LITTLE ROCK — Federal officials were so worried Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell might take her own life after her arrest that they took away her clothes and bedsheets and made her wear paper attire while in custody, an official familiar with the matter said.
The steps to ensure Maxwell’s safety while she’s locked up at a federal jail in New York City extend far beyond the measures federal officials took when they arrested last week.
The Justice Department has added extra security precautions and placed federal officials outside the Bureau of Prisons in charge of ensuring there is adequate protection for her. That’s to help prevent other inmates from harming her and to stop her from harming herself, the official said.
The concern comes in part because Epstein killed himself in a federal jail in Manhattan last summer while in custody on sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell, the daughter of the late British publishing magnate Robert Maxwell, was the former girlfriend and longtime close associate of Epstein. Accused of facilitating his crimes, she was arrested by a team of federal agents last week at an estate in New Hampshire.
Associated Press