Modelling agent linked to Jeffrey Epstein found dead in French jail
- Jean-Luc Brunel, a close aide of the disgraced US financier, was discovered hanged in his Paris jail cell
- He had been in pretrial detention for more than a year over his alleged role in the rape of minors
Modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, who was in pretrial detention in Paris in the wake of a human trafficking and underage sex scandal focused on deceased US billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, has been found dead, AFP reported on Saturday.
The French judiciary had opened investigations into the agent for the rape of minors and for sexual assault. The 76-year-old had been in pretrial detention for more than a year.
Newspaper Le Parisien reported, citing judicial sources, that Brunel was discovered hanged in his Sante prison cell some time during the night.
Brunel was also suspected of having contacted and organised young girls for Epstein. Prosecutors had already launched an investigation into Brunel in the summer of 2019 and raided his Paris-based modelling agency.
Police are now probing the cause of the death, a source close to the investigation said. Brunel’s death means that his case is now closed, unless other suspects are implicated in the same case in the future.