'Eerily' Similar to Epstein, Jean-Luc Brunel Found Dead in Paris Cell
Brunel was found dead in his cell Saturday morning from an apparent suicide despite reports he was cooperating with authorities. Meanwhile, Ghislaine Maxwell's family fears for her life.
While awaiting trial, French modeling agent and former business partner and alleged accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, Jean-Luc Brunel, was found dead in his jail cell at La Santé in south Paris in a reported suicide that shares many similarities to Epstein's own mysterious death in August 2019.
The news comes less than a week after Prince Andrew avoided trial by coming to an out of court settlement, and about two months after Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty after a narrow prosecution.
Jean-Luc Brunel was, according to Virginia Giuffre, Epstein's "main supplier of girls from other countries." With a long history of sexual abuse, Brunel worked closely with Epstein, who in 2004 gave Brunel a $1 million line of credit to start MC2 modeling agency.
The agency was not a profitable business, said Brunel's former Miami bookkeeper in 2019. If anything, it was a front for getting its different recruits out to Epstein's parties in Palm Beach and New York.
Brunel was arrested in December 2020 and investigated for charges of rape and sex trafficking.
Paris prosecutors released a statement, confirming Brunel's suicide by hanging, noting it occurred in the early morning hours, shortly after a routine guard check, with nobody else in the room and no reported breach in the facility.
French and British media outlets, however, added one prominent note: there were no cameras in the cell.
As Journal du Dimanche notes, it is uncommon for French prison cells to be equipped with cameras, even at one of France's toughest prison facilities, La Santé. But the similarities with Epstein's own death leave room for similar skepticism.
Editor’s Note, February 22, 2022: As French media has learned, Brunel had tried to commit suicide on multiple occasions.
Neither Epstein nor Brunel, despite allegedly committing suicide, were on suicide watch. Epstein was famously taken off the watch just days before his death, and Brunel was not under any kind of precaution. There is no indication that he ever was.
But perhaps most striking is the evidence that shows that for both Epstein and Brunel, there was no indication of an intent to commit suicide, in fact, there were signs both were willing to cooperate with authorities.
Epstein was reportedly in "high spirits," in the lead up to his passing. His defense attorneys claim their client planned to cooperate with the federal authorities. Interestingly enough, Brunel "had been reportedly been cooperating with authorities," according to The Miami Herald, including American agencies.
Brunel's death only just occurred, so the coming days will be important for further information. In 2019, after Epstein had died and his body was rushed from the prison, his brother, his lawyers, and a forensic pathologist all expressed their belief Epstein was killed. In the aftermath of the alleged "suicide," all signs were pointing to murder, if anything else.
The Miami Herald characterized the death as one that “eerily resembles” Epstein’s.
It is also the timing of Brunel's death that is of particular interest.
No more than a day before Epstein's death in 2019 roughly 2,000 pages of documents were unsealed, and as of right now, per The Herald, a New York judge is in the process of deciding whether to release and unseal another chunk of pages that could provide deeper insight into Epstein's operation as well as those who were involved and aware of it.
Sticking to the timing of this event, it came just after Prince Andrew avoided trial and shortly after Maxwell was found guilty on sex trafficking charges in late December.
Ghislaine Maxwell has been held up in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as her conviction is appealed. A tentative charging date is scheduled for June 28.
As the New York Post reported, Maxwell's family is fearing "for her safety" following the news of Brunel's death.
Ian Maxwell, Ghislaine's brother, said he was "shocked" by the news. He did insist that Ghislaine is not suicidal, expressing the irony of the similarities between Epstein and Brunel's respective deaths.
It is not known whether Ghislaine Maxwell has cooperated or tried to cooperate with authorities.
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