The island has been abandoned since Epstein's death in 2019. Urban explorers captured rare footage of Jeffrey Epstein's private island after sneaking onto the sex offender's remote getaway location, they claim. But as Schapiro acknowledged, the building substantially deviates from the blueprints, which describe an octagonal structure surrounded by a covered porch, with internal partitions for a bathroom, a closet, and a living room. After all, if Epstein did indeed keep a piano in the blue-and-white building, there was a decent chance he needed someone to occasionally tune it. They also got footage of a number of parked tractors and an ambulance, though it's unclear what they were being used for. ", I asked if he was sure. In 1998, for $7.95 million, Epstein purchased Little St. James Island, which is situated between the larger St. Thomas and St. John islands. According to the reporter Rich Schapiro, an unnamed architectural firm submitted blueprints for a domed, single-story building on Epstein's behalf to the Department of Public Works of the US Virgin Islands. "Mr. Epstein did in fact have grand piano in that 'temple,' but the roof leaked because the AC units are on top, and the roof is flat. But it's why I do it. A look inside Jeffrey Epstein's real-estate portfolio, from the Florida and NYC mansions where sex trafficking reportedly took place to the private island in the Caribbean that was raided by the FBI. On July 9, U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett said she would be matching the donations she had received from Epstein over the years to give to organizations in her district that focus on women and children. A few months earlier, Epstein's lawyer, Maria Tankenson Hodge, had submitted a request to add a 3,000-square-foot spa to a permit application that included the music pavilion, a pool and a 2,000-square-foot cabana with a coral stone deck, living space and rest room. Though much of what transpired on the island has remained the subject of rumor, its likely that more concrete details will soon emerge: On Monday, at least a dozen FBI agents raided Epsteins Little St. James residence, a bureau spokesman told NBC News. There are several variations of this theory, but many seem to stem from the presence of two birdlike statues perched on the building's roof. ", A different reader added: "The statues look similar to those of Horus, the Egyptian god of the sky, wearing the Pschent, the double crown of Egypt. The reader did not want to be named, but I was able to verify their longtime residence in the US Virgin Islands. Walgreens Wont Distribute Abortion Pills in 20 States. Epstein also had an interest in pirate treasure, one of his former employees told Bloomberg. Its gold dome flew off during the deadly 2017 hurricane season.". The piano-tuning industry is quite small, and while the piano tuner has a somewhat common name, I was unable to find a second piano tuner with the same name. During this time, Epstein reportedly ordered the construction of a spa, a living room that would connect to a ground theater, a new kitchen, and two new guest rooms. I was just too excited to be on this beautiful island with a day to myself and this amazing piano. But even if the building's motif alludes to the sexual culture of a society that ended more than 1,400 years ago, Greek pederasty was a male phenomenon. Hodge, Epstein's lawyer, did not return a request for comment. Maxwells trial is set to resume later this week. "Even in the condition that I described it in it was sort of a temple," he said. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. ", Source: Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Read more:10 of the most bizarre details people have reported finding in Jeffrey Epstein's NYC mansion, from a painting of Bill Clinton in a dress to prosthetic breasts mounted on a bathroom wall, Source: The New York Times, New York Magazine, Curbed, Read more:A wild drone video shows FBI agents raiding Jeffrey Epstein's private island home and offers a peek into his mysterious temple. (Baron said he didn't notice "anything scholarly."). On his desk, in his office, in his bedroom.. "Absolutely. Epstein'sseven-story mansion on East 71st Street was valued at $77 million in a 2019 court document. WebTwo private islands owned by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been listed for $125 million, The Wall Street Journal first reported. pic.twitter.com/njxfg2HahN. However, the New York City Department of Finance valued the home closer to $56 million earlier at another point that year. took girls and young women to Little St. James and forced them into sexual servitude and forced labor. Splash News; Backgrid; James Messerschmidt for NY Post, HANDOUT/US District Court for the Southe/AFP via Getty Images, Sotheby's International Realty Santa Fe, 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Ghislaine Maxwell appeals sex-trafficking conviction over fatal errors, Ghislaine Maxwell to use divorce settlement to pay for appeal: report, Salacious allegations against Epstein associates to be unsealed: report, Ghislaine Maxwells claim that Prince Andrew-Virginia Giuffre pic is fake is ridiculous: report. The site further says the foundation gave $35 million to Harvard, kick-starting the university's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics. ". Sign up for notifications from Insider! Epstein usually boarded his private plane to fly to St. Thomas international airport, where he would then board a helicopter that whisked him to his private islands. To the left, against the western wall, was a small black grand piano. A woman who says she tried swimming away from Epstein's Little St. James island says she 'never saw him do a day's work', A forensic pathologist hired by Jeffrey Epstein's brother says he may have been strangled, Bill Gates, who said he had no relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, reportedly met with the disgraced financier multiple times, including a 2011 meeting with billionaire Eva Dubin and her teenage daughter, Jeff Berwick and Luke Rudkowski, of Dollar Vigilante and We Are Change, posted, The video gives a close-up view of Epstein's notorious temple, which Insider's J.K. Trotter has. From the report: "A colorful building that some news reports have called the 'temple' was actually a gym when Epstein worked out when he was on the island, Scully said, noting in an interview with ABC News that the gym had a memorable feature a massive framed photo of a topless woman.". But along the way, I found the closest thing yet to the truth: an eyewitness account of the temple's interior, from someone who stepped inside long before it became a symbol of its owner's dark secrets. The proceeds from the sale are expected to be used for the estates regular administration, including its payment as necessary of taxes, creditors and claimants, Daniel H. Weiner, who represents Epsteins estate, told The Post. Virginia Roberts, who has been one of the women to come forward accusing Epstein of rape, was pictured at the ranch. Epstein also had a Paris estate that went up for sale last month for $13.5 million. Jeffrey and Ghislaine share many mutual interests and they have a lot of fun together, it continued. (He would eventually plead guilty to two counts of soliciting prostitution from a minor, thus dodging federal sex-trafficking charges, and serve just 13 months in jail.) Luke Rudkowski of We Are Change and Jeff Berwick sneaked onto Epsteins private island, Little St James, three months after FBI agents raided the luxury Caribbean hideaway. That's the right shape.". Most notably, the men arrived at Epstein's temple, the purpose for which remains unclear, but has sparked a number of conspiracy theories. However, the pair claimed they were forced to flee the secluded setting when they were chased away by staff, who they discovered are still working on the island after just 30 minutes. WebAs Business Insider previously reported, Jeffrey Epstein's private island in the Caribbean is becoming a tourist attraction. Footage showed a large group of FBI officers arriving at the pier of Little St James and accessing the disgraced financiers property with golf buggies. There were photos of topless women everywhere, contractor Steve Scully told ABC News. We now have a much clearer picture of the building's ostensible purpose. They confirmed earlier reports that the exterior of the building is comprised of flat walls but painted in such a way to give the appearance of dimension. July 20, 2019 Ever since billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on July 6 on charges of sex trafficking, the media have been scrambling to make sense of what The same photo compared the building's exterior to the striped flag of Greece and noted that "sex between adults and minors was common in ancient Greece.". Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. In December 2021, a venture capitalist bought the vacant lot for $25.845 million, a source close to the deal told The Wall Street Journal. Scully claimed that his client used the building for exercise. All rights reserved. "That seems like the cheapest temple you've ever seen I could've built it myself for $5,000.". So did the story of Bill Barr swooping in to Epstein Island with cleaners, likely to get rid of the Trump evidence before it was found out. "The government prosecuted Ms. Maxwell as a proxy for Jeffrey Epstein" to "Every single one was on Epstein's flight logs," reads the on-screen text in When I went back to the reader, they sent me a link to a YouTube video about Little St. James and claimed they had corresponded with the piano tuner via the comments underneath it. The clip taken by an anti-corruption organisation also shows the seedy outdoor massage room where underage girls would pamper the registered sex offender. According to a calendar he kept at the time, Baron went to the island twice: in August 2012 and October 2012. (In a statement, a spokesperson for his former employer called this claim demonstrably false and defamatory.). Verdict: Certainly possible, but still unproven. Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. A piano tuner who lives in the Virgin Islands told Insider that he visited the building twice in 2012 and described its interior in detail. Nor is he the only person who has publicly claimed to have done so. Its been reported Epstein hid young girls he allegedly enslaved in underground rooms below the temple and other parts of the island. In New Mexico, Epstein owned a 7,500-acre ranch that was appraised at over $18 million in 2013. The interior consisted of only one large room; there weren't any doors or stairwells that may have led to other rooms. They scoured the site on golf carts over claims under-age girls were used as sex slaves and repeatedly abused inside the temple. This doesn't quite compute. Special Agent Kelly Maguire testified Monday that her team forced entry into the home on July 6, 2019, after no one answered the door, and swept through all 40 rooms. Conspiracists have also pointed to a public bath in Syria, the family crest of France's House of Lusignan, and the set of Ellen DeGeneres' daytime talk show, "Ellen.". They are, contrary to what people think, rarely apart, I almost always see them together., The duo was described as thick as thieves, with the file noting, they compliment each other really well.. On the first excursion, he met a woman named Karen, who seemed to serve as the island's project manager. Epsteins New York townhouse where the late pedophile once kept nude photos of girls, creepy taxidermy and a bizarre painting of Bill Clinton in a blue dress was sold for a little under $50 million in March. The blue-striped structure sits on a lookout point on the southeastern edge of Little St. James island, which Epstein purchased in 1998 for $7.95 million. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Shortly after my original post about the building was published, a reader in St. John emailed: "I have it on good authority his parents are buried there. On January 15, 2020, Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George filed a lawsuit alleging that, as recently as 2018, Epstein and his associates took girls and young women to Little St. James and forced them into sexual servitude and forced labor. But it also points to yet another mystery, one that may never be answered: What was Jeffrey Epstein doing on the rest of his island, and with whom? Why did Jeffrey Epstein's private jet fly to Riyadh on the eve of the 2016 election? "No one used to pay attention to it," Stewart told the Los Angeles Times. Epstein's Palm Beach estate, which he purchased in 1990, was estimated to be worth over $12 million in 2019. The island, which is near St. Thomas in the Caribbean, is only Remember, the building was erected between 2009 and 2013. But the actual structure bears little resemblance to the plans that were submitted to agency officials. The building undeniably resembles the blue-and-gold fabric headdress worn by pharaohs in ancient Egypt. Oddly, oddly quiet., However his friend then shouts, Theyre on golf carts get the f**k out of here.. A document discovered by the feds on a hard drive in Epsteins townhouse detailed his intimate relationship with Maxwell, FBI digital forensic examiner Stephen Flatley testified in Manhattan federal court last Tuesday. The piano tuner's denial is one reason to question this account. Epstein's real-estate portfolioplayed a major role in the sexual-abuse allegations against him. Three days later, my phone rang. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Rudkowski then explores a few of the islands underground rooms and Epsteins gold-tipped temple, where young girls were said to have been abused. The woman had a stillbirth in 2021 in South Carolina, which explicitly criminalizes self-managed abortion. The two said they eventually fled when one of them spotted people driving around the island in golf carts. There is also a grass airstrip and hangar for when Epstein would fly in on his private plane. The color of the building perhaps the most distinctive quality of the temple was a "dull pewter." Visit Insider's homepage for more stories, the discovery of a strange blue-and-white structure. The interior had two levels, with the first four to six feet at ground level and the rest on a slightly raised platform accessed by a single step. The persistence of this mystery is especially remarkable given the intense public scrutiny of Epstein and his circle since his arrest in July. Those benches were there, sat there when I went out for a cigarette.". The building is surrounded by an expansive terrace painted bright white with red shapes. Christie's International Real Estate The Saints did not immediately reply to Insider's requests for comment. The general public has no idea what really went on at Jeffrey Epstein's island. You grow., Im Sick of Being the Bad Guy in Relationships. I was not able to make sense of this discrepancy. John Stewart, the owner of a boat-tour agency on St. Thomas, also told reporters that, over the past few weeks, he has seen a large increase in the number of catamarans sailing by Epstein's island. "Every single one was on Epstein's flight logs," reads the on-screen text in the video. The video shows that the temple's walls and doors are flat, but painted in a way that gives them an illusion of dimension. But seriously, what's up with this weird temple thing on Jeffrey Epstein's private island? I found myself ashamed to discuss my progress with my editor and colleagues, as each additional clue turned out to be a false start. Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission. Verdict: This is easily the most plausible and supported theory, but the available evidence is inconsistent. Poles bearing American flags went up. Bridgitt Arnold, a spokesperson for Gates, told the New York Times that Gates was unaware that it was Epstein's plane. He pleaded guilty to two state prostitution counts and served 13 months in jail in an arrangement that allowed him to leave for 12 hours a day, six days a week, on work release. On its website, the foundation says it was established to "support cutting edge science and science education around the world." It was Shackleford who captured the jaw-dropping scene of FBI agents executing a search warrant throughout the island: But my doubts stemmed from two earlier, less-noticed videos that featured close-ups of the blue-and-white building. Jeffrey and Ghislaine have been together as a couple for the last 11 years, the note started. says the topless young man standing inside a bare electrical shed on Jeffrey Epsteins private island, more than a year after the disgraced billionaire