Jeffrey Epstein’s death in August 2019 was ruled a suicide, but questions have never stopped swirling. Now, a British news outlet has uncovered something even darker: at least two dozen people connected to Epstein have died—many under strange, unexplained, or suspicious circumstances.
These weren’t just random acquaintances. The dead include victims, whistleblowers, lawyers, bankers, and even journalists. Some were about to talk. Others already had.
“They are all connected through a money trail,” private investigator Ed Opperman told the National Enquirer. “There were a lot of people entrapped and entangled through Epstein’s web, and many of those people are gone now — dead.”
Tapes and Blackmail.
Steven Hoffenberg, Epstein’s former business partner, served 18 years for running a $475 million Ponzi scheme. Before he died in 2022, Hoffenberg made a chilling confession to reporter Doug Montero: Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell had filmed powerful men with underage girls to blackmail them. “This puts a lot of high-powered people in very dangerous situations,” said Opperman, who once investigated both Hoffenberg and one of Epstein’s victims.
Hoffenberg also said Epstein had ties to Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad. He died shortly after cooperating with the FBI.
Maxwell, 63, is the only member of Epstein’s inner circle still alive and behind bars. But even that may not last. She was quietly moved to a low-security prison in Texas—one without cameras. Her brother Ian told the Enquirer, “She’s not suicidal.” But insiders are warning: “She’s got a bull’s-eye on her back!”
The Death Toll: Victims, Whistleblowers, and Insiders
Epstein’s own death set off a storm. He was found hanged in his jail cell at age 66. Officials called it suicide, but his brother Mark says flat-out: “Murder.”
His cellmate, Efrain “Stone” Reyes, died just months later, shortly after speaking to federal investigators. He had been transferred out of Epstein’s cell just a day before Epstein was found dead, the Daily Mail reports.
Three of Epstein’s known accusers have also died:
Virginia Giuffre, 41, was found dead in April 2024 in an apparent suicide.
Carolyn Andriano, 36, died of a drug overdose in May 2023.
Leigh Skye Patrick, 29, also overdosed in 2017.
They aren’t the only ones. Joe Recarey, the Palm Beach detective who led the original Epstein investigation, died suddenly in 2018 at age 50. His illness was described as “brief.”
Alfredo Rodriguez, Epstein’s former butler who tried to hand over Epstein’s infamous “little black book” to the FBI, died of mesothelioma in 2014. He had served time for obstruction after the feds arrested him during the handoff.
Two top lawyers who helped Epstein escape serious charges in Florida are also dead:
Kenneth Starr, died in 2022 from surgical complications.
Roy Black, died in 2025 at home.
MIT professor Marvin Minsky, accused by Giuffre, died in 2016 of a brain hemorrhage. Ronald Eppinger, allegedly the first man to traffic Giuffre, died in 2006.
Two journalists who dug into Epstein’s past also died:
John Connolly, an ex-NYPD detective and author, died in 2022.
Wendy Leigh, a celebrity biographer, fell from her London balcony in 2016. Her death was ruled a suicide, but friends say she was upbeat and optimistic.
More High-Profile Deaths
At least six more men close to Epstein have died—some violently, some suspiciously:
Jean-Luc Brunel, Epstein’s modeling agent accused of trafficking girls, was found hanged in a Paris jail cell in 2022.
Steve Bing, a Hollywood producer who spoke to the FBI about Epstein, fell from his 27th-floor apartment in 2020.
Mark Middleton, a Clinton advisor linked to Epstein, was found hanged and shot in Arkansas in 2022. Police ruled it a suicide.
Thomas Bowers, a Deutsche Bank exec who oversaw Epstein’s accounts, was found hanged in 2019.
The Deaths Go Back Decades
The trail of mysterious deaths goes back 40 years. In 1985, Arthur Shapiro, a lawyer for Epstein’s early benefactor Les Wexner, was gunned down—just weeks before he was set to be interviewed by the IRS. His murder remains unsolved. Epstein took over his role shortly after.
The man suspected of ordering Shapiro’s murder, Berry L. Kessler, died in prison in 2005 after being convicted in two separate murder-for-hire plots.
Final Witness Left Standing
Today, Ghislaine Maxwell sits in a quiet Texas prison. She is the last living insider. Her survival may depend on how long she stays out of the public eye.
As more bodies pile up, so do the questions.
Was it coincidence? Or cleanup?
