A former close associate of Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in his Paris prison cell. Jean-Luc Brunel, in his mid-70s, was charged with the rape of minors. He was held in prison since December 2020.
Sources told AFP that he had been found dead overnight Friday to Saturday. However, the Paris prosecutors later confirmed his death.
The police are now investigating the cause of the death. Earlier, Brunel had denied the charges against him. His death means that his case has been closed.
As per a statement by his lawyers, Mathias Chichportich, Marianne Abgrall and Christophe Ingrain, the apparent suicide was “not guided by guilt but a profound sense of injustice”.
“His tragedy is that of a 75-year-old man crushed by a media-judicial system. Brunel had always maintained his innocence and had intensified his efforts to prove it.”
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Earlier in January, Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers had filed documents requesting a new trial. In a letter to the court, the lawyers wrote that they filed her “motion for a New Trial … and accompanying exhibits under seal.”
“For the reasons set forth in the Motion, we request that all submissions pertaining to Juror No. 50 remain under seal until the Court rules on the Motion,” the letter read.
Ghislaine Noelle Marion Maxwell, a British socialite and the daughter of a publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell was convicted on December 29 of five counts for enabling Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of girls.
Maxwell’s relationship with Epstein resulted in her being convicted for soliciting a minor for prostitution. She was sentenced to an 18-month jail term, of which she only served 13 months.
(With inputs from agencies)
