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"I was petrified with fear": behind the scenes of Ghislaine Maxwell's trial

2021-12-17T06:25:01.122Z


Suspected of having played the touts for the sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, she faces life imprisonment. Update on his trial, which opened on November 29, in New York, and on an extraordinary criminal case.


"Remember you don't see anything, hear nothing, say nothing."

The staff of the Palm Beach residence of Jeffrey Epstein, placed under the rule of Ghislaine Maxwell, have no say in the matter.

The sexual assailant's former companion carefully listed the strictest instructions in a 58-page house manual ... A draconian code of conduct, which prohibited staff from eating or drinking in front of the owners and their guests, from wearing clothing. perfume or even objects that can distort their pockets.

And even to look the master of the house, Jeffrey Epstein, in the eye.

In video, Ghislaine Maxwell, from the jet set to the prison

A role of facilitator

This manual with degrading instructions shows the character of Ghislaine Maxwell, according to prosecutors in charge of her trial opened on November 29, in New York.

A cold, haughty and authoritarian woman.

A manipulator who "is delighted to humiliate" her victims, according to one of the witnesses nicknamed Kate to preserve her anonymity, and who allowed a criminal operation to continue.

Today, the Epstein-Maxwell case is one of a new MeToo scandal.

In this type of case, it must be demonstrated that the woman played the role of facilitator Moira Penza

The victims are not the stars who have dealt with producer Harvey Weinstein, but anonymous young women - some teenagers at the time of the events - who have suffered the sexual predation of a wealthy and powerful couple for many years.

Prosecutors say Ghislaine Maxwell was actively involved as a partner and hostess to Jeffrey Epstein's many residences.

"In this kind of case, we must demonstrate that the woman played the role of facilitator, that she had a strategy to recruit and train vulnerable young women and adolescent girls," explains Moira Penza, a former New York prosecutor who did Sentencing NXIVM sex cult guru Keith Raniere to 120 years in prison last year.

To listen to: the editorial podcast

In Manhattan, in court

Ghislaine Maxwell faces six counts, including that of sex trafficking of underage girls. The prosecution focuses in particular on the term "

grooming

": she would have established friendly relations with these young girls and would have exercised her influence to normalize sexual relations and make these behaviors last. If found guilty, she could face 80 years in prison and, at 59, spend the rest of her life behind bars. His future is at stake in the Thurgood Marshall Federal Court in Lower Manhattan.

On the ground floor of the prestigious place of justice are usually displayed the portraits of major criminals: John Gotti, the godfather of the Italian mafia family Gambino, or Ramzi Yousef, the instigator of the 1993 World Trade Center attacks. But they were removed at the request of Ghislaine Maxwell's defense, arguing that these sinister predecessors risked influencing jurors' opinions.

In the courtroom, two floors higher, no computer or telephone, and places are very limited due to the Covid.

Only the families of the accused and the victims as well as a few accredited journalists are present.

Three other rooms, where the trial is broadcast on the big screen live, are allocated to the public.

In video, "Jeffrey Epstein: Power, money and perversion", the trailer

A studied attitude

Everyone wants to see the face of the ex-socialite who was a fugitive for a year after Jeffrey Epstein's arrest, before being arrested in a New Hampshire house in the summer of 2020. During the 'opening of the proceedings, the defendant, who did not get out of prison on bail and complained about the unsanitary conditions of her incarceration, put on a sober outfit, a white turtleneck, smiled fleetingly and sign to his sister. She follows the code of conduct of a model defendant: she looks jurors in the eye, except to put on her glasses and take notes. Above all, she shows no sign of animosity, even at the most intense moments of the testimonies. All his gestures illustrate the strategy of the defense: that of a woman who has nothing to be ashamed of and is only the collateral victim of Jeffrey Epstein.Millionaire tech entrepreneur husband Scott Borgerson isn't here to humanize his character.

To read also »

Scott Borgerson, the husband of Ghislaine Maxwell whom nobody speaks

Defense strategy

The actors in the trial are major.

Judge Alison Nathan, a former White House adviser under Obama, is the second LGBTQ woman to be appointed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals - a post she will join after this trial.

The accusation is notably represented by Maurene Comey, who is none other than the daughter of the former boss of the FBI, James Comey, dismissed by Donald Trump in 2017. She investigates high-profile cases such as that of the gynecologist Robert Hadden, accused of '' sexually assaulting no less than 79 patients.

Her goal is to put Ghislaine Maxwell back at the heart of this criminal enterprise and to assert her active role as a sexual predator.

The defense went quite far in the "empty chair" argument moira penza

The defense is provided by two “tenoras” from the New York Bar, each with a different strategy.

One, Laura Menninger, is quite reserved and methodical.

She conducts a precise interrogation on the first victim Jane (her real surname has not been revealed) and her memory of the events, forcing her to answer more than 20 times "I don't know".

She subjects her to question on specifics - the exact date of a

The Lion King

show

on Broadway or the precise amount of money she received in this affair - to cast doubt on her word. Her teammate, Bobbi Sternheim, who defended one of Osama bin Laden's closest associates, Khaled al-Fawwaz, is significantly more direct and brash: in her opening plea, she did not hesitate to refer to Adam. and Eve for saying that women always paid for men's faults, and James Bond for evoking the Jeffrey Epstein lifestyle.

Their common mission is to present the accused as a scapegoat who will pay for the main actor, who died in prison. "The defense has gone far enough in the 'empty chair' argument, and will do everything to blame the facts on Jeffrey Epstein," said ex-prosecutor Moira Penza. It aims to discredit the testimonies of the victims, explaining that their memory is failing after more than twenty years, that they have been influenced or, worse, that they are there to pocket Jeffrey Epstein's money. “It's a risky defense. If the jury finds the victims' testimonies credible, they might find it in very bad taste, ”Judge Arlo Devlin-Brown, former Manhattan prosecutor and partner at Covington law firm. “Laura Menninger is a very experienced lawyer and a woman.She will be very careful with the image she projects in front of the victims, ”moderates Moira Penza.

All the details that can mark the jurors count, in particular on the way of life of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.

The pilot of Epstein's private planes recounted this opulent life, the very frequent flights to his residences in the United States or his Caribbean island - which led to his private jets nicknamed the "Lolita Express" -, with personalities and very young women.

Then the butler of the Palm Beach house enters, meanwhile, in crude details: he says he saw dozens of young girls by the pool, topless most of the time and having put away sex objects after the sessions. of "massage" from his employer.

Secret personality

Ghislaine Maxwell attends the VIP Evening of Conversation for Women's Brain Health Initiative.

(New York, October 18, 2016.)

Getty Images

The testimony of the victims raised the tension in the courtroom. "I was petrified with fear," breaths "Jane" in a weak voice, when she relates the first sexual assault of Jeffrey Epstein. She was only 14 years old when she was approached by Ghislaine Maxwell, while she was enjoying an ice cream with friends, near her

summer camp.

She explains to him that she works for a patron who could help her in her art studies and invites him for tea in the Palm Beach residence of Jeffrey Epstein. The meeting gets out of hand and Jane will suffer several years of sexual abuse, in which, she says, Ghislaine Maxwell participated.

The latter's personality is enigmatic. Why did she accept to play this role of reel with Jeffrey Epstein? You have to go back to her roots to try to understand: she is the ninth and last child of the British magnate, the late Robert Maxwell. He bought several press groups, including the

Daily Mirror

tabloid and the

New York Daily News.

He created a media empire, leading fierce competition to Rupert Murdoch.

Man is one of the top business people.

He has a lavish lifestyle in London, travels by helicopter, and hosts Gatsby-like parties in his mansion in Oxford.

In the private sphere, he is considered egocentric and violent, beats his wife and children, including Ghislaine.

The latter adopts her father's authoritarian behavior very early on, and at the age of 9, does not hesitate to give orders to the staff by claiming that they come from her father.

The Kit-Kat Club

However, she maintains a close relationship with Robert Maxwell, who considers her as his greatest pride and confidante, while she has boundless admiration for him. Shining proof of this special bond, the businessman names his luxurious yacht of more than 50 meters, the

Lady Ghislaine

. It is during a cruise on this floating palace, in the Canary Islands, that the Maxwell mystery settles: the body of the magnate is found at sea, one morning in November 1991. The Maxwell children inherit an empire in full turmoil.



The following year, two of Ghislaine's brothers, partners in the Maxwell company, were arrested, the group went bankrupt, and the family's residences and property were put up for auction.

At that time, Ghislaine Maxwell frequented London high society.

She created the Kit-Kat Club, a women's club that allows, among other things, to meet well-born men.

But overnight, she finds herself without fortune and without the protection of this immense father figure.

Two weeks after his death, an evening in tribute to Robert Maxwell is organized at the sumptuous The Plaza hotel in New York.

Ghislaine goes there, she is sitting next to a plump stranger, with curly graying hair.

His name: Jeffrey Epstein.

His duet with Epstein

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

(New York, March 15, 2015.)

Getty Images

While her brothers face justice in Britain, Ghislaine Maxwell moves to New York and rents a two-room apartment on the Upper East Side. No one seemed to care about her family situation there, and she quickly began to hang out with New York's elite, going from parades to restaurant openings. According to rumors, his father created a trust that paid him 100,000 dollars (88,000 euros) per year. She did not really have a professional ambition and rather became known for her personal escapades, in particular a shopping spree in London in Concorde, in 1992.

She dates Jeffrey Epstein and quickly falls in love. She is fascinated by this man, who, like his father, manages to seduce his interlocutors thanks to his intelligence and his attentions. But he too develops abusive relationships with those close to him and despises those who do not have his lifestyle. The loving couple turns into a duo, and in the early 2000s, Ghislaine Maxwell moved to a sumptuous house on the Upper East Side, a stone's throw from Jeffrey Epstein's mansion. She is now at his service, takes care of his various homes and manages his social agenda.



She is grateful for this man who brings her financial security and gives her the lifestyle to which she has been accustomed.

She then began to recruit young girls.

Very quickly, the couple developed a precise modus operandi: Ghislaine Maxwell came into contact with young girls, mostly minors, and explained to them working for a rich man who could help them or provide them with a job.

The routine of massages is also being set up, no less than three a day, testified the butler of the Palm Beach residence during the trial.

Young teenage girls officially come to give Jeffrey Epstein a massage.

Massage that goes wrong in touching or sexual acts.

When they leave, they receive $ 200 or $ 300 in cash.

The French side of the case

The Epstein case involves a Frenchman, Jean-Luc Brunel. The founder of the MC2 Model agency would indeed have served as a cover to recruit young girls in Europe. The man, who boasts of having unearthed future stars like Christy Turlington or Sharon Stone, was very close to the Epstein-Maxwell duo. Accused of rape in the 1990s by models, he was not convicted. After Epstein's arrest in 2019, justice returns to him. He was arrested in December 2020 in Roissy, while trying to flee to Senegal. He is indicted for rape of a minor and sexual harassment, and remanded in custody. Model Thysia Huisman was the first to testify against him. “When I was 18, my agency sent me to Paris. I live with Brunel. During the day, he is professional, but in the evening turns into a predator.The last evening, he gives me a drink, my eyesight blurs. I woke up the next day in her bed, ”she tells us. Since then, twelve women have emerged from the silence to relate similar, but often prescribed, facts. Brunel was placed by American justice under the status of witness for having organized the transport and reception of young women. For Thysia Huisman, the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell is that of the victims: “I am very moved. It's so important for Epstein's "survivors" to see their moment come to justice. "Brunel was placed by American justice under the status of witness for having organized the transport and reception of young women. For Thysia Huisman, the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell is that of the victims: “I am very moved. It's so important for Epstein's "survivors" to see their moment come to justice. "Brunel was placed by American justice under the status of witness for having organized the transport and reception of young women. For Thysia Huisman, the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell is that of the victims: “I am very moved. It's so important for Epstein's "survivors" to see their moment come to justice. "

Organized rapes

This pattern sets in, grows, turning into a real business of predation and recruitment of minors for sexual purposes.

The young girls, transported aboard a private jet, are sent to the United States, Europe or the private island of the wealthy businessman in the Caribbean, in order to satisfy Epstein's sexual appetites.

They are also "loaned" to acquaintances or powerful friends.

Ghislaine Maxwell surrounds herself and recruits assistants to recruit new victims.

Four women - Sarah Kellen, Lesley Groff, Adriana Ross and Nadia Marcinkova - are presumed accomplices during Jeffrey Epstein's first legal troubles, in 2008.



They had obtained an acquittal at the time, but could now be brought to justice.

Among them, Sarah Kellen, nicknamed the "Lieutenant," worked for ten years for Jeffrey Epstein, scheduling dates and contacting the girls herself.

A photo shows her in the arms of Jeffrey Epstein on the tarmac of an airport, in front of his private jet.

Today, she defends herself explaining that she was herself a victim and sexually abused during this period.

If one of these young women decided to testify anyway, she could be a crucial voice.

“I think we'll have some revelations.

The lawsuits always bring their share of surprises to the public, but also to the lawyers… ”, announces Arlo Devlin-Brown.

Response at the end of these six weeks of suspense.

The editorial team advises you

  • Angels and the devil: the dark links between Jeffrey Epstein and Victoria's Secret

  • Ghislaine Maxwell, the troubled English heiress who sold her soul to Jeffrey Epstein

  • "They give me rotten food": statements by Ghislaine Maxwell from her cell

Source: lefigaro

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