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Sobering. As for lurid conspiracy theories, it would be impossible to invent worse stories than those documented in forensic evidence. What I want to know is: how did Epstein make his sizable fortune and what really happened in that prison cell?

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He seems to have made his money working for Les Wexner, whose company owned Victoria's Secret and other retail stores during the 80s. Part of the success of Wexner was that new computer technology made outsourcing production to low-wage countries, importing stuff at a huge mark-up. Wexner even granted Epstein power of attorney (!) and later claimed he was robbed by Epstein without his knowledge. By the 80s Wexner had become a self-made billionaire.

As for his death. He was on suicide watch and had written letters about how there were insects crawling over him in his cell, which was in a terrible prison. He was supposed to be checked regularly and the guards didn't.

I think people often assume that everyone is much better at their jobs and at following rules than they actually are. It's important to remember that people being sloppy, lazy, or cutting corners in high-risk situations can lead to things going very wrong. That includes guards just not bothering to do their rounds.

Incompetence can be just as deadly as maliciousness, and is, I think, much more common. It's certainly easy to understand why people would assume that Epstein was somehow deliberately killed, presumably to keep him from spilling his secrets, but he is not the only one who knew - Ghislaine Maxwell did as well.

It's the philosophical principle of Occam's Razor. When you have two explanations for the same event, the simpler one is more likely.

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I don’t like conspiracy theories but I’m not sure that Occam’s Razor doesn’t suggest murder. If you want to find an assassin prison might be the place for it. But then the remainder of a once gilded life in prison maybe too hard to bear.

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I can't pretend to know more than anyone else, and no one wants to put themselves in the shoes of someone like Epstein. His repulsive criminal behaviour was always about exerting power over the powerless, and he ended up in one of the worst prisons in the U.S., with no hope, because all of his powerful connections had abandoned him. People have killed themselves over less. And again, he was not the only person with secrets.

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Jeffrey Epstein is one of those villains where his extensive and confirmed crimes are matched by lurid conspiracy theories.

Jeff was a sleaze bag, no doubt, and probably a blackmailer, but his 'crime' seems to be overpaying teenage prostitutes. Or have I missed something?

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You have. One is that under the age of legal consent, there is no such thing as a “teenage prostitute.” They are being trafficked and violated, and both are crimes.

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