D.C. Madam Spoke Of Suicide
Deborah Jeane Palfrey Vowed Never To Go To Jail For Running High-End Prostitution Ring
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Deborah Jeane Palfrey was convicted April 15 by a federal jury of running a prostitution service that catered to members of Washington's political elite, including Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, file)
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A Tarpon Spring, Fla., police officer removes evidence from the scene where Deborah Palfrey, also known as the DC Madam, allegedly committed suicide Thursday afternoon May 1, 2008 at her mother's mobile home. (AP)
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Sex & Politics
Some elected officials whose libidos have gotten them in hot water.
Deborah Jeane Palfrey made good on that promise Thursday when she went to a shed outside her mother's mobile home and hanged herself from a rafter with nylon rope.
The 52-year-old Palfrey was convicted two weeks ago of running a prostitution service that catered to members of Washington's political elite, including Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican. She was free while she awaited sentencing on July 24.
Dan Moldea, a Washington writer who befriended Palfrey while considering writing a book about her, recalled a conversation with Palfrey over dinner last year when the subject of prison came up.
"She said, 'I am not going back to prison. I will commit suicide first,'" Moldea said.
Palfrey's 76-year-old mother, Blanche Palfrey, found the body in the tiny shed outside the pink and white mobile home in the community of mostly retirees in this Gulf Coast town 20 miles northwest of Tampa.
"She opened the shed to go in and she found her daughter hanging there," said neighbor Irwin Matthews, 73, who saw Blanche Palfrey hysterically calling for help after the discovery.
Police said Deborah Palfrey left at least two suicide notes and other writings to her family in a notebook, but they did not disclose their contents.
Blanche Palfrey told investigators she had no indication that her daughter, who had been staying at the house, was suicidal, police Capt. Jeffrey Young said. There was no immediate indication that drugs or alcohol were involved.
"This is tragic news and my heart goes out to her mother," said attorney Preston Burton, who represented Deborah Palfrey in her trial.
A federal jury convicted Palfrey on April 15 of money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes and racketeering. Palfrey had denied her escort service engaged in prostitution, saying that if any of the women engaged in sex acts for money, they did so without her knowledge.
The trial concluded without revealing many new details about the service or its clients. Vitter was among possible witnesses but did not take the stand.
Channing Phillips, the spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the District of Columbia, said that under sentencing guidelines, Palfrey faced about five or six years in prison.
"I'm sure as heck not going to be going to federal prison for one day, let alone four to eight years, because I'm shy about bringing in the deputy secretary of whatever," Palfrey told ABC last year when she released phone records that revealed some of her clients. "Not for a second. I'll bring every last one of them in if necessary."
Prosecutors said Palfrey operated the prostitution service for 13 years.
Vitter, a first-term senator who is married and has four children, has acknowledged being involved with Palfrey's escort service and has apologized for what he called a "very serious sin." But he avoided further comment.
Besides Vitter, the trial also concluded without the testimony of military strategist Harlan Ullman or Randall Tobias, a former senior State Department official. Both men had been named among possible witnesses.
One of the escort service employees was former University of Maryland, Baltimore County, professor Brandy Britton, who was arrested on prostitution charges in 2006. She committed suicide in January before she was scheduled to go to trial.
Palfrey said last year that she, too, was humiliated by her prostitution charges, but said: "I guess I'm made of something that Brandy Britton wasn't made of."
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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See all 363 CommentsThese neocons are capable of anything!
Too bad they killed her though, I was hoping she would publish the list.
And if the killer forgets, the police can write a suitable note as necessary.
The "suicide" rate for people who cross paths with the rich and powerful is very high. Be careful who you alienate because you might commit suicide.
She had said that Cheney was one of her customers but did not want to go public yet. She planned to expose government''s use of her and her operation...and was going to name her clients if she had to...
Her attorney subpoenaed Senator David Vitter (A Client!) and other high-ranking officials (Clients!) to tell whether or not they merely hired the girls as "escorts" to go out on the town, as Debra claimed, or for actual "$ex Services."
Debra claimed that if any $ex was going on she knew nothing about it and that was between the girl and the client. All she did was set up the company to provide "Escorting" services.
The "Judge" ruled that the "SENATOR" (who is STILL in office!!!!) and other officials DID NOT have to appear in court to testify...and NONE of them stepped forward to come to her defense to say that they merely hired the girls as "Escorts"...because they didn''t hire them JUST as Escorts...which means THEY all broke the law...but they Threw the book at HER...and did nothing to these High-Level officials...and there were MANY High-level people in DC who used her service.
Is it any wonder that she killed herself.
She was let down.
The wolf is guarding the hen house.
Posted by random_radar
Easy- balistics tests, coroner can tell, and handwriting analisis on the note along with fingerprints and DNA can EASILY rule out a murder staged to look like a suicide. This isn''t 1890 buddy, the police crime lab have all kinds of ways to find out, even if blood is totally cleaned up in a murder scene there is a chemical that when applied to surfaces vividly shows even the slightest traces of blood the eye cant see.
"if you think she committed suicide, I have a big red bridge to sell you for a $1.00...same
Posted by iwsvinci
She was facing 55 YEARS in prison, obviously she knew she would be found guilty and convicted, so she killed herself instead of spending the rest of her life in jail, makes perfect sense.
From what I''ve seen from her, she certainly doesn''t seem like the type to off herself. Hopefully she gave all her important documents to her lawyer and/or others.
Posted by mbcsmith at 02:03 PM : May 01, 2008
As are politicians...
Right. Both women simply couldn''t handle the humiliation and decided to kill themselves. The fact that they had firsthand knowledge of illegal s.exual encounters with some of the most powerful men in DC certainly had nothing to do with it!
Posted by mbcsmith at 02:03 PM : May 01, 2008
No, her girls serviced the ******.
They try to lie us into another...
They rape you at the pump...
They rape you at the grocery store...
They rape you at the hospital...
They rope you into "free speech" zones...
They torture and murder innocents...
They suicide those who would hurt their interests
...and you vote for them over and over and over again....Who is the more disgusting vermin...the Demopublican dogs who rule this land...or the garbage that empowers them?
She was let down.
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Posted by jjarden at 01:57 PM : May 01, 2008
VINCE FOSTER
I don''t think Bill ever had to pay $$$ for ***. Unlike Vitter.
I really wish some of you would grow up.
I certainly hope that this woman''s death is as eagerly investigated.
Posted by USBrit at 02:22 PM : May 01, 2008
5 gunshot wounds to the head...obviuosly a suicide! :)
WOW! By your thoery, we should just abolish all the homicide police forces across the board. Afterall what difference does murder make? What are you a a mafia hit man. "what''s done is done". BS. You should be ashamed of yourself for such a callous statement.
She was going to write a book, entailing her 12 years in the business. Her "fictitious" names she was going to use would have been all too obvious of who some of these "elite" customers were. That would have ruined many, many lives. Too many to be publicized.
Now you figure out why she is dead.
Just a quick refresher course lest we forget what has happened to many ''friends'' of the Clinton''s.
1- James McDougal - Clinton''s convicted Whitewater partner died of an apparent heart attack, while in solitary confinement. He was a key witness in Ken Starr''s investigation.
2 - Mary Mahoney - A former White House intern was murdered July 1997 at a Starbucks Coffee Shop in Georgetown. The murder happened just after she was to go public with her story of sexual harassment in the White House.
3 - Vince Foster - Former White House councilor, and colleague of Hillary Clinton at Little Rock''s Rose Law firm. Died of a gunshot wound to the head, ruled a suicide.
4 - Ron Brown - Secretary of Commerce and former DNC Chairman. Reported to have died by impact in a plane crash. A pathologist close to the investigation reported that there was a hole in the top of Brown''s skull resembling a gunshot wound. At the time of his death Brown was being investigated, and spoke publicly of his willingness to cut a deal with prosecutors. The rest of the people on the plane also died. A few days later the air Traffic controller commited suicide.
5 - C. Victor Raiser, II - Raiser, a major player in the Clinton fund raising organization died in a private plane crash in July 1992.
6 - Paul Tulley - Democratic National Committee Political Director found dead in a hotel room in Little Rock, September 1992. Described by Clinton as a ''Dear friend and trusted advisor''.
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