Jeffery Epstein's French model agent friend Jean-Luc Brunel, who allegedly procured and supplied young girls and women for the billionaire pedophile, was found dead in his prison cell on Friday night in Paris, according to reports. His body was found on Saturday morning in his cell. Report of Brunel's death was confirmed by the French prosecutor's office, which said an investigation into the cause of death had been launched.
Brunel, 76, was being held in custody awaiting trial for rape of a minor and sexual harassment. He was arrested in December 2020 at Charles de Gaulle airport before boarding a plane for Dakar.
Another Culprit Dead
Brunel was found hanging in his cell in La Santé, in the south of Paris, in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to prosecutors. It's unclear whether Brunel shared a cell with anyone else or if there was any CCTV footage available inside. "A night patrol found his lifeless body at about 1am," said an investigating source, according to a Daily Mail report. "A judicial enquiry has been launched, and early evidence points to suicide."
French prison authorities told Le Parisien that "no breach" in security at the prison had occurred, and an investigation into the cause of death had been opened.
Brunel was accused of being a part of a global teenage sex network orchestrated by the late American multi-billionaire Epstein, who committed suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial for several sex offences.
Epstein's ex-girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, is currently in jail in the United States after being convicted of sex trafficking was among the others involved in Brunel's sex trafficking racket. US prosecutors accused Brunel of procuring young girls for his longtime associate and financier.
Several top models had come forward to accuse him of sexual assault and rape, and hundreds of potential witnesses had reportedly been examined by French police. Brunel had vehemently denied any misconduct on his part.
The Untouchable
Brunel has a long history of sex crimes that mainly including running sex rackets and exploiting underage women. Brunel had worked as a model agent in Paris since the late 1970s but he had to leave his country and settle in the United States later on.
His association will Epstein began after he came to the United States but prior to that he led a dangerous life. In the 1990s the Paris-born Brunel was a model talent scout and was also the head of the Karin Models agency. However, he was banned from the agency in 1999 following a BBC undercover report on abuse in the fashion industry.
He then moved to the United States and founded MC2 Model Management with funding from Epstein. Maxwell, who Brunel had met in the 1980s, played a major role in introducing him to Epstein. Brunel soon became a celebrated name in the United States taking credit for discovering a number of supermodels including Christy Turlington and Milla Jovovich.
However, a French judicial investigation into Brunel's behavior was launched in August 2019, following allegations that Brunel and the Queen's second son Prince Andrew shared had lover. This is when Virginia Roberts Giuffre's name reappeared in headlines.
Giuffre alleged lawyers that she was used as a "sex slave" by Epstein and Brunel when she was forced to sleep with Prince Andrew after being trafficked to him at least three times when she was 17.
Most of the allegations against Brunel were made in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, falling outside of France's 20-year statute of limitations for sex crimes prosecutions.
Brunel was seen as the "untouchable" by authorities, who dubbed him "The Ghost" as he continued to live and work in Paris while frequently travelling overseas on reconnaissance operations and vacations.
However, in November 2020, Giuffre reacted to a French magistrates' online English language appeal for alleged victims to come forward, following which Brunel was arrested form the Charles de Gaulle airport before boarding a plane for Dakar in December 2020.
Interestingly, news of Brunel's alleged suicide comes just three days after Prince Andrew agreed to settle a sex abuse case filed by Giuffre after the two met allegedly through Epstein and Maxwell.
