a piece of orange cloth around his neck." He first told staff that his cellmate had tried to kill him, then said he did not remember how he was injured. His cellmate, identified in the Inspector General's report only as Inmate 1, was the former police officer [[Nicholas Tartaglione]], then awaiting trial on murder charges. Epstein was placed on suicide watch and then psychological observation, and told a psychologist on July 24, "I have no interest in killing myself." The jail's investigative staff concluded on August 8 that there was "insufficient evidence to determine that Epstein harmed himself or that he was harmed by his cellmate." After returning to the SHU Epstein asked two staff members whether he could be housed again with the same cellmate.[^1][^4]
|
||||
|
||||
The jail's own records, released in the [[Epstein Files|Epstein Library]], fill in the July 23 incident. The officer who reached the cell first wrote that Epstein was "laying down near his bunk with what appeared to be a piece of handmade orange cloth around his neck"; a second officer applied restraints to Tartaglione, and the first secured him in the bathroom. The operations lieutenant wrote that Epstein, breathing heavily and snoring, did not respond, but that on the stretcher "When staff made eye contact with him, he would hurriedly shut his eyes," and that on suicide watch he twice leaned forward as if to fall head first before saying "Okay, I won't do it again," and giving a thumbs up. No medical assessment was done at the time "due to the fact, there was no medical staff available after 10:00 PM." A senior officer specialist recorded Epstein's statement that his "Bunkie" had "tried to kill him" and had tried to extort him "for a week"; Epstein told a psychologist the next day, "I don't know if he put it there as a joke." A Bureau of Prisons psychological reconstruction team later noted that the psychologist's note described "a string loosely hanging around his neck" while the responding officer described orange cloth, and that the self-mutilation incident report was written before the facts were known and later expunged; the Special Investigative Services threat assessment of August 2 was "inconclusive as to whether Mr. Epstein engaged in self- directed violence, willingly fought with his cellmate, or was assaulted by his cellmate."[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
On the choice of cellmates, the reconstruction team found that when Epstein entered the SHU on July 7 "Executive Staff decided Mr. Tartaglione would be his cellmate" without input from Psychology Services, that the pairing "may have aggravated Mr. Epstein's risk for self-directed violence," and that although the Bureau's central Psychology Services Branch recommended on July 25 that Epstein be housed with another inmate accused of a sex offense, "Mr. Epstein was never housed with another inmate charged or convicted of a sexual offense." The institution answered that it had paired him with Tartaglione because "both had high profile cases" and Tartaglione, "a certified death penalty eligible inmate," was "less likely to assault or otherwise try to harm Mr. Epstein"; that a second inmate with a history of sex offenses was "deemed dangerous to Mr. Epstein due to his threatening nature"; and that it then "narrowed the possibilities to cooperators," choosing an inmate "confirmed as proffering with the U.S. Attorney's Office," on the reasoning that cooperators "are not only vulnerable themselves, but also had a lot to lose should they harm Mr. Epstein."[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
On July 30 a staff psychologist emailed more than 70 bureau employees that Epstein "needs to be housed with an appropriate cellmate." The disk array of the DVR 2 system failed between July 29 and 30; the cameras kept showing live video but recorded nothing, and roughly half the jail's cameras, including those covering the area of Epstein's cell, were on DVR 2. Staff discovered the failure on August 8, obtained replacement drives on August 9, and did not complete the repair.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### August 8 to 10, 2019
|
||||
|
||||
On August 8 Epstein met his lawyers in a private room at the jail and signed a new Last Will and Testament, which jail officials did not learn of until after his death; the same day staff were told his cellmate would be transferred out. The cellmate left at about 8:30 a.m. on August 9, and no new cellmate was assigned; two SHU staff said they told supervisors, and "other witnesses did not corroborate these statements." Epstein's attorneys asked that day whether he could be moved or housed without a cellmate. The same day the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit|Second Circuit]] unsealed about 2,000 pages of records from [[Giuffre v. Maxwell]].[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Between 6:58 and 7:19 p.m. on August 9, a Unit Manager serving as Institutional Duty Officer let Epstein make an unrecorded call from a shower area on the SHU's legal line, a line reserved for attorney calls, to a number in the 646 area code, saying Epstein wanted to call his mother. Epstein's mother had died in 2004. A man answered, and the Unit Manager handed Epstein the receiver, told officers "make sure he gets his 15-minutes, and after that, he's done," and left the building. The Inspector General found that Epstein spoke with a woman identified as Individual 1, who declined to be interviewed; her lawyer told prosecutors she was in [[Belarus]] at the time and that Epstein told her "They are trying to keep me safe," that he loved her, and that he would not be able to call her again for another month. Before August 9, one of Epstein's attorneys had asked a senior officer "how Epstein could get an unmonitored call"; the officer told him the decision belonged to a lieutenant or unit manager.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Correctional officer [[Tova Noel]] and materials handler [[Michael Thomas]] staffed the SHU from midnight, Noel on the second half of a double shift and Thomas on overtime in place of his regular post. No officer checked on Epstein from about 10:40 p.m. on August 9, when a figure the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] believed to be Noel carried linen or clothing up to his tier, until 6:30 a.m. on August 10. Neither officer conducted the midnight, 3 a.m., or 5 a.m. counts, and Noel signed more than 75 entries on round sheets for checks that did not happen. At 5:42 and 5:52 a.m. a search for "latest on epstein in jail" was run on Noel's workstation. At about 6:30 a.m. Thomas opened the cell and found Epstein hanged from the top bunk by strips of orange cloth, "in a near-seated position." The cell held "an excess amount of prison linens" and "multiple nooses." Epstein was pronounced dead at New York Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital at 7:36 a.m.[^1][^4][^6]
|
||||
|
||||
The jail nurse's resuscitation record logs a body alarm at 6:35 a.m. and describes Epstein on the cell floor with officers performing CPR: "Inmate was Cold, with circumferential Bruising around the neck and posterior mottling, Pupils Fixed and dilated, No Palpable pulses." An automated defibrillator advised no shock at 6:40, paramedics arrived at 6:56 and found asystole, and he was taken out with CPR in progress. Warden N'Diaye's Form 583 Report of Incident, NYM-19-0082, dated the incident 6:33 a.m. on August 10, 2019 and listed Noel and Thomas among the staff involved.[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
The one SHU camera still recording, on DVR 1, covered the unit's common area and the stairs to the tiers but not Epstein's cell door. The Inspector General found that no one was seen entering Epstein's tier from the common area between 10:40 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., that three inmates with a view of his cell door said no one entered or left it, and that it "did not uncover evidence contradicting the FBI's determination regarding the absence of criminality." The FBI seized the DVR 2 drives on August 10 and found "catastrophic disk failures" with no recordings after July 29.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Investigations and Aftermath
|
||||
|
||||
Attorney General [[William Barr]] said on August 12 that the department had learned of "serious irregularities" at the jail: "I was appalled, and indeed the whole department was, and frankly angry, to learn of the MCC's failure to adequately secure this prisoner." On August 13 he ordered N'Diaye temporarily reassigned to the bureau's Northeast Regional Office and two SHU staff placed on leave; James Petrucci, warden at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville|Otisville]], became acting warden. On August 19, 2019, an MCC employee emailed the FBI that an inmate had told him members of the bureau's After Action Team investigating the death "were shredding boxes of paperwork" and that the inmate had been told to help; the employee later said he saw the inmate at the rear gate with about three large bags of shredded paper. An agent asked colleagues whether the dumpster could be checked "ASAP"; the released records do not show that it was searched.[^3][^4]
|
||||
|
||||
Noel and Thomas were indicted by a federal grand jury on November 19, 2019 for falsifying records; the charges were dismissed on December 13, 2021 after they completed deferred prosecution agreements, and the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]] declined to prosecute other SHU employees who had also falsified count slips and round sheets. The Inspector General's June 2023 report found that "many other MCC New York staff members engaged in administrative misconduct," tied the failures to staffing shortages the office had flagged "since at least 2015," and made eight recommendations to the bureau.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
The [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] announced on August 26, 2021, weeks after Deputy Attorney General [[Lisa Monaco]] toured the jail, that it would close MCC New York "at least temporarily" to address "issues" including lax security and crumbling infrastructure; its 233 remaining inmates, down from a normal population of 600 or more, were moved mostly to the [[Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn]]. The building remained closed as of 2026.[^2][^4]
|
||||
|
||||
On July 7, 2025 the Justice Department and FBI released a memorandum stating that "FBI investigators concluded that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center" and that the FBI's review of the common-area footage "confirmed that from the time Epstein was locked in his cell at around 10:40 pm on August 9, 2019, until around 6:30 am the next morning, nobody entered any of the tiers in the SHU." The Inspector General had placed the SHU lock-in at about 8 p.m. and 10:40 p.m. as the last time any officer went up to Epstein's tier. The memorandum was accompanied by what the department described as "full raw" footage; an analysis of the file's metadata by [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] found it had been assembled from at least two source clips in [[Adobe Premiere Pro]] under a Windows account named "MJCOLE~1" on May 23, 2025, and later reporting found close to three minutes missing from the published version.[^7][^8][^9]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General. *Investigation and Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Custody, Care, and Supervision of Jeffrey Epstein at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, New York.* Report 23-085, June 2023. https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23-085.pdf (pp. iii to iv; 1 to 6, facility, discovery, SHU, 750 inmates, October 2021 closure, prosecutions; 14 to 20, timeline including camera contracts, TDY staffing, cellmate order, DVR failure, will, transfer, FBI seizure; 58 to 60, unmonitored call and Individual 1).
|
||||
[^2]: "U.S. Is Closing The Troubled NYC Jail Where Jeffrey Epstein Killed Himself." *Associated Press* via *NPR,* August 26, 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/08/26/1031541974/u-s-closing-jail-jeffrey-epstein-metropolitan-correctional-center (Justice Department statement; 233 inmates; Monaco tour; former inmates).
|
||||
[^3]: "Warden of jail where Jeffrey Epstein killed himself reassigned, two guards placed on leave on orders of Attorney General William Barr." *CNBC,* August 13, 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/13/warden-of-jail-where-jeffrey-epstein-killed-himself-reassigned.html ; "Jeffrey Epstein death: Warden at prison temporarily reassigned." *CNN,* August 13, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/13/politics/epstein-mcc-warden/index.html (N'Diaye warden since May 2018; Petrucci; Barr's August 12 remarks).
|
||||
[^4]: Khurshudyan, Isabelle. "Epstein files shed new light on what prison officials were doing the night he died." *CNN,* March 26, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/26/politics/epstein-files-prison-officials-night-he-died (Tartaglione as cellmate; "no interest in killing myself"; Noel search; August 19, 2019 shredding email; jail still closed).
|
||||
[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00048963, DataSet 9, Federal Bureau of Prisons records of Jeffrey Epstein's detention at MCC New York, July 8 to August 10, 2019, including staff memoranda of July 23, 2019 (EFTA00049345 to 49347), the Emergency Code resuscitation encounter of August 10, 2019 (EFTA00049334), the psychological reconstruction findings and institution response (EFTA00049770 to 49772), and Form 583 Report of Incident NYM-19-0082 (EFTA00049914 to 49916). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00048963.pdf
|
||||
[^6]: Eastham, Janet. "'Suspicious' payments to last guard who saw Epstein." *The Telegraph* via *Yahoo News,* March 8, 2026. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/epstein-prison-guard-made-suspicious-132416347.html (FBI briefing on the 10:40 p.m. figure; search times of 5:42 and 5:52 a.m.).
|
||||
[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Memorandum on review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein, July 7, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1407001/dl?inline= (The memorandum also refers to "the August 19, 2019 autopsy findings" of the New York City medical examiner; the Inspector General dates the autopsy to August 11, 2019.)
|
||||
[^8]: "Hany Farid and WIRED Analyze the Department of Justice's Released Epstein Video, Find Anomalies with Metadata." *UC Berkeley School of Information,* July 2025. https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/news/2025/hany-farid-and-wired-analyze-department-justices-released-epstein-video-find-anomalies ; "Was the 'Full Raw' Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Actually Modified?" *Vice,* July 2025. https://www.vice.com/en/article/was-the-full-raw-jeffrey-epstein-prison-video-actually-modified/
|
||||
[^9]: "Jeffrey Epstein prison video had nearly 3 minutes cut from it: report." *LiveNOW from FOX,* July 2025. https://www.livenowfox.com/news/epstein-prison-video-edit-discrepancy
|
||||
|
|
@ -8,13 +8,19 @@ tags:
|
|||
- Property
|
||||
- Eugenics
|
||||
- Ranch
|
||||
summary: "Zorro Ranch is the roughly 7,600- to 10,000-acre New Mexico property near Stanley, south of Santa Fe, that Jeffrey Epstein acquired in 1993 from the family of former Governor Bruce King, built into a hilltop mansion compound with a private airstrip, where victims alleged abuse and where the New York Times reported he discussed a plan to seed the human race with his DNA, and which New Mexico reopened a criminal investigation and a legislative inquiry into in 2026."
|
||||
summary: "Zorro Ranch is the New Mexico property near Stanley that Jeffrey Epstein bought in 1993 from Governor Bruce King's family, where victims alleged abuse and which the state reinvestigated in 2026."
|
||||
location: "Stanley, New Mexico (Santa Fe County)"
|
||||
created: 2026-06-20
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-22
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-25
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: owned
|
||||
with: "[[San Rafael Ranch LLC]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2023
|
||||
fn: 11
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Zorro Ranch is a property of roughly 7,600 to 10,000 acres near Stanley in Santa Fe County, [[New Mexico]], about 30 miles south of [[Santa Fe]], that [[Jeffrey Epstein]] acquired in 1993 from the family of the former New Mexico Governor [[Bruce King]]. Epstein built a large hilltop mansion there along with a private airstrip and outbuildings, combining deeded land with state grazing leases that extended his control over the surrounding terrain. Victims alleged that abuse occurred at the ranch, the [[New York Times]] reported in 2019 that Epstein discussed using the site to seed the human race with his DNA, Epstein never registered as a sex offender in New Mexico, and the state reopened a criminal investigation and launched a legislative inquiry into the property in 2026.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
Zorro Ranch is a property of roughly 7,600 to 10,000 acres near Stanley in Santa Fe County, [[New Mexico]], about 30 miles south of [[Santa Fe]], that [[Jeffrey Epstein]] acquired in 1993 from the family of the former New Mexico Governor [[Bruce King]]. Epstein built a large hilltop mansion there along with a private airstrip and outbuildings, combining deeded land with state grazing leases that extended his control over the surrounding terrain. Victims alleged that abuse occurred at the ranch, the [[New York Times]] reported in 2019 that Epstein discussed using the site to seed the human race with his DNA, Epstein was relieved of any obligation to register as a sex offender in New Mexico two days after registering in 2010, and the state reopened a criminal investigation and launched a legislative inquiry into the property in 2026.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Acquisition and the King Family
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -22,7 +28,7 @@ Epstein purchased Zorro Ranch in 1993 from the family of Bruce King, the longest
|
|||
|
||||
The acquisition combined deeded land with state grazing leases that Epstein obtained, giving him effective control over a wider expanse than the land he owned outright and adding to the property's isolation, with the nearest neighbors miles away and Santa Fe about 30 miles to the north. Reported acreage figures vary, with sources citing roughly 7,600 acres, about 8,000 acres, and figures up to 10,000 acres depending on whether leased land is included.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
The property's remoteness and the combination of owned and leased acreage gave Epstein a secluded compound far from any town. The same isolation later featured in victim accounts and in the questions New Mexico investigators raised about how activity at the ranch escaped earlier scrutiny.[^4][^2]
|
||||
The property's remoteness and the combination of owned and leased acreage gave Epstein a secluded compound far from any town. The same isolation later featured in victim accounts and in the questions New Mexico investigators raised about how activity at the ranch escaped earlier scrutiny.[^2][^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Compound and Airstrip
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -44,15 +50,15 @@ Allegations later compiled by New Mexico investigators and survivors connected t
|
|||
|
||||
At least ten girls and young women have alleged that they were groomed or assaulted at Zorro Ranch, with accounts beginning in the late 1990s, according to reporting and to New Mexico officials. These accounts are victim testimony and allegations, and Epstein was never charged with any crime in New Mexico.[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
New Mexico prosecutors confirmed in 2019 that they had interviewed possible victims who had visited the ranch, and survivors and investigators later described allegations including rape and sexual assault of minors at the property. The allegations drew on survivor accounts, diary entries, and documents released from the federal Epstein files. Some uncorroborated claims, including a 2019 email alleging that bodies were buried near the ranch, also circulated and were noted by investigators as unverified.[^2][^7]
|
||||
New Mexico prosecutors confirmed in 2019 that they had interviewed possible victims who had visited the ranch, and survivors and investigators later described allegations including rape and sexual assault of minors at the property. The allegations drew on survivor accounts, diary entries, and documents released from the federal [[Epstein Files|Epstein files]]. Some uncorroborated claims, including a 2019 email alleging that bodies were buried near the ranch, also circulated and were noted by investigators as unverified.[^2][^7]
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein never registered as a sex offender in New Mexico despite his 2008 [[Florida]] conviction and registration, a gap that later drew attention from state officials examining whether the ranch's activity escaped scrutiny. New York's July 2019 federal indictment concerned conduct in New York and Florida and did not charge conduct in New Mexico.[^2][^7]
|
||||
Epstein did not remain on New Mexico's sex-offender registry despite his 2008 Florida conviction and registration elsewhere, a gap that later drew attention from state officials examining whether the ranch's activity escaped scrutiny. New York's July 2019 federal indictment concerned conduct in New York and Florida and did not charge conduct in New Mexico.[^2][^7]
|
||||
|
||||
### The New Mexico Investigations
|
||||
|
||||
The New Mexico Attorney General's office opened an inquiry in 2019 under then-Attorney General Hector Balderas, interviewing possible victims, but halted the effort in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York to avoid a parallel investigation. In 2026 the office, under Attorney General [[Raul Torrez]], reopened the criminal investigation, stating that revelations in previously sealed FBI files warranted further examination.[^2][^8]
|
||||
The New Mexico Attorney General's office opened an inquiry in 2019 under then-Attorney General Hector Balderas, interviewing possible victims, but halted the effort in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York to avoid a parallel investigation. In 2026 the office, under Attorney General [[Raul Torrez]], reopened the criminal investigation, stating that revelations in previously sealed [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] files warranted further examination.[^2][^8]
|
||||
|
||||
On March 10, 2026, state investigators from the New Mexico Department of Justice began a search of the former Zorro Ranch with the cooperation of the current owners, examining allegations that the property may have been used for sexual abuse and sex trafficking. The department's spokesperson confirmed the search in a public statement tied to the reopened investigation.[^8]
|
||||
On March 10, 2026, state investigators from the New Mexico [[Department of Justice]] began a search of the former Zorro Ranch with the cooperation of the current owners, examining allegations that the property may have been used for sexual abuse and sex trafficking. The department's spokesperson confirmed the search in a public statement tied to the reopened investigation.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
In February 2026 the New Mexico Legislature established a bipartisan investigative committee, described in reporting as a "truth commission," to examine activity at the ranch and whether local authorities looked the other way. The panel, led by Representative Andrea Romero, received subpoena power and a multimillion-dollar budget funded through a prior settlement with Epstein's banks, and by mid-2026 it had issued subpoenas to state agencies, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, and other entities and called on survivors to come forward.[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -62,7 +68,25 @@ Epstein's estate listed Zorro Ranch for sale in July 2021 at an asking price of
|
|||
|
||||
In 2023 the ranch was sold through a public auction to San Rafael Ranch LLC, an entity tied to the family of the former Texas state senator Don Huffines, for an undisclosed price, with proceeds directed toward the estate's creditors. The property was renamed San Rafael Ranch in 2024.[^11]
|
||||
|
||||
Reporting in 2026 identified the Huffines-family ownership and connected it to Huffines's political activity in Texas. The current owners cooperated with the New Mexico Department of Justice search in March 2026. (The prior research note that the ranch was "listed for sale and unsold" reflects the 2021 listing, which did not sell at the asking price; the property was subsequently sold via auction in 2023, a conflict flagged here.)[^11][^8]
|
||||
Reporting in 2026 identified the Huffines-family ownership and connected it to Huffines's political activity in Texas. The current owners cooperated with the New Mexico Department of Justice search in March 2026. The 2021 listing did not sell at its asking price; the 2023 auction sale followed.[^8][^11]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Registration Letters
|
||||
|
||||
The [[New Mexico Department of Public Safety]] wrote to Epstein in July 2010 informing him that he was required to register in New Mexico as a sex offender on the strength of his 2008 [[Florida]] conviction. On August 17, 2010 he appeared with his attorney at the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office and registered with Detective Deborah Anaya. On August 19 the sheriff received a second letter from the department stating that he was not required to register. The department's analysis compared the Florida offense with New Mexico's statute on sexual exploitation of children by prostitution, which was, and remains, a registrable offense only if the minor is under 16; the department said the minor in Epstein's Florida plea was 17, while Epstein's New Mexico attorney wrote in 2010 that she was 16 and 17 over the course of the abuse. Epstein had been investigated in Florida for abuse of girls as young as 14. He was never listed on the New Mexico registry thereafter.[^12][^13]
|
||||
|
||||
[[Alexander Acosta]], who as U.S. Attorney in Miami negotiated the 2008 plea, defended it in 2019 by pointing to the registration requirement: "The world needed to be on notice that he was a sexual predator." The Department of Public Safety has since called the gap the "Epstein loophole." Bills to close it stalled in the legislature for years, and in September 2026 legislators on the Zorro Ranch truth commission and Representative [[Meredith Dixon]] said they would seek changes in the 2027 session.[^13]
|
||||
|
||||
### Gary King
|
||||
|
||||
[[Gary King]], son of the governor whose family sold Epstein the ranch, was elected New Mexico Attorney General in 2006. That year he received 15,000 dollars for his campaign from an Epstein entity called The Zorro Trust, which he returned after Epstein's first arrest in Florida. In 2010, the year the Department of Public Safety told the sheriff that Epstein need not register, a staff member in King's office used official government email to arrange an afternoon meeting for Epstein "with AG Gary King" at a Santa Fe restaurant. The FBI had interviewed the ranch manager in 2007 and learned that Epstein frequently brought women to the ranch and invited local masseuses; whether the information was shared with state officials is one of the questions before the legislature's truth commission.[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
King won the Democratic nomination for governor on June 3, 2014, with [[Deb Haaland]] as his running mate. Two days later Epstein's assistant told King's fundraiser that Epstein was ready to support him, and a June 18 email thanked Epstein for his "personal commitment to raise $50,000 for my campaign," noting that "each separate corporation is considered to be a separate giver." Epstein's lawyer [[Darren Indyke]] told Epstein that King's campaign website pledged to increase prosecutions of offenses against children and suggested giving through companies to avoid "additional press coverage regarding or accepting of your contribution"; Epstein told him to send the money through "co s or trusts." The campaign deposited 5,000 dollars from JEGE LLC, an Epstein aviation company registered in the Virgin Islands, on July 7, 5,200 dollars more from JEGE on September 1, and 5,000 dollars from Maple, Inc., the company holding Epstein's Manhattan house, on September 8.[^14][^15]
|
||||
|
||||
On August 21, 2014 an email to Epstein said King "wanted to speak to you about possibly using your plane" to fly from Santa Fe on the evening of September 8 to a breakfast in Washington. A trip sheet shows King and Haaland among five passengers on a flight chartered by JEGE LLC from Santa Fe Municipal Airport to Washington on September 8; the campaign reported paying 22,060 dollars to the charter company Injet, and at 5:36 a.m. on September 9 a charter booker emailed Epstein's accountant [[Richard Kahn]] and pilot [[Larry Visoski]] that the plane was "on the ground at IAD." The same day King told the Santa Fe New Mexican he would return Epstein's donations; the campaign announced it would return more than 36,500 dollars, but its finance reports show no evidence that refunds were made. In February 2026 King said, "We didn't have any reason to know or believe that it was a plane that was owned by Jeffrey Epstein. My staff had told me that Bill Richardson was helping us to arrange for an airplane," and later, "I probably wouldn't have flown on it if I'd known it was a Jeffrey Epstein jet." A spokesperson for Haaland said she "never had any interaction with him and the way in which the plane was chartered was never communicated to her."[^14][^15]
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### Estate Valuation
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At Epstein's death his estate valued the ranch, held through one of his companies, at 72 million dollars, the second-highest figure among his residences after the combined 86 million dollars for [[Little St. James]] and [[Great St. James]] and above the 56 million dollars assigned to the Manhattan house. The asking price when the estate listed it in 2021 was 27.5 million dollars.[^10][^16]
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### Footnotes
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@ -77,3 +101,8 @@ Reporting in 2026 identified the Huffines-family ownership and connected it to H
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[^9]: "New Mexico 'Truth Commission' begins investigation into Epstein's Zorro Ranch, will issue subpoenas." *CNN,* June 1, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/01/politics/new-mexico-truth-commission-epstein-zorro-ranch-subpoenas (February 2026 establishment; Representative Andrea Romero; subpoena power; budget funded through a settlement with Epstein's banks; subpoenas issued to state agencies and the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office).
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[^10]: "Jeffrey Epstein's New Mexico ranch listed for $27.5 million." *NBC News,* July 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jeffrey-epstein-s-new-mexico-ranch-listed-27-5-million-n1273048 ; "Jeffrey Epstein's New Mexico Ranch Lists For $27.5M." *Inman,* July 1, 2021. https://www.inman.com/2021/07/01/jeffrey-epsteins-new-mexico-ranch-lists-for-27-5m/
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[^11]: "Texas businessman running for office owns Epstein's Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County." *Santa Fe New Mexican,* 2026. https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/texas-businessman-running-for-office-owns-epsteins-zorro-ranch-in-santa-fe-county/article_14a05944-1e00-47c8-a4c3-071895abfb57.html ; "Huffines family revealed as buyer of Epstein's Zorro Ranch in New Mexico." *The Real Deal,* February 17, 2026. https://therealdeal.com/texas/2026/02/17/huffines-family-bought-epsteins-zorro-ranch-in-new-mexico/ (2023 public-auction sale to San Rafael Ranch LLC, tied to the Huffines family; renamed San Rafael Ranch in 2024; proceeds to creditors).
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[^12]: "Epstein Absent from Sex Offender List." *Santa Fe Reporter,* July 11, 2019. https://sfreporter.com/archives/epstein-absent-sex-offender-list/ (July 2010 letter; August 17, 2010 registration with Detective Deborah Anaya; August 19 letter to the sheriff; statement of sheriff's spokesman Juan Rios; Department of Public Safety explanation).
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[^13]: Bates, Clara. "Lawmakers look to close 'Epstein loophole' that kept financier off sex offender list." *Santa Fe New Mexican,* September 12, 2026. https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/epstein/lawmakers-look-to-close-epstein-loophole-that-kept-financier-off-sex-offender-list/article_4d071ff8-db1c-48e0-8eb4-daeb68f561ae.html
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[^14]: Davis, Pat, and Julian Paras. "Gary King campaigned on prosecuting child sex offenders, while courting Epstein at lunch and accepting donations through companies designed to avoid 'press coverage' for King." *New Mexico Political Report,* February 23, 2026. https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2026/02/23/gary-king-campaigned-on-his-record-prosecuting-child-sex-offenders-then-invited-epstein-to-lunch-and-accepted-epstein-donations-through-companies-designed-to-avoid-press-coverage-for-king/
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[^15]: Paras, Julian, and Pat Davis. "Records show Gary King, Deb Haaland used Epstein-linked jet during 2014 campaign." *New Mexico Political Report,* February 17, 2026. https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2026/02/17/records-show-gary-king-deb-haaland-used-epstein-linked-jet-during-2014-campaign/
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[^16]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraph 14, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 4 to 5. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
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