Conspiracy Theories
When child sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein, was federally arrested and held in a cell in Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, New York, he spent only thirty-six days until he was found deceased, hanging in his cell (Chappel). The death of the infamous Epstein brought about a plethora of theories, but mainly two theories are brought into consideration. The first theory states that political and influential figures had connections to Epstein's trafficking business, and they wanted to make sure he did not expose them by plotting his murder and staging it as a suicide. The second theory concludes that Epstein truly did commit suicide either from remorse or fear of punishment.
The first conspiracy theory is that Jeffrey Epstein's death was an organized murder by his clients, who were fearful he would expose their involvement in his trafficking operations. Epstein allegedly owned a client list that included formidable individuals, yet this list was being withheld from the public eye until Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced, "This Department of Justice is following through on President Trump’s commitment to transparency and lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators" (Office of Public Affairs). Epstein had crafted an extensive network of high society figures, including former U.S. president Bill Clinton and current U.S. president Donald Trump, which sparked a controversy as Bill Clinton had rumors of a sexual affair with a White House intern and was reported to have flown on Epstein’s private jet a multitude of times (Kimmel). Clinton’s involvement with Epstein raised many questions about whether he was collaborating with him, though Clinton has denied any knowledge or involvement in Epstein’s criminal behavior (Hill). Donald Trump has claimed that he was not involved with Epstein’s activities and never visited the island, and was friends with him for years and eyewitness and victim, Virginia Giuffre has supported this stating, she never seen Trump on the island, and when addressing rumors about Trump that say he didn’t partake in any sex with any of us but he flirted with her, she disproves this saying he didn't partake in any sex with us, and that he didn’t flirt with her. (Hill). New information was recently released, expanding on Epstein’s relationship with Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and other high society members through past emails (Yousif). Emails regarding Trump hold details that he did, in fact, visit Epstein’s island, Little Saint James, but did not partake in any of the “massages,” although he also did not disclose any of the cruelties that took place on the island to anyone stated by a email to Ghislaine Maxwell by Epstein saying "I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is Trump.. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him” (Yousif). More emails were released that include prominent figures such as Prince Andrew, Michael Wolff, Bill Clinton, and Peter Mandelson, in which all of them claim they were associated with Epstein at some point in time (Yousif). After his crimes were exposed, these figures distanced themselves and insisted they regret ever interacting with Epstein (Yousif). It is speculated that these figures only cut ties with Epstein to save their reputation and were convinced he would spread information they would not want to be made public, so they staged his death (Yousif). An example of reputation being at stake is when Prince Andrew was stripped of his title of royalty because of his connection to Epstein and during an interview Andrew said, “I ceased contact with him after I was aware that he was under investigation.” (Maitlis 00:19). A plausible form of blackmail was uncovered as an email between Epstein and his brother Mark Epstein were messaging each other about Trump “blowing bubba” and this “bubba” was theorized to be Bill Clinton, however this was disproven by Mark Epstein explaining this connection by saying “Recently, emails from 2018 between my brother and me were made public. They were simply part of a humorous private exchange between two brothers and were never meant for public release or to be interpreted as serious remarks.” (Plummer). The theory that Epstein’s murderer was carefully orchestrated by his own social circle is plausible, as they could have had a motive, but the lack of any concrete evidence, the majority of the files being withheld, and the absence of a clear suspect who could be tied to the murder plot make the conspiracy speculative at best.
The second theory is that Jeffrey Epstein, out of either remorse or fear of punishment, willingly committed suicide. On August 10th, two security housing staff, Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, began delivering inmates their breakfast and reached Epstein’s cell (DOJ, 3). They attempted to inform him that his breakfast had arrived, but when he didn’t respond, Thomas unlocked the cell door to discover that Epstein had committed suicide by hanging (DOJ, 3). An autopsy was performed on Epstein’s corpse by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and concluded that his death was suicide, and no medications, illegal substances, or other physical injuries contradict this (DOJ, 3). Because of the result of Epstein’s autopsy, many believe that no foul play was involved, and this was further reinforced by a facilities assistant who reported before Epstein’s death, describing him as being “Distraught, sad, and a little confused” and “Experiencing challenges adjusting to his environment and changes in his lifestyle” (Gingras and Ly). However, certain details were missing during his death as Epstein was taken off suicide watch, his cellmate was being transferred, the security cameras malfunctioned, and no guards were monitoring him and this is pointed out by Epstein's lawyer, Alan Dershowitz declaring “It was not a suicide that he could have committed alone. I think the jailers had something to do with his cellmate being dismissed, with the cameras being turned off." (Timotija; DOJ, 4). Numerous people who knew Epstein recounted his prideful behavior as a prominent feature, as he was overly talkative about his wealth and status, which had become a shield that protected him from having any guilt or any psychological meltdown to any of the behavior he exhibited to his victims (Moore). Assumptions that Epstein committed suicide are shaky, as there were no eyewitnesses to his death, nor was Epstein the type of person to end his own life, as his inflated ego from his immense political power gave him the false sense of invincibility. There is still an abundance of information on Epstein that is being withheld from the public (Chappell). As the Epstein case is still being investigated and until more knowledge is released, some details only remain speculative.
The circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death were so incredibly puzzling that it became extremely sensationalized by the internet, and with it came two largely believed theories. The first theory proclaims his passing was a carefully crafted murder by his own associates, fearing they would be linked to his offenses and would be brought down with him, with some suspects being Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew. On the other hand, the second theory declares Epstein took his life willingly out of remorse or fear of consequences, and no outside interference was involved. Ultimately, both theories have a gap in evidence as a solid connection to any suspect remains a secret, and facility expectations were not met with many faulty procedures.
