In This Article
30-Second Summary
Headline Links: ‘D.C. Madam Deborah Palfrey Commits Suicide’
Video: 2007 Palfrey press conference
Background: Palfrey’s business
Key Player: Deborah Jeane Palfrey (1956–2008)
Reference: IRS proceedings against Palfrey; Palfrey’s legal defense fund site goes offline
Related Topics: Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss; prostitution; disgraced former N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer
Subscribe to National Updates
D.C. Madam Commits Suicide
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Florida police have discovered a body they believe to be famed Washington madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey, after an apparent suicide.
30-Second Summary
The body was found in a shed near Deborah Jean Palfrey’s mother’s home about 20 miles northwest of Tampa. Police said the “D.C. Madam” left a suicide note, but have not yet disclosed its contents.
Palfrey, 52, was to be sentenced July 24 on a series of racketeering and money laundering charges in association with the prostitution ring she ran for 13 years in Washington, D.C. She faced up to 55 years in jail.
Her escort service gained national notoriety a year ago when Palfrey gave a list of her 15,000 clients to ABC News. Among them were major Washington players, including USAID head and Deputy Secretary of State Tobias Randall, who resigned over the issue, and La. Sen. David Vitter, who called his patronage “a serious sin.”
Some 130 college-educated women were in Palfrey’s employ, including University of Maryland-Baltimore County professor Brandy Britton, who committed suicide before she was due to go court on prostitution charges.
Palfrey’s attorney, Preston Burton, who has defended other Washington offenders including Enron executives and Monica Lewinsky, did not have immediate comment regarding his client’s alleged suicide. A Web site established for donations to Palfrey’s legal fund was down as of Thursday afternoon, with the homepage blank except for text reading, “deborahjeanepalfrey.com is off line until further notice.”
Palfrey, 52, was to be sentenced July 24 on a series of racketeering and money laundering charges in association with the prostitution ring she ran for 13 years in Washington, D.C. She faced up to 55 years in jail.
Her escort service gained national notoriety a year ago when Palfrey gave a list of her 15,000 clients to ABC News. Among them were major Washington players, including USAID head and Deputy Secretary of State Tobias Randall, who resigned over the issue, and La. Sen. David Vitter, who called his patronage “a serious sin.”
Some 130 college-educated women were in Palfrey’s employ, including University of Maryland-Baltimore County professor Brandy Britton, who committed suicide before she was due to go court on prostitution charges.
Palfrey’s attorney, Preston Burton, who has defended other Washington offenders including Enron executives and Monica Lewinsky, did not have immediate comment regarding his client’s alleged suicide. A Web site established for donations to Palfrey’s legal fund was down as of Thursday afternoon, with the homepage blank except for text reading, “deborahjeanepalfrey.com is off line until further notice.”
Headline Links: ‘D.C. Madam Deborah Palfrey Commits Suicide’
Palfrey’s trial earlier this year did not reveal “many new details about the service or its clients,” reports the Associated Press. “Vitter was among possible witnesses, but did not take the stand.”
Source: Chicago Tribune (AP)
“She wasn’t going to jail, she told me that very clearly. She told me she would commit suicide,” writer Dan Moldea, who interviewed Palfrey several times, said.
Source: Time
Video: 2007 Palfrey press conference
In a press conference on April 30, 2007, Palfrey stated that she had handed over her list of clients to ABC News “without compensation or guarantees of any sort.”
Source: YouTube
Background: Palfrey’s business
Palfrey ran her business from 1993 to 2006, employed a pool of around 130 mostly college-educated escorts, and catered to 15,000 customers over the years.
Source: International Herald Tribune
In mid-April 2007, Ms. Palfrey said that the military strategist Harlan K. Ullman, theorist of “shock and awe” combat, was a client of hers. Ullman described the accusation as “beneath the dignity of comment.” ABC News provides a slide show history of the Palfrey case.
Source: ABC News
The State Department announced in late April 2007 that Deputy Secretary of State and head of USAID Tobias Randall was “returning to private life for personal reasons.” News of his resignation came a day after Randall admitted to ABC News reporters that he had used Palfrey’s escort service.
Source: findingDulcinea
Key Player: Deborah Jeane Palfrey (1956–2008)
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, according to the Notable Name Database, had previously been convicted on prostitution charges in 1992 and served 18 months.
Source: Notable Name Database
Reference: IRS proceedings against Palfrey; Palfrey’s legal defense fund site goes offline
A court filing by federal prosecutors in December 2006 purported to give an insight into the workings of Ms. Palfrey’s agency. Among documents seized by Internal Revenue Service agents were newsletters offering tips on dealing with undercover agents and how to manage unruly clients.
Source: The Washington Post (free registration may be required)
The Web site of Palfrey’s legal site was offline as of 2:30 pm EDT May 1. The only content on the page was simple text reading “deborahjeanepalfrey.com is off line until further notice.”
Source: Deborah Jeane Palfrey’s Legal Defense Fund
Top defense attorney Preston Burton stepped in to defend Palfrey on May 7, 2007. Burton has worked for high-profile clients, such as Monica Lewinsky and the troubled heads of Enron. He is the second public defender the judge assigned to this case, as Palfrey fired Burton's predecessor.
Source: Slate
Related Topics: Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss; prostitution; disgraced former N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer
The trial of notorious Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss made headlines in the 1990s. She reputedly possessed a “black book” listing famous clients who used her service. The black book never surfaced, and she was convicted in 1997 of conspiracy, tax evasion, money laundering, and attempted pandering.
Source: Crime Library
According to a U.S. poll published in 2004, 15 percent of men have paid for sex.
Source: ABC News
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer addressed accusations during a March 10 press conference that he had solicited a prostitute, saying, “I have acted in a way that violated the obligations to my family.” He added, “I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public, to whom I promised better.” He announced his resignation on March 12 and officially handed over the governorship to Lt. Gov. David Patterson on Monday, March 17.
Source: findingDulcinea
© 2013 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
