TARPON SPRINGS, Fla., May 1, 2008
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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Interactive Political Scandals Politics can be a strange and dirty business. Check out some of the biggest missteps and mishaps in recent history.
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Photo Essay 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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Well, it proves that point wasn''t "drivel". :)
Many of the Neocons drifted over from the Democratic camp...Richard Pearl, for instance, the fat Israeli spy who busied himself betraying America on the staff of Senator "Scoop" Jackson earlier in his career and then ended up on the board of Zionist thief ''Lord'' Conrad Black''s Hollinger Corporation and settled into the Neo-Con nest at PNAC is one example...
These people are opportunists and manipulate the false left/right, democratic/republican paradigm to achieve policy successes for their masters. They failed to move Clinton into war, they became ''neo cons'' and got the war on with a willing Bush.
The Oligarchy is not necessary of one mind on everything. They struggle among themselves as segments in every large group struggle and alliances change...You see the so-called conservative...Limbaugh, FOX and friends move toward Hillary...You see the interests behind Bush at CBS move in a direction that does not reflect poorly on the Regime or the elites among Palfrey''s customers... You see the Democrats leaning toward the exposure of Cheney and McCain....We''ve "got the body, which is dead..."and the motive...blackmail or possible blackmail...Now we need to figure out ''who done it''...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St3gLiynu14
Maybe we should just believe this KNOWN liar Moldea that she was contemplating suicide. Right!
www.prisonplanet.com/articles/may2008/050208_tape_ignored.htm
Read the last couple of pages about when she ''should'' have played her last trump card. Hindsight''s the best...
It''s called knowing that the political party doesn''t matter, they all dance to the same tune. There might be small differences, but generally, just find out which one is most responsive to your wishes. Obviously, Murdoch has determined that Clinton will best carryout his NeoCon Agenda.
The federal government is nothing more than a legal Mafia.
You do know that Murdoch is a big time NeoCon, right?
A NeoCon, supporting a Democrat?
It''s called ''shaking the tree to see what falls out''. Maybe someone would blink.... Maybe not...
Here is a link to a CBS article on Murdoch supporting Clinton.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/09/politics/main1600694.shtml
Is it still "drivel"?
Try looking at people from different perspectives. SOME people, when holding a massive trump card, wait until all other alternatives are exhausted before playing that card. Palfrey had no idea how the trial would go, decided to wait with her card. She MIGHT not have to use it. After the trial was concluded, she would then decide which way to turn. She was about to play her card, which is why she was Suicided when she was. This is not the end, others have her list. But, now it will be second hand info, the horse''s mouth has been shut. SOME people live their life differently than you. Surprise!
1) She said knew more than she had revealed.
2) She said that she would not commit suicide.
3) She is now dead...allegedly from suicide.
4) Democratic operatives are reporting high level Republicans and elites patronizing her service.
5) Bush family connected enterprises--like CBS-- are putting out stories that pointedly ignore Palfrey''s own words regarding suicide.
6) FOX is, on the other hand, reporting what Palfrey said in interviews...and Rupert Murdoch has moved into the Clinton camp.
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