Answers lost by Epstein suicide

BILLIONAIRE Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide in prison has robbed his victims of answers, according to an alleged former “sex slave” living in Australia.

The FBI and the Justice Department have launched separate investigations into Epstein’s death after the 66year-old was found unresponsive in his cell at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Centre on Saturday.

He had been facing up to 45 years behind bars on charges, to which he pleaded not guilty, of running a sex trafficking ring specialising in underage girls.

Australia-based Virginia Giuffre, Epstein’s self-described “sex slave”, said in the wake of the wealthy financier’s death that she was grateful he would never harm anyone again.

“We’ve worked so hard to get here, and he stole that from us, too,” she told The New York Times.

Ms Giuffre, 36, previously filed a since-settled lawsuit against Epstein’s exgirlfriend, Br i t ish socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. She claimed in a 2016 deposition that Epstein and Maxwell groomed her to become a “sex slave” for him and his circle of cohorts when she was 16.

Jennifer Araoz, who said Epstein raped her when she was 15, told CNBC she was “angry Jeffrey Epstein will not have to face survivors in court”.

Epstein’s death launched a raft of fresh conspiracies fuelled by the financier’s ties to princes, politicians and other famous and powerful people.

Online theorists quickly offered unsubstantiated speculation — including some retweeted by US President Donald Trump — that Epstein’s death wasn’t a suicide, or it was faked. His death came a day after newly unsealed documents implicated a number of powerful people in Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking ring.