Jean Luc Brunel was going to testify against Jeffrey Epstein--then went dark (soonafter, permanently)

[Kid Berwyn]

The accomplice who was going to testify against Jeffrey Epstein—then went dark

by Khadeeja Safdar, Caitlin Ostroff
Wall Street Journal/MSN, February 18, 2026

Jean-Luc Brunel was ready to turn on the man who had been his patron and partner. The French modeling scout was prepared to tell prosecutors what he knew about Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking.

Brunel was secretly negotiating in 2016 with lawyers representing Epstein’s victims, according to newly released Justice Department files. Brunel’s lawyer told them his client recruited girls for Epstein and had incriminating photographs. They discussed a date for Brunel to walk into the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York—in exchange for immunity.

“One of Epstein’s bfs, Jean Luc Brunel, has helped get girls. He is wanting to cooperate,” according to handwritten notes taken by a federal prosecutor in February 2016. “Brunel is afraid of being prosecuted.”

Snip...

Epstein had discovered that negotiations with Brunel were taking place, the files show. On May 3, he fired off an email to Kathy Ruemmler, an attorney he corresponded with regularly. He wrote that Brunel was planning to go to the U.S. Attorney’s office the following week and one of Brunel’s friends had “asked for 3 million dollars so that Jean Luc would not go in.”

Epstein told Ruemmler that Brunel was afraid he would be arrested if he didn’t show up. “I want to know more,” Epstein wrote. He also dismissed Brunel’s lawyer and his friend as “scammers” and cast doubt on their credibility.

Continues...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/the-accomplice-who-was-going-to-testify-against-jeffrey-epstein-then-went-dark/ar-AA1WCNSM?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[Lars39]

1. Found hanged in his cell.

Hmm 🧐

[Kid Berwyn]

2. "No man. No problem."

Guy must've known inconvenient facts, their occupations and employers, plus their interests' ages. From WSJ:

Excerpt...

Long before his role in the Epstein case came to light, Brunel already had a sordid reputation in the fashion world. In 1988, CBS’s “60 Minutes” aired an investigation into modeling agencies featuring women who said they were drugged by Brunel and expected to have sex with his male friends in order to get modeling work.

One woman said on camera that Brunel had drugged and raped her. No criminal charges were ever filed, and Brunel, who denied the allegations, continued to operate freely, cycling through agencies.

Snip...

In 2005, Epstein wired up to $1 million to Brunel to help him launch MC2 Model Management, which opened offices in New York and Miami later that year. The agency’s name appeared to be an inside joke, with people believing that in the equation E=MC², the E stood for Epstein.

Behind the scenes, Epstein used the agency as a way to procure women and as a payroll vehicle, securing work visas for young women, the files show.

A pair of emails from July 2006 captures the arrangement. On July 13, Epstein wrote to Brunel at his MC2 address, instructing him to put a woman they were discussing “on your payroll,” specifying a $50,000 annual salary.

Continues...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/the-accomplice-who-was-going-to-testify-against-jeffrey-epstein-then-went-dark/ar-AA1WCNSM?ocid=BingNewsSerp

And why would Brunel and Epstein kill themseves BEFORE being found guilty?

[Ocelot II]

3. The plot thickens...

[Kid Berwyn]

4. Global operators deserve no less.

Jean-Luc Brunel: Epstein associate found dead in Paris prison cell

BBC News, 19 February 2022

A French modelling agent and close associate of the late US financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in his prison cell in Paris.

Jean-Luc Brunel was found hanged in his cell in La Santé prison at 01:00 on Saturday, prosecutors told the BBC.

The 76-year-old had been held for over a year as he was investigated on suspicion of the rape of minors and trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation.

Snip...

Dutch former model Thysia Huisman, who has said Brunel drugged and raped her when she was 18, told the BBC it was frustrating that his alleged victims would never have their day in court.

Snip...

One of Epstein's main accusers, Virginia Giuffre, who has alleged she had been forced into sex with Brunel, said his death had ended "another chapter".

Continues...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60443518

"You couldn't erase the past. You couldn't even change it. But sometimes life offered you the opportunity to put it right." -- Ann Brashares