Netflix releases trailer for Jeffrey Epstein documentary series
Netflix on Wednesday released the trailer for its upcoming documentary series on Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who last year died in custody after being hit with additional sex trafficking charges. The four-part series, "Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich," will premier May 27 and focus on Epstein's crimes and feature interviews with a number of his victims.
According to the trailer, the series will look into the 2005 investigation of Epstein's relationships with underage girls in Palm Springs, as well as the "spider web" of people involved in Epstein's sex trafficking. "The monsters are still out there. You took our freedom, now we're going to take yours," one of Epstein's accuses says in the trailer.
"With their frightening firsthand accounts," several of Epstein's accusers are the "leading voices" in the documentary, according to a press release from Netflix. "By revealing their emotional scars, some for the very first time, the sisterhood of survivors intend to stop predators — and the American justice system — from silencing the next generation," the release continues.
The series is based on James Patterson's best seller "Filthy Rich." The author announced the upcoming series Wednesday on social media, sharing the newly-released trailer. Director Lisa Bryant and Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger, who produced Netflix's "Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes," also worked on the project.
Prior to his initial conviction, Epstein had long been accused of sexually abusing underage girls. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to two prostitution counts in a Florida court as part of a controversial deal to avoid federal charges.
More than a decade later, in July 2019, Epstein was arrested in New York on additional sex trafficking charges.
The financier died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10, 2019, weeks after he first attempted suicide there. The New York City Medical examiner ruled Epstein's death suicide by hanging, but the FBI and Department of Justice's Inspector General are investigating the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. Federal prosecutors revealed in January that the video of Epstein's New York jail cell when he made his first suicide attempt "no longer exists," raising new questions in the investigation into his death.
The circumstances of Epstein's death were almost immediately questioned. A forensic pathologist, hired by Epstein's family, observed the four-hour autopsy of Epstein's body and told "60 Minutes" that the unusual fractures in Epstein's neck, as well as other evidence, point more to murder rather than suicide.
Judging by the trailer, it appears "Jeffry Epstein: Filthy Rich" will focus on the sex offender's mysterious death as well as his high-profile connections revealed in the investigation into the allegations against him. CBS News has reached out to Netflix for more information on the upcoming series.
