DNA experts visit west Cork to solve Toscan du Plantier cold case
The group, headed up by Jared Bradley, chief executive of M-Vac Systems, flew from company headquarters in Sandy, Utah to Dublin this month to test samples preserved from the crime scene in west Cork.
It is understood the tests focused on a heavily bloodstained flat rock and concrete block believed to have been used to batter the mother of one to death near the entrance to her isolated holiday home outside Schull before her body was found on the morning of December 23, 1996.
Samples from a blood-smeared metal gate, briar bushes and a barbed wire fence near where the body was found were also analysed, as were the night clothes that the victim wore on the night she died.
The testing was carried out by Bradley's team alongside Forensic Science Ireland personnel, utilising one of the most effective instruments in modern forensic technology.
The M-Vac is a wet-vacuum DNA collection system which involves spraying a solution on a surface while simultaneously vacuuming it off. An FBI study found it was capable of collecting multiple times the yield of DNA compared with typical swabbing techniques. It also works on surfaces that present difficult challenges for collection.
On his way to Dublin, Bradley expressed hopes that his work could lead to a breakthrough in the case. 'Praying for a fantastic outcome from this trip. If what I believe will happen actually does, it will be massive for us in a host of ways. Please pray for us,' he said.
Detective Superintendent Desmond McTiernan, head of the serious crime review team, recently discussed the international scope of the investigation.
• Sophie Toscan du Plantier: DNA opens door to solving murder
'We are trying to develop new leads. I would say that it is going very well and we are being extremely comprehensive,' he said. 'From the forensic perspective we are trying to develop it more. There are advancements there on a worldwide scale. We have gone abroad. We have close links with the FBI, and that is working quite well.'
Claire Glynn, an Irish-born professor of forensic science at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, voiced her support for the technology and its use in the Toscan du Plantier murder probe.
'I always recommend the M-Vac machine because it is such a power tool to recover trace amounts of DNA from very difficult surfaces such as bricks and old pieces of leather. It is able to get great results,' she said.
'The efficacy of the instrument for this case is proved by comparison to the murder in December 1995 of 17-year-old Krystal Beslanowitch in Utah.
'Based on the articles I have read and seen and the assumption that swabbing [was tried] on the flat rock and the concrete block used to murder Sophie, it is difficult to say any other collection method would be appropriate,' Glynn added.
'I say that based on the murder of Krystal in Utah in 1995, where granite rocks were swabbed multiple times between 1996 and 2013 with no interpretable results, but when the M-Vac was brought in the investigators were able to collect 42 times the previous DNA material and provide a profile of the killer leading to conviction. The similarities between that case and Sophie's is uncanny.'
No one has ever been charged or convicted over the murder of Toscan du Plantier, one of Ireland's most notorious unsolved crimes.
Ian Bailey, an English journalist, was the self-confessed prime suspect in the case but consistently denied any involvement in the murder. He was arrested twice for questioning but never charged, because of insufficient evidence.
• Jules Thomas: My leukaemia was caused by Sophie Toscan du Plantier stress
The High Court in Dublin denied French efforts to extradite Bailey, but a French court convicted him in absentia in 2019, sentencing him to 25 years in prison.
Bailey died in January last year at the age of 66. His ashes were scattered off the coast of west Cork, where he had lived, following a memorial service last month.
The case remains a source of ongoing public interest, spawning podcasts, documentaries and films exploring the circumstances around the killing.
The garda's serious crime review team, with bases in Cork and Dublin, is understood to have put much of its investigative efforts into seeking advances in forensic science, but it has also re-examined the original investigation and subsequent reviews, leading to it checking more than 1,600 witness statements over the last three years.
A team of seven detectives operating out of Bantry garda station has interviewed more than 300 witnesses in Ireland, Europe, the US and Australia as part of the comprehensive probe.
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Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Laughing gas ‘epidemic' sweeping party island with tourists left foaming at mouth, having seizures & permanently scarred
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BRIT tourists have been suffering seizures, foaming at the mouth and left permanently scarred after inhaling toxic drugs on the streets of Ibiza. Armed with industrial-sized canisters of nitrous oxide, determined dealers roam the infamous San Antonio party strip - targeting Brits as "easy prey". 9 Tourists laden with balloons on the notorious San Antonio party strip Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 9 Local businesses are fed up with the rampant use of balloons on the streets of Ibiza Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 9 A holidaymaker inhaling nitrous oxide - surrounded by empty balloons Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd But the Class C drug can cause a range of health issues - and in some cases can even be fatal. In the UK, the gas is most commonly sold in small canisters which deliver a single dose - enough to fill one balloon. But dealers in San Antonio are armed with huge canisters that pump out up to 80 hits - and come in boxes of six. At the going rate of five euros a balloon, the street value of a six-pack of canisters is around £2,000 - and they're strewn across the town. When The Sun visited the notorious strip, our reporter was hounded and followed down the street by dealers. Katie Mae, a bartender at Irish pub Shenanigans on the town's main strip, said laughing gas is 'the worst of them all'. The 21-year-old told The Sun: "I'll lecture anyone I see taking it - I've seen the worst things from laughing gas. 'I've seen young lads having seizures on the street and foaming at the mouths, but their friends are high so do nothing to help. 'One girl I saw inhaled gas straight from the canister, and it froze one side of her face. "It was all cut up and she would have been scarred for life." After working on the strip for three seasons, Katie said: 'The consequences aren't talked about anywhere near enough. "People don't take it seriously as a drug - but it's one of the worst." One British bar worker living in San Antonio told us she used to sell laughing gas here, but stopped after one of her customers 'nearly died'. The Brit said she got 'freaked out' when a young lad fell backwards and smashed his head on the road in the midst of a balloon high. She told us: 'I used to sell laughing gas for about a year-and-a-half because it was easy money. 'You'd sell each balloon for five euros and buy the canisters for cheap. There's loads of shops around here that sell them. 'But as soon as that happened I stopped. It really freaked me out. 'And the gas is not good stuff - it freezes your insides.' Nitrous oxide - the facts NITROUS oxide - also known as laughing gas or hippy crack - was recently made a Class C due to the dangers associated with the drug. It can cause a range of health issues and in some cases can even be fatal. Some common side effects from inhaling the gas are dizziness, nausea, disorientation, loss of balance and weakness in legs, according to a study on its risks published to the National Library of Medicine. Nitrous oxide can impair memory and thinking, the research mentioned. Some users might also feel anxious or paranoid. According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF), the gas from nitrous oxide bulbs is intensely cold, sometimes as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius. Inhaling directly from the canister or crackers - handheld devices used to 'crack' open canister - can cause frostbite on the nose, lips and throat, even the vocal cords. The icy chill of the gas canisters can also cause cold burns to the hands. Long term, heavy use of laughing gas can cause a lack of vitamin B12. Severe deficiency can lead to serious nerve damage, causing tingling and numbness in the fingers and toes. Lack of B12 can also cause damage to the spinal cord. In some cases, frequent and prolonged use of nitrous oxide has been linked to thromboembolic events - this means a blood clot has gotten stuck and caused an obstruction. The so-called laughing gas has also resulted in deaths. Another Brit staff member at the bar described the situation as an "epidemic". The streets around San Antonio's so-called West End, which includes the main strip and most of the bars, are littered with brightly-coloured rubber confetti. Angelica Giraldo, a shopworker at Xanadu Supermarket near the strip, said the mess left behind by party-goers has ruined certain areas. She said: 'Lots of the tourists who come to San Antonio seem just to want to take drugs and to party rather than enjoy the island. 'I don't really see the other stuff - but the rubbish from the balloons is very clear. You see them all over the road, it's very ugly.' Angelica, 40, has lived in Ibiza all her life and noticed a sharp rise in laughing gas in recent years. She said: 'It is everywhere now. And it causes lots of accidents. 'People take it while driving, but it makes them go crazy and they crash. This happens a lot.' Selling the gas for recreational use is illegal in Spain - but that doesn't stop a crew of drug dealers openly pushing it every night. 9 The streets in San Antonio are full of tourists inhaling nitrous oxide Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 9 Dealers in San Antonio are armed with huge canisters that pump out up to 80 hits Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 9 Nitrous oxide balloons litter the floor on the notorious party strip in San Antonio Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd Walking around the West End, tourists are hounded constantly by - and see youngsters as an easy sell. The dealers loiter amongst the outdoor bar seating and persistently hassle drinkers to encourage them to buy balloons - and many do. Bartender Katie claimed the dealers have an app to alert each other if police are patrolling a certain area. On one occasion, The Sun saw Civil Guards officers walking down the strip with a confiscated canister, and another cop was seen searching a young man for drugs. The Sun approached cops on the street - but they all refused to talk about the issue. While laughing gas is the most obvious drug in San Antonio due to the brightly-coloured balloons, almost any party drug you can think of is readily available. 9 Tourists inhale laughing gas on benches in San Antonio Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 9 Finished balloons litter the street on the notorious party strip Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 9 Angelica Giraldo, a shopworker at Xanadu Supermarket near the strip, said the mess left behind by party-goers has ruined certain areas Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd Walking along the sea-front, dealers call out "hey, dude, yo, what do you need?' to almost every passerby. Anything other than a stern refusal sees them opening up a pouch stuffed full of drugs, and flashing you bags of coloured powders or pills. Ricardo, who runs Jungle Bistró Ibiza in the old town district with his wife, said he is glad that most of the anti-social behaviour is limited to San Antonio's West End. And he said it is 'easy' for the dealers to sell to young Brits. The restaurant manager said: 'A lot of them are British, they come to San Antonio just for the parties. 'It is easy to sell to them. I don't want any of that over in this part of town. We mainly have families around here' San Antonio Town Council said: "The process is also underway to incorporate ten new officers into the Local Police force, increasing its staff from 59 to 69. "This will ensure a more effective service tailored to the municipality's current needs. "A new position of intrusion and community coexistence officer has also been created, and a private security service will be put out to tender with the aim of reducing vandalism and uncivil behaviour in selected areas. "The City Council is fully aware that these are only the first steps in a broader transformation process and that there is still a long way to go. "Therefore, it remains steadfast in its commitment to continue working to build a better Sant Antoni for everyone, supporting a tourism model that prioritizes quality, sustainability, and coexistence."
The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Before Rebus, McWatters was Scotland's original detective
That is, until a brawl broke out at a gaming table. Amid the chaos, one sharp-eyed man in the shadows with carefully honed detective skills recognised Jacobs for who he truly was. The vital clue? His prosthetic finger made of hardened wax, of course. Soon Legate – or was it Jacobs? – was in custody, another criminal case cracked by a Scottish detective with dogged determination and knack for solving even the trickiest challenge. Kilmarnock-born US crime fighter, George S. McWatters (Image: The Project Gutenberg) It sounds like the kind of twist you'd find in a Rebus novel — Edinburgh's flawed detective whose knack for untangling webs of lies and last-minute revelations has crime fiction fans hooked. So popular is the latest television reboot of Ian Rankin's Edinburgh detective, now played by Outlander star Richard Rankin, that it's just been commissioned for a second series and been picked up by Netflix, opening the door to a new international army of fans. But the tale of The Gambler's Wax Finger didn't play out in the brooding dank closes of Edinburgh's Old Town. And it wasn't fiction. An illustration of a fraudster's capture, taken from Kilmarnock-born detective George McWatters' book (Image: The Project Gutenberg) Rather, this was almost 150 years ago, and the incident on board a Mississippi riverboat was just one of many detailed by Kilmarnock-born real-life detective George S. McWatters in a gripping memoir that kept readers on both sides of the Atlantic, at the time, engrossed. Long before the latest reinvention of Rebus, McWatters' tangled tales of how he brought Victorian criminals to justice was every bit as anticipated by readers as today's fans of Ian Rankin's gruff and rule-breaking DI. Meanwhile, his cases, drawn from his true experiences as a real-life detective in mid-19th century New York, show little has really changed down the years: money, greed and power motivated criminals then, just as they do now. Rebus and McWatters encountered the same drugs, guns, violence and human misery, while the Victorians memoir – clumsily titled Knots Untied: Or, Ways and By-Ways in the Hidden Life of American Detectives – contains as many twists and turns as any modern detective thriller. Penned in 1871, by which time McWatters was in his late fifties, its dramatic retelling of cases read like fanciful crime fiction: there are fraudsters masquerading as spiritualists, big money forgery rings stretching across state lines, and deadly poisoners hiding in plain sight. Jail awaited many criminals captured by Kilmarnock-born detective George McWatters (Image: The Project Gutenberg) Yet despite being a bestseller of its times and McWatters described among New York journals as "the Literary Policeman', few today will have heard of the Scottish-born crime buster. Born in Kilmarnock in around 1814, his family moved to Northern Ireland where he became a mechanic. It was a short-lived career. McWatters, said to be 'full of the spirit of adventure', soon left for London, where he met and married his wife. His memoir tells how the bustling streets and the diverse population – rich and well-heeled on one hand, desperately hard-up on the other – offered an education in human behaviour that laid the foundations for his future career as a New York detective. (Image: BBC) Richard Rankin stars as Rebus.'London is a world-school in itself,' he wrote. 'What a man cannot learn there of arts, sciences, and literature and of all the various phases of humanity, from the worse or lower than the barbarian, up to the highest type … he would be unable to learn in any other spot of Earth.' Before long though, he'd be tempted by the 'Land of Promise' and head for a new life on the other side of the Atlantic. In Philadelphia, he studied law only for his boss to give him the task of collecting debts – too much for his 'soft heart'. Having found himself required to deceive his way into a poor shoemaker's home to seize his only furniture – his bed – as payment for outstanding debts, he decided his future lay elsewhere. It set him on course to become one of America's early detectives, cracking crime in an era just as policing was finding its feet, led by another Scot, Glasgow-born Allan Pinkerton and his detective agency. Read more by Sandra Dick: They were also days when detectives worked by instinct, grit, and bravado, often stepping into roles that blurred the lines between enforcer and actor, all of it documented in fine detail in a memoir which had readers gripped. The cases McWatters encountered dealt with timeless topics that fascinated and intrigued readers then and still do now. One involved snaring a deceptive so-called spiritualist who claimed superpowers to summon the dead. The schemer targeted bereaved families, charging for supposed messages from deceased loved ones. Spiritualists and mediums who preyed on vulnerable victims appear in McWatters' book of crimes (Image: The Project Gutenberg) When the spiritualist encountered a timid young woman, fearful that her lack of personal wealth and the age gap between her and her rich husband-to-be might lead to to the marriage being short-lived, she offered to perform an elaborate charm to secure his affection forever. If the worried young woman could gather precious items – an expensive watch, gold cutlery and other expensive personal items – place them in a box and deliver them to her, then she could bewitch the marriage and ensure it would be forever happy. The charmed box and valuables would be returned to the anxious bride-to-be on condition that it be opened only when the mystic Mrs Seymour – the spiritualist – was many miles away. Naturally, once opened, it was found to contain not the precious items but stones and bits of junk. McWatters had doubts he would ever be able to track down the cunning Mrs Seymour. And yet, working undercover and using patient surveillance, he traced her from Brooklyn to Boston, where she was found continuing her cruel scams among upper‑class clients. Posing as a grieving husband, McWatters infiltrated her parlour and allowed her to proceed with her attempt at yet another scam. Read more by Sandra Dick Having watched her make contact with the spirit of his 'dead' wife – knowing she was perfectly healthy at home, looking after their family – McWatters revealed his identity. With the stolen goods recovered, he mused at how susceptible the well-to-do often were to sometimes ludicrous cons and scams aimed at depriving them of their wealth. '(I) came to a knowledge of the great extent to which mediums are consulted by people of the first classes; and was astonished to find how readily they fall through the superstitious element in their composition, victims to the sorcerer's arts,' he wrote. Rebus creator, Ian Rankin But McWatters didn't only unmask con artists and fraudsters. His book notes his various acts of selfless heroism: protecting the vulnerable public from harm was just another part of the police officer's role. One March day in 1861, he 'immersed" himself in the Hudson River to rescue a six-year-old boy who had fallen off the dock. Five weeks later, he was back, aiding in the rescue of another boy from a watery grave, and another time he plucked a grown man at risk of drowning, to safety. An illustration from George McWatters' memoirs showing the rescue of a drowning woman (Image: The Project Gutenberg) And when not cracking crime or carrying out daring rescues, readers learned of his acts of immense generosity: he helped provide aid for suffering and starving people of Kansas, supported injured soldiers and was outspoken against slavery. But it was his detective skills that gripped readers on both sides of the Atlantic: there was the case of a gang of forgers who passed counterfeit bank drafts, a triple murderer caught only after McWatters risked his own life to disarm him, bogus lottery scams and stolen diamonds. His knack for observation meant each account is packed with tension, high stakes and larger than life characters. While, unusual for the time, his exploits were brought to life in his book by illustrations showing him in full crime-fighting mode - including one showing him fighting off would-be robbers by brandishing his silver spectacle case like a knife. Read more: Although Knots Untied sold well in its day, McWatters' name was overshadowed by the likes of Pinkerton, whose famous detective agency spanned the country and snared some of the most famous criminal gangsters of the day, such as Jesse James. McWatters eventually faded into obscurity, and his crime tales were overtaken by the rise of fictional detectives such as Sherlock Holmes. He died in 1886 of pneumonia, aged 74. An obituary in the New York Times sang his praises as Chief of the Lost Children's Bureau, and one of a handful of policemen who defended the newspaper's offices during draft riots, sustaining wounds in the process. He was, it noted, a key figure who supported aid for destitute ex-Union soldiers, their widows and orphans. An illustration from George McWatters' book shows him fighting off would-be robbers using a spectacle case (Image: The Project Gutenberg) The Rebus of his day, his book, which can be read for free on The Gutenberg Project website, shares a common denominator with the crime books and characters of today – readers love a crime mystery. 'Detective stories speak to readers' hearts and minds,' says Jess Faraday, author of the award-winning Ira Adler historical mysteries and a spokesperson for the Crime Writers Association. 'We love to challenge ourselves to find the clues and see if we can beat the sleuth to the solution. Richard Rankin stars in the latest reboot of Edinburgh detective, Rebus (Image: free) 'And seeing justice served helps us to bring order to a sometimes chaotic world.' From McWatters' crime tales of 1871 to new versions of Rebus today some might wonder if there are any crime stories left to tell? 'It's true that the types of crime are finite, and most mysteries focus on only one — murder,' she adds. 'At the same time, within these limitations, the combinations of means, motive, opportunity, and character are limitless.'
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
What does Ghislaine Maxwell really know and why the Epstein files go deeper than you think
The conspiracies began circulating before the proverbial ink was dry. Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire financier and convicted child sex offender, 'dead after 'apparent suicide' in New York jail', ran the headline in The Washington Post on 11 August 2019 (single quote marks theirs). The Boston Globe too described it as an 'apparent suicide'. 'Epstein's jail death gets US scrutiny,' said The Philadelphia Inquirer. When FBI agents arrested Epstein after his private jet landed in New Jersey a month earlier and charged him with sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York, his victims waited to learn the truth. After his death, the voices clamouring for transparency got louder. As did those claiming conspiracy. A year on, when his former girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested by the FBI at a secluded property in New Hampshire, they didn't stop. And they didn't quieten when Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors. Over the years, conspiracy theories have abounded of deep state coverups, speculation that rich and powerful men had been involved in an elite sex-trafficking ring, and that Epstein had been murdered so their identities would never be revealed. Donald Trump, on the presidential campaign trail in 2024, fanned the flames further when he announced he'd seek to open the government's 'Epstein files' should he be elected. When he did win the presidency, his attorney general, Pam Bondi, spoke of an Epstein 'client list' sitting on her desk. We knew that a cast of celebrities and politicians were in Epstein's black book — names like Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Tony Blair, Bill Cosby, and Woody Allen. But how many of those were just recipients of Epstein's political donations, friends, acquaintances? What incriminating evidence lay within the thousands of documents the FBI had assembled in the course of its investigation? Finally, it looked like we were about to find out. Then, earlier this month, Trump's justice department and the FBI suddenly released a two-page unsigned memo concluding Epstein hadn't maintained a client list after all – and what's more, it wouldn't be releasing any further files related to its sex trafficking investigation, despite the promises by Trump and Bondi who had pledged to release a 'truckload' of bombshell FBI documents. Nobody could have foreseen a fissure in the Maga ranks to appear so quickly and prominently. Karl Rove, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff under George Bush, said we were witnessing what happens when conspiracy collides with reality. 'For years,' he said, 'Trump raised questions about Epstein… After assuming the presidency a second time, Mr Trump was obligated to deliver.' When he didn't, 'Many in Maga reacted with incredulity and anger.' Tucker Carlson, once Trump's most vocal cheerleader, turned on him, accusing the administration of betraying its base and of dismissing legitimate questions about Epstein. Each day, the saga seems to unravel further. The Wall Street Journal published a story describing a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper says bore Trump's name and was included in a 2003 album given to Epstein for his 50th birthday. Trump vehemently denied writing the letter, calling it 'false, malicious, and defamatory'. He then proceeded to sue the paper and its owner, media mogul Rupert Murdoch. While Trump announced he asked Bondi to release 'pertinent' files on the criminal investigation of Epstein, 'subject to court approval', further intrigue was stirred on Wednesday when the WSJ reported that Bondi had informed Trump during briefing back in May that his name appeared in Justice Department documents related to Epstein. The White House pushed back, dismissing the WSJ story as 'fake news'. But an unnamed White House official told Reuters they were not denying that Trump's name appears in the documents. Then, also on Wednesday, a judge rejected the Trump administration's request to unseal transcripts from grand jury documents relating to Epstein from 2005 and 2007 because they did not meet any of the extraordinary exceptions under federal law that could make them public. A day later, an official at the Department of Justice met with Maxwell inside an office in a Florida courthouse. In a statement ahead of that meeting, Deputy attorney General Todd Blanche said: 'If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.' Their first meeting was described as 'very productive' by Maxwell's lawyer, but for now at least, it's unlikely we'll hear exactly what Maxwell told him. Meanwhile, senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat and fierce Trump critic, took issue with the fact that Trump sent Blanche, his former personal lawyer turned federal prosecutor, to interview Maxwell ahead of her potential public testimony. 'The conflict of interest is glaring. It stinks of high corruption,' he said on X. It's important to understand what, exactly, the Epstein files are – and how they differ from the court documents Trump is now asking to be released. Barry Levine, author of The Spider: Inside the Criminal Web of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, says that the grand jury testimony at issue is very limited and has little to do with the two-decades-long sex trafficking operation that Epstein ran. He says the US attorney at the time, Geoffrey Berman, went in front of a grand jury and presented just enough evidence to successfully bring an indictment. 'And that indictment was very narrow in its content – for the sexual abuse of minors from 2002 to 2005 at Epstein's homes in Palm Beach and New York,' Levine says. 'If you look at the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell, that prosecution was extremely narrow also in terms of the specific allegations against her.' Maxwell was convicted on five sex-trafficking-related counts. Levine said if these court documents are released, they're going to tell us very little in addition to what we already know. 'It's basically a sliver of the information that's contained in the actual FBI files.' Those files – the 'real' Epstein files, if you like – are, Levine says, incredibly detailed. The FBI files cover every aspect of Epstein's crimes and his life over two decades, including extensive interviews with victims and information that goes all the way back to the original FBI investigation in 2006. Epstein was already a convicted child molester when he was arrested in 2019: in 2008, he pleaded guilty to a state charge in Florida of procuring a minor for prostitution. Back then, a federal investigation into his crimes resulted in a 'non-prosecution agreement'. Alexander Acosta, who was then the US attorney responsible, said he offered a lenient plea deal because he was told Epstein was an intelligence asset. As Levine said, 'We don't know if it was US intelligence or a foreign role as an intelligence asset.' If, indeed, Epstein was an intelligence asset at all. By all accounts, he had a grandiose image of himself as an 'international man of mystery'. The FBI file on Epstein, which dates back to that time, is 300GB. 'That translates to enough information to fill perhaps 100,000 books by some estimates,' Levine says. We don't know if there has ever been any criminal investigation into Trump's conduct as it relates to Epstein. 'But,' Levine said, 'that doesn't necessarily mean that there [aren't] details about Donald Trump in the file because they were friends for 15 years. He was Epstein's wingman after [Trump's] divorce from Ivana Trump; they hung out a great deal. They were still friends during his marriage to Marla Maples and even up to the time when Trump was courting Melania.' Trump and Epstein were friends before, according to the president, they fell out in the early 2000s. By not allowing full disclosure of the Epstein files, Trump has ignited what Levine said is the most infighting within the Maga movement he's ever seen. 'There's a raging inferno in the Maga ranks that Trump has, for the first time in his political career, been unable to put out, and we're seeing individuals who have worshipped him like a God now speaking out against him. It really is fascinating.' So what does Ghislaine Maxwell really know? According to journalist Julie Brown, whose investigation into Epstein for the Miami Herald in 2018 was credited with the FBI re-opening the sexual abuse case against him: everything. 'I think [the DOJ] are trying to get her to say Trump wasn't involved. I think that's the aim of this,' Brown says. 'They're not aiming to expose anybody else who was involved. They're just aiming to clear up any misconceptions around Trump … So far there's been no evidence he was involved with Epstein's crimes at all, but nevertheless, the idea that he shut the investigation down so solidly without even saying, 'we're going to look at this a little bit more' I think makes a lot of people wonder…' Brown, whose 2021 book Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story has recently seen a surge in demand, selling out both in shops and online, says it's unfortunate the way the Trump administration has handled the Epstein Files. 'For a long time, they promised transparency with this case … And I think there was some hope on the part of both the public and the survivors that they would get some answers. Here was a man who abused hundreds of young girls and women over two decades. And he essentially got away with it. 'We don't know why they're not releasing it. It's a little bit disturbing to be announcing all over television that you're going to release these files and then all of a sudden on the Friday after the Fourth of July holiday, when nobody's really paying attention to the news, to issue this statement that basically says there's nothing to see here and we're not going to open the files.' Brown says there are likely a lot of other people involved in Epstein's crimes that haven't been brought to justice; so many, she says, who have avoided prosecution. Epstein was trafficking underage girls for sex over the course of two decades. Because of that, his co-conspirators could number as many as 100, Brown believes. 'He had so many different people work for him at different times – people who helped arrange his 'schedule' in quote marks, lawyers who helped arrange the visas for models that he would bring from overseas, pilots. He had a huge staff of people. The list goes on and on.' As Barry Levine says, we know from the attorney general in the Virgin Islands who investigated Epstein's operation there that 'Epstein was using international fixers to bring women in from all different countries, like Russia and elsewhere.' When Palm Beach police conducted a search of Epstein's home there in 2005, they confiscated hundreds of notepads, the contents of some of which have been made public in civil lawsuits. 'On those, you'll see messages from powerful men who called him,' Brown says. 'They'll have their name, and then it'll say 'I'm at this hotel'. Now, that's not enough to say they were doing anything with underage girls. 'But I know from talking to some of the attorneys representing these survivors that there were powerful people who would come to Palm Beach and basically call to tell Epstein 'I'm here'. And the unspoken or unwritten message was: you can send somebody to me.' Brown believes that it's unlikely Maxwell will ever reveal what is in those files. At her trial, her main line of defence was that it didn't happen – 'that these girls were all making it up to get money out of a very wealthy man.' The truth is, Brown said, Maxwell knows exactly what's in the Epstein files. 'She knows everything. … And she used her motherly way, her nurturing way, to lure these women into this orbit.'
