Ghislaine Maxwell: I believe Jeffrey Epstein was murdered

Socialite says she wishes she had never met disgraced financier

A screengrab of Ghislaine Maxwell speaking to TalkTV from prison in the US. PA

Ghislaine Maxwell has said she wishes she had never met disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Maxwell, 61, was given a 20-year sentence in a US prison last year after being found guilty of luring young girls to massage rooms so Epstein could molest them, between 1994 and 2004.

The British socialite also said on TalkTV’s Jeremy Kyle Live: Ghislaine Behind Bars, which was broadcast on Monday evening, that she believed Epstein was murdered.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal prison in Manhattan in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

His death was ruled to be suicide.

“I believe that he was murdered," Maxwell said. "I was shocked.

"Then I wondered how it had happened because as far as I was concerned, he was going to … I was sure he was going to appeal. And I was sure he was covered under the non-prosecution agreement.

“But I wasn’t in the indictment. I wasn’t mentioned. I wasn’t even one of the co-conspirators.

“I honestly wish I had never met him.

Ghislaine Maxwell - in pictures

“Looking back now, I probably wish I had stayed in England. But leaving that aside, you know, I tried to leave and start another new job and move on from the end of ’98, ’99.

“So I wish I had been more successful in moving on … because I’d been a banker and so I should have moved on completely.”

Maxwell said she “didn’t know” Epstein “was so awful”, although he was “obviously now, looking back with hindsight, of course”.

“But at the time, I mean he had lots of friends. He was friendly with just about everybody you could imagine. There was no reason to imagine that he was someone of interest to people."

Maxwell also said the well-known photograph showing the Duke of York next to victim Virginia Giuffre was fake.

Said to be taken inside Maxwell’s Mayfair home, the photograph shows Prince Andrew with his arm around Ms Giuffre.

“Well, it’s a fake. I don’t believe it’s real. In fact I’m sure it’s not," Maxwell said.

"There’s never been an original. Further, there’s no photograph. I’ve only ever seen a photocopy of it.

“I don’t believe it happened, certainly the way as described. It would have been impossible. I don’t have any memory of going to [private nightclub] Tramp [where Ms Giuffre said Andrew danced with her].

“Certainly it’s not an outfit I would have worn.”

Ghislaine Maxwell's sentencing - in pictures

Ms Giuffre sued Andrew for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 after she was trafficked by Epstein, a former partner of Maxwell.

Prince Andrew has also questioned the validity of the image of him with Ms Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts.

The duke paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case to Ms Giuffre, a woman he claimed to have never met.

He previously said he has “no recollection” of meeting Ms Giuffre and cast doubt on the picture, claiming he is “not one to hug” or “display affection” in public.

In an interview with BBC Newsnight in 2019, Prince Andrew said while he recognised himself in the picture with Ms Giuffre, he claimed it was not possible to prove if the image had been faked.