Morbid - Introducing The Mysterious Mr. Epstein

Episode Date: October 3, 2019

For most of his life, Jeffrey Epstein was a mystery-- who he was, how he made his money, and how he got away with horrific crimes for so many years. The Mysterious Mr. Epstein explores how Ep...stein was able to use his wealth to buy status and credibility, to buy power, and ultimately to buy himself freedom from justice. From the network that brought you Dirty John. Listen now at Wondery.fm/morbid See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:01:31 There are just some stories that leave us with more questions than answers. When Jeffrey Epstein died in a New York jail cell this summer, he left behind a trail of crime and corruption. But who he was, how he made his money, and how he got away with so many heinous crimes, remained a mystery. In the new podcast from Wondry, the mysterious Mr. Epstein, host Lindsey Graham, pulls all the fragmented pieces of this story together to give you a window into exactly how Epstein got away
Starting point is 00:02:01 with so much for so long. You'll hear about his early days as a teacher, how he worked his way up to Wall Street and into the company of Powerful Men and how countless layers of corruption allowed him to commit atrocities and plain sight for years. The mysterious Mr. Epstein will give you the full story. Not only that, but it will give us insight into the means
Starting point is 00:02:23 that predators like Jeffrey Epstein used to victimize those around them. Go subscribe to the mysterious Mr. Epstein on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening right now. There's also a link in the episode notes that we'll take you right there. Go do it. It's amazing. The following episode contains descriptions of sexual violence and may not be suitable for everyone. Please see the episode notes for more information about support services. It starts with a 14-year-old girl with $300 in her purse. She's a freshman at Royal Palm Beach High School. She's only been a student there a few months when a girl she knows named Haley tells her about a way to make some quick cash.
Starting point is 00:03:15 Haley robson's a little older, the cousin of an ex-boyfriend, and she works as a waitress at a local Olive Garden. One Sunday in February 2005, they get into Haley's pickup truck. They drive down Okitobi Boulevard, which is lined with fast food restaurants, strip malls, and liquor stores, and cross the bridge onto the island of Palm Beach. Royal Palm High School is in West Palm Beach. The island of Palm Beach, on the other hand, is one of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States.
Starting point is 00:03:45 It's a narrow strip of land, sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Worth, famous for its multi-millionaires and mansions, private clubs like Mar-a-Lago, and the golf courses that line its shores. As Haley and the girl cross the bridge from one world to the other, Haley tells her about the guy she works for, his name is Jeff. Then she adds, if Jeff asks her age, tell him you're 18. They drive down a dead end street and park in front of a two-story pink house. Then they walk down the driveway, pass a guard house, and through the kitchen door. Once inside, the girl is offered a drink, and introduced to a woman with
Starting point is 00:04:24 blonde hair. And that's when the girl loses track of H and introduced to a woman with blonde hair. And that's when the girl loses track of Haley. She's led upstairs into a bedroom, which has a massage table. The girl will later describe the man who walks in as mid-40s with a long face, bushy eyebrows, and silver hair. Take off your clothes, he tells her sternly, and he asks the girl to give him a massage. She's not sure how to react, except to do what the man says. Once she tries to keep some of her clothes on, the man tells her to take off everything.
Starting point is 00:04:55 At the end, the silver-haired man hands her $300 and sends her back downstairs where Haley is waiting. After they've left, the girl tells Haley that the man asked her to give him a massage. I know, Haley replies flatly. They go shopping together, then drive back home. Rumors are flying among the students at the high school that girls are being paid to perform sexual favors for a rich man in Palm Beach. A few days after the girl's visit to the mansion, another student at school calls her a whore.
Starting point is 00:05:30 The name calling turns into a fight, and the fight lands both girls in the assistant principal's office. When the administrator rummages through the girl's purse, she finds $300. At first, the girl won't say where the money came from, but eventually she opens up to her parents. And on March 15, 2005, she and her parents speak with a detective from the Palm Beach Police Department. Slowly, sometimes through tears, the 14-year-old tells the detective her story.
Starting point is 00:06:01 From the description of the man, the house, and that first name, Jeff, the police think that they may know who the girl is talking about. He's a wealthy guy in Palm Beach. He's even donated money to the Palm Beach Police Department recently to help pay for much needed new equipment. They place a photo of the man in a lineup. The girl points to him right away. Jeffrey Epstein. The police will conduct dozens more interviews like this as the investigation continues, interviews with other young women and other girls. But this, this is the first, the first time the Palm Beach Police Department
Starting point is 00:06:38 will speak with one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims. And more women will speak in the years to come. You're just thrown into a world that you don't understand and you're screaming on the inside and you don't know how to let it come out. That same night, Jeffrey Epstein is 1200 miles away at a charity benefit inside an old bank building that's been converted into one of the most lavish event spaces in New York City. Rod Stewart is performing. In a photo taken that night, Epstein's
Starting point is 00:07:08 wearing a double-breasted Navy jacket, a blue shirt, and a gold watch with a black leather band. He has his arm around a woman pulling her head toward his so that his smirking lips graze her temples. The smiling woman is Galein Maxwell, who Epstein calls his best friend. Epstein is tan and relaxed, and as his eyes meet the camera, he looks like he doesn't have a care in the world, and for a man who firmly believes that his wealth can solve any problem
Starting point is 00:07:35 he faces, perhaps he's right not to be worried. From Wondry, I'm Lindsey Graham, host of American Scandal, and this is the mysterious Mr. Epstein. We have breaking news tonight about new women coming forward saying Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused them when they were minors. A man Trump once called a terrific guy, back behind bars. Breaking news, Jeffrey Epstein, the multi-millionaire financier and a Q-sex trafficker is dead. Jeffrey Epstein.
Starting point is 00:08:20 Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein. Long before Epstein dominated headlines as a sex trafficker of girls and young women, he received a glowing reception in the highest reaches of American society. Epstein formed business relationships with billionaires and a master-large fortune of his own. Beyond his home in Palm Beach, he owned a seven-story townhouse in New York City, a private island in the Caribbean, and a 10,000 acre ranch in New Mexico.
Starting point is 00:08:48 He cultivated friendships with ex-president Bill Clinton and future president Donald Trump. Nobel Prize winners praised him to the press as brilliant and fun, charming, and handsome. When Epstein died in a New York jail this summer, he left behind many unanswered questions. This is a six-part series that uses original interviews we've conducted and brings together extensive research and reporting to tell the complete story of how the wealthy financier accused of financial and sexual crimes was able to allude justice from his first days as a young man on Wall Street until the very end. This is episode one, A Free Man. It's the morning of March 22nd, 2017,
Starting point is 00:09:34 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. President Trump has been in office two months. And a Senate committee has gathered to question his nominee for Secretary of Labor, Alexander Acosta. Acosta is in his late 40s, a former US attorney for Southern Florida. He has a receding hairline and a wide mouth, and he's wearing the dark suit that's standard issue for a man appearing before a congressional committee, a committee that holds the fate of his confirmation in his hands. Nearly two hours pass more or less amicably. Trump has had some controversial
Starting point is 00:10:05 cabinet picks, but Acosta is not considered one of them. Until Senator Tim Cain takes his turn to address Acosta. The committee needs to ask about, and I think you're entitled to respond to an article that appeared in the Washington Post online version last night and this morning, Labor nominee Acosta cut deal with billionaire guilty and sex abuse case. The billionaire is Jeffrey Epstein. There was once a time before the investigations, before the sexual abuse conviction, when rich and famous men love to hang around with Jeffrey
Starting point is 00:10:36 Epstein, a billionaire money manager who loved a party. President Trump called Epstein a terrific guy back. Senator Kane asks Acosta why he didn't indict Epstein nearly 10 years ago when these accusations first surfaced. And there's an allegation that I just read that you did not pursue a federal indictment even though your staff had advocated that you do so. Is that accurate? That was just a preview of the Mysterious Mr. Epstein.
Starting point is 00:11:05 To hear the rest, subscribe to the Mysterious Mr. Epstein on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen ad-free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. What makes a person a murderer? Are they born to kill? Or are they made to kill?
Starting point is 00:11:39 I'm Candace DeLong, and on my podcast, Killer Psychie Daily, which you can find exclusively on Amazon music, I share a quick 10-minute rundown every weekday on the motivations and behaviors of the criminal masterminds you read about in the news. I have decades of experience as a psychiatric nurse, FBI agent, and a criminal profiler. On Killer Psychie Daily, I'll give you my expert perspective on cases like the mysterious New York City drugings, Breaking Down Lori Valow, aka Mommy Doomstays Motives, and what drove Caitlin Armstrong to murder? I'll also bring on expert guests who add even more insight into these criminal minds. I promise you won't regret adding these 10 minutes to your morning routine. Hey Prime members, listen to the Amazon Music exclusive podcast Killer Psychie Daily in
Starting point is 00:12:29 the Amazon Music app. Download the app today!

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