As billionaire Leon Black battled a public backlash over his $158 million in payments to sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, one of his Dartmouth associates was elected this spring to the boards of both his private-equity firm Apollo Global Management and the Museum of Modern Art, where he’s riding out his last term as chairman amid scandal. Pamela Joyner, a prominent San Francisco-based philanthropist and art collector, was […]
Kate Briquelet
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On a Sunday night in February 1981, Rolf Kaestel robbed an Arkansas taco restaurant using a toy water gun. No one was injured in the stickup. He stole $264—and was sentenced to life in prison. Forty years later, Kaestel is still behind bars for aggravated robbery. His penalty is unusually severe, supporters say, for a crime without injuries or even a physical altercation. This year could […]
For four years, the ex-wife of a Russian oligarch has chased an unpaid $600-million divorce settlement—even suing her 27-year-old son for helping his billionaire dad stash hundreds of millions of dollars in assets out of her reach. Now, in the latest twist in this family drama, Tatiana Akhmedova has hired veterans of the Special Boat Service—the British equivalent of the U.S. Navy’s SEAL Team 6—to seize […]
In the latest legal spat between Ghislaine Maxwell and the feds, lawyers for the alleged accomplice to Jeffrey Epstein suggest she got a “black eye” from shielding her face from the harsh lighting inside her jail cell at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. The British socialite and accused sex-trafficker has been denied bail four times since her arrest for grooming minors last July. On Tuesday, the U.S. […]
Former President Donald Trump is one step closer to testifying in a New York lawsuit filed by a group of protesters who claim his bodyguards assaulted them in 2015. As The Daily Beast previously reported, the activists had gathered outside Trump Tower to protest the Republican candidate’s derogatory comments on Mexican immigrants. On that September day, soon after the demonstrators assembled on Fifth Avenue outside the […]
A Manhattan federal judge has refused to dismiss charges against Ghislaine Maxwell, who is accused of grooming underage girls for sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. On Friday, Judge Alison Nathan denied the British socialite’s various motions to toss the original indictment against her. Nathan also ruled that Epstein’s 2008 non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami—which shielded him and his alleged co-conspirators from federal charges—does not […]
Ghislaine Maxwell, the accused accomplice of wealthy sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, claims she was forced to shut down her dubious oceans charity because of “cancel culture,” according to a new website from her family. As the British socialite fights new federal sex-trafficking charges, and the government’s claims that she refuses to clean her Brooklyn jail cell or flush her toilet, her siblings are publicizing RealGhislaine.com as part […]
Manhattan federal prosecutors have hit back after a lawyer for Ghislaine Maxwell complained about her “detrimental” conditions last month, saying in a letter filed Tuesday that the real problem seems to be her failure to clean her “very dirty” cell and flush her toilet. The letter came in response to a complaint sent to a federal judge in February by a lawyer for the British socialite. […]
Warning: The article contains descriptions of sexual violence that some viewers may find disturbing. A new lawsuit filed against Jeffrey Epstein’s estate claims that the sex-trafficker and his gal pal Ghislaine Maxwell “brutally” raped a young Muslim woman in Florida in 2008 and afterward threatened “that she would end up in the pond to be consumed by the alligators if she told anyone about the crimes […]
When New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo visited Rochester to survey flood damage in May 2017, one of his staffers asked resident Sherry Vill if he could visit her house. Lake Ontario’s rising water levels had flooded homes on Vill’s street in the suburb of Greece, and her family agreed to let the governor inside. But shortly after he arrived, Cuomo allegedly pulled Vill toward him and […]
Ghislaine Maxwell, accused accomplice to sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, is facing more allegations of grooming underage girls for the sick pedophile. In a superseding indictment filed Monday, Manhattan federal prosecutors added a fourth unidentified minor victim to their case—and two new sex-trafficking charges against Maxwell. The complaint says the girl was 14 when the British socialite allegedly began grooming her for Epstein, who abused her from 2001 […]
For a third time, a Manhattan federal judge has denied Ghislaine Maxwell’s request for bail before her trial in connection to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring. In a ruling on Monday, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan wrote: “If the Court could conclude that any set of conditions could reasonably assure the Defendant’s future appearance, it would order her release. Yet while her proposed bail package is substantial, […]
Eccentric antivirus millionaire John McAfee is facing federal charges again—this time, over a pair of alleged cryptocurrency schemes that allegedly raked in more than $13 million for himself and his accused band of scammers, including his ex-security guard turned CEO. Manhattan federal prosecutors announced Friday that McAfee, 75, was being held in Spain on separate criminal charges by the Department of Justice’s tax division, while authorities […]
A new fundraising arm for accused Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse is raising questions about how his previous legal team spent hundreds of thousands in donations, as it battles PayPal and other platforms that are shutting down its new accounts. FreeKyleUSA has fired Twitter salvos at Rittenhouse’s former lawyers—California litigator John Pierce and pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood—for weeks, demanding an accounting of funds from Wood’s FightBack Foundation. […]
At 11 years old, Olivia Nguyen was the oldest of three siblings. She was smart and sassy, and loved making playlists with songs from Coldplay and U2, music written before she was born. Her brother, Edison, 8, was quiet and articulate. He loved the color green and taking photos of anything in his path, especially sunsets. Their youngest sibling, Colette, turned everything into a song. Nicknamed […]
When Arian Noma ran for prosecutor in a rural Washington county in 2018, he was a newcomer who vowed to stop the over-prosecution of crimes and seek bail only when necessary. Standing inside the wood-paneled Okanogan Grange, Noma gripped a microphone and told the crowd, “If you want to make change, I’m your candidate. If you want things to remain the same, I think you know […]
A transgender woman in upstate New York is suing the local police and sheriff’s office for allegedly mocking her gender identity, using excessive force, and sexually assaulting her during a strip search at the Jefferson County jail. DeAnna LeTray, 54, says Watertown cops hauled her to the police station after responding to a domestic dispute in September 2017, and that corrections officers harassed and abused her […]
Victims of Jeffrey Epstein continue to come forward in new lawsuits against his $400-million estate, including one woman who says the creepy financier lured her into his sex ring after interviewing her for a job on Skype. Last week, three women filed separate complaints in Manhattan federal court against the co-executors of Epstein’s estate, each seeking at least $25 million in damages. One woman, referred to […]
Tom Lundborg was a teenager in the late 1970s when he worked under accused Nashville bomber Anthony Quinn Warner, who was a technician for an alarm company. Back then, Lundborg’s father owned A.C.E. Alarms, a firm providing commercial and residential burglar systems, but was incapacitated in a car wreck. That left a young Lundborg and 20-something “Tony” Warner to run the business, and they drove to […]
A federal judge has again denied bail for Jeffrey Epstein’s accused accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who faces trial for allegedly recruiting and grooming girls for the financier. In a ruling on Monday, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan wrote that “none of the new information” Maxwell provided to the court “has a material bearing on the Court’s determination that she poses a flight risk.” “The Court also finds […]
Before Scott Renninger was arrested for allegedly putting a hit on his wife, prosecutors say he told a phony assassin he wanted her to “disappear” so he wouldn’t have to endure their divorce proceedings. The Ohio man claimed he’d watched “a thousand hours” of true crime shows and knew how suspects got caught. “With no body, they can’t charge you,” Renninger is said to have told […]
In late 2019, a pregnant Turkish woman obtained a tourist visa for American travel and told officials she’d stay at a New York City hotel. But instead, federal prosecutors say, she moved into a Long Island “birth house,” had her baby at a local hospital, and left the country after applying for a U.S. passport for her child. The woman was one of about 100 Turkish […]
An Arizona man was sentenced to six years behind bars Tuesday for smuggling pregnant women into America as part of an illegal adoption scheme that operated in three states and helped to bankroll his luxurious lifestyle. Paul Petersen, a Republican former Maricopa County assessor and adoption lawyer, pleaded guilty in June to paying expectant mothers from the Republic of the Marshall Islands—a chain of islands between […]
Ashley Biggs was working as a Domino’s delivery driver when she stopped at an Ohio business one summer night in 2012. An Army vet and mother of a young daughter, Biggs had no idea this company was closed. Or that the caller who had ordered the large half-mushroom, half-pepperoni pie used an alias. The midnight delivery was just a ruse to lure Biggs, 25, to her […]
Two brothers in Maryland are charged in a $5-million scheme that involved a network of fraudsters who romanced more than 200 victims—many of them “elderly and isolated”—to siphon funds from their savings and retirement accounts. David Annor, 27, and Lesley Annor, 22, of Gaithersburg, were arrested for money laundering last week. The feds say their co-conspirators courted the victims, ages 38 to 83, using a roster […]
Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell often took photographs of topless European “girls” at the sex-trafficker’s Palm Beach mansion, according to newly unsealed testimony of the financier’s former butler. Juan Alessi, once Epstein’s house manager in Florida, testified in a 2016 deposition that Maxwell—who now faces trial for Epstein’s sex ring—was an avid photographer and that most of her images were of bare-chested, foreign young women […]
The lawyer for Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse is on a Twitter tear again—this time, urging supporters to “dust off those Second Amendment rights” and not let China “steal” the election from lame-duck President Trump. “Time to dust off those Second Amendment rights. Founders put it there for a very specific reason,” attorney John Pierce tweeted Wednesday night. In another tweet, Pierce wrote, “Trump won in a […]
The Department of Justice held a meeting with victims of Jeffrey Epstein today to give them a first look at an investigative report into the financier’s secret 2007 plea deal. One victim’s lawyer told The Daily Beast the feds determined Miami federal prosecutors didn’t violate any laws or policy when they declined to prosecute Epstein. About 30 victims and their lawyers met at the FBI’s office […]
One night in October 2011, a nameless killer invaded the Indiana home of a beloved professor and his wife and brutally attacked them as they waited for their teenage children to return home from a marching band competition. James Miller, a 58-year-old biology professor at Goshen College, died of blunt force injuries and stab wounds after running to his wife’s rescue. Linda Miller, who was stabbed […]
American cities are preparing for civil unrest during and after Election Day, as the specter of turmoil looms over a nation divided and President Trump reportedly plans to declare a premature victory Tuesday night if he’s “ahead,” despite uncounted ballots. Some urban areas readying for chaos include Minneapolis, where clashes erupted this summer after the killing of George Floyd, and Kenosha, Wisconsin, where 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse […]
This is a developing story… The long-secret testimony of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, has finally been made public. Four years after her confidential deposition in one victim’s lawsuit, Maxwell’s answers to under-oath questioning could provide a deeper look into Epstein’s trafficking ring ahead of her criminal trial scheduled for next year. On Monday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the unsealing of […]
After a star-studded gala in February 2014, Bill Clinton and his entourage headed to a vegan restaurant in Los Angeles for an intimate dinner with friends. Their destination was Crossroads Kitchen, a Melrose Avenue hotspot that counts Beyoncé, Christina Applegate and Katy Perry as fans, and features a menu with artichoke “oysters,” hearts of palm “crab cakes” and tagliatelle “bolognese.” That night, the restaurant was bustling. […]
Earlier this year, a survivor of sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein filed a lawsuit claiming the financier and his alleged accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, groomed her for sex in the 1990s starting when she was 14. The woman, referred to as Jane Doe, also claimed Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago and asked the future president, “This is a good one, right?” (Doe did not accuse Trump […]
On Friday morning, days after wildfires overtook Butte County, California, relatives of 49-year-old Kelly Burke were frantically searching for her and spreading the word that she was missing on social media. One neighbor in the woods near her town, Berry Creek, claimed to see Burke evacuate with friends, but no one could reach her. “Living in Idaho and not being able to search for mom is […]
When he couldn’t reach his cousin Jake Hyland on Monday, Jim Mabry drove to his family’s remote property in rural Washington state, where wildfires turned pastures of 4-foot-high sage into dust. Jake and his wife, Jamie, along with their 1-year-old son, Uriel, were visiting their land in Okanogan County when flames from the Cold Springs Fire ripped through the area. Relatives couldn’t reach the couple, or […]
Since Ghislaine Maxwell’s arrest on charges of helping Jeffrey Epstein abuse underage girls, rumors have swirled about her ties to famous figures including Democratic power couple Bill and Hillary Clinton. On Tuesday, the Daily Mail published photos of former President Clinton receiving a neck massage from Chauntae Davies, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, during a stopover on his infamous 2002 trip to Africa with the deceased […]
Warning: This post may contain content that is disturbing to readers. A Catholic priest in Ohio was arrested Tuesday for child sex trafficking and is accused of grooming and abusing at least two victims since the ’90s. The FBI cuffed Michael Zacharias, 53, after morning Mass at St. Michael the Archangel in Findlay. The pastor is charged with coercion and enticement, sex trafficking of a minor, […]
Warning: This post contains content that may be disturbing to viewers. Newly released video shows a North Carolina man’s final moments in a county jail, where he called out, “I can’t breathe,” as detention officers held him face down for 12 minutes and made jokes while trying to remove his handcuffs. The footage was made public on Wednesday after a group of news outlets, including The […]
Nearly a year after Jeffrey Epstein was arrested, his alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell is now facing criminal charges for his sex-trafficking ring. On Thursday, the British socialite was awaiting arraignment on a six-count indictment which alleges she groomed and abused three minor victims between 1994 and 1997. One of those survivors was Annie Farmer, who along with her older sister Maria, came forward last year as […]
WARNING: This post contains content, including video of a shooting, that may be disturbing to viewers. This month, as anti-racism protests erupted across America, a former jail sergeant and motel security guard in Tulsa, Oklahoma, attacked an unarmed Black man with pepper spray, then shot him to death in a parking lot. Now newly-released footage of the disturbing incident reveals the guard sprayed the victim when […]
In Brooklyn on Sunday evening, a crowd chanted and danced around Grand Army Plaza, where a drum circle brought applause. Earlier in the day, hundreds gathered in silent meditation for Black Lives Matter in Herbert Von King Park. Marchers on Manhattan’s First Avenue passed a hospital and were cheered on by hospital workers, while more demonstrators sat down on Central Park West. Even on the North […]
As COVID-19 upends high-school graduations across the country, some students are waging “peaceful protests” to fight for in-person ceremonies. On Tuesday, dozens of seniors in well-heeled Orange County, California, held a rally at their school district offices in Costa Mesa. The students—who wore protective masks and observed six feet of separation—carried signs like “Let Mesa Walk,” “We Deserve Better,” and “Graduation 2020 We Can Do This […]
In Maria Farmer’s “FBI diagram,” dead sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein is in a flying saucer, Ghislaine Maxwell is a bloodthirsty reptile, and a pantsless Alan Dershowitz is shushing victims underneath a tree of poisoned apples. “I’m going to be working on a series all about the elites,” Farmer told The Daily Beast of her whimsical painting, a depiction of heaven and hell that features Les Wexner, the […]
A New York man who claims he’s a former White House official is accused of selling stolen COVID-19 testing kits and leaving consumers without results. Henry Sylvain Gindt II, 34, is charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for offering home-testing kits, which he allegedly obtained illegally from a lab employee, for $135 to $200 each. In a press […]