Deborah Jeane Palfrey

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Deborah Jeane Palfrey
Deborah Jeane Palfrey aka DC Madam
Born	March 18, 1956(1956-03-18) North Charleroi, Pennsylvania
Died	May 1, 2008 (aged 52) Tarpon Springs, Florida
Cause of death	Suicide by hanging
Other names	D.C. Madam
Alma mater	Rollins College

Deborah Jeane Palfrey (March 18, 1956 – May 1, 2008)^[1] (dubbed the D.C. Madam by the news media) operated Pamela Martin and Associates, an escort agency in Washington, D.C. Although she argued that the company's services were legal, she was convicted on April 15, 2008 of racketeering, using the mail for illegal purposes,^[2][1] and money laundering.^[2] Slightly over two weeks later, facing a prison sentence of five or six years, she was found hanged. Autopsy results concluded it was death by suicide.^[3][1]

Contents 1 Biography 2 D.C. Madam scandal 3 Death 3.1 Suicide notes 3.2 Speculation surrounding the circumstances of her death 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

Palfrey was born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, but grew up partially in Orlando, Florida. Her father was a grocer. She graduated from Rollins College with a degree in criminal justice, and attended Thomas Jefferson School of Law, but did not graduate.^[4] Working as a paralegal in San Diego, California, and later as a cocktail waitress,^[5] she became involved in the escort business. Dismayed at how most services were run, including widespread drug abuse, she started her own company recruiting mostly women over 25 .^[4] In 1990 she was arrested on charges of pimping, pandering and extortion; after fleeing to Montana she was captured while trying to cross the Canadian border and brought back for trial. Following her conviction in 1992 she spent 18 months in jail.^[4][6] After her release, she founded Pamela Martin and Associates.

[edit] D.C. Madam scandal

In October 2006, United States Postal Inspection Service agents posed as a couple who were interested in buying Palfrey's home as a means of accessing her property without a warrant.^[5][7] Agents froze bank accounts worth over US$500,000, seizing papers relating to money laundering and prostitution charges.^[7]

According to the government's criminal charges, Palfrey's service recruited escorts using The Diamondback, an independent University of Maryland student newspaper, and the Washington City Paper. Her escorts charged as much as $300 per hour. Many have had professional careers. Palfrey continued to reside in California, and cleared some US$2 million over 13 years in operation.^[4]

Palfrey appeared on ABC's 20/20 as part of an investigative report on 4 May 2007.^[8] In combination with Palfrey's statement that she had 10,000 to 15,000 phone numbers of clients, this caused several clients' lawyers to contact Palfrey to see whether accommodations could be made to keep their identities private.^[9] Ultimately, ABC News, after going through what was described as "46 lb" [21 kg] of phone records, decided that none of the potential clients was sufficiently "newsworthy" to bother mentioning.^[10]

The scandal led to the resignation of Ambassador Randall L. Tobias from his State Department position and as the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Also named as a regular client was columnist and military strategist Harlan Ullman, creator of the concept of "shock and awe", of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Washington Times. Neither testified at Palfrey's trial.^[11][12]

On July 9, 2007, Palfrey released the supposed entirety of her phone records for public viewing and downloading on the Internet in TIFF format, though days prior to this, her civil attorney Montgomery Blair Sibley had dispatched 54 CD-ROM copies to researchers, activists, and journalists. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) acknowledged on the night of July 9 that he had been a customer of her escort service.

In early 2007, Palfrey reacted to the suicide by hanging of one of her former escort service employees, by saying, "I guess I'm made of something that Brandy Britton wasn't made of."^[13]

On April 15, 2008, a jury found Palfrey guilty of money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes and racketeering.^[2][1] Palfrey believed that contrary to the U.S. Attorney's Office lower estimate, she thought she might spend six or seven years behind bars.^[14] She faced a maximum of 55 years in prison.^[15] Palfrey's death resulted in her conviction being vacated.^[16]

[edit] Death

On May 1, 2008, Palfrey was found hanging in a storage shed outside her mother's mobile home in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Officials described her death as a suicide. Police found handwritten suicide notes in her bedroom where she was staying dated a week before her death. Autopsy results concluded her death was a suicide.^[17]

[edit] Suicide notes

Palfrey's two handwritten notes were released to the public. In one of them, she wrote to her sister, "You must comprehend there was no way out, I.E. 'exit strategy,' for me other than the one I have chosen here." In another, she described her predicament as a "modern-day lynching". She said she feared that at the end of serving her sentence she would be "in my late 50s a broken, penniless and very much alone woman".^[17][18]

[edit] Speculation surrounding the circumstances of her death

The New York Times's Patrick J. Lyons wrote on the Times's blog The Lede that many on the Internet (ranging from readers' impressions to conspiracy theory-minded writers) were skeptical that her death was due to suicide. Some pointed to her past expressions that she would not commit suicide while others speculated that she had yet to reveal the names of other prominent customers although Lyons doubted the latter belief.^[19] News accounts at the time reported that her mother said she had "no indication" that Palfrey was planning to commit suicide.^[20][14] However in a later interview she said, "I was afraid constantly. I watched her like a hawk. In fact, my neighbor got my mail. I didn't even want to leave the house to get my mail."^[21]

The police said after investigating they found "no new evidence [that] would indicate anything other than suicide by hanging". They also stated that Palfrey's mother and sister believed the notes to be written by Palfrey.^{[3][20][22][23]} Palfrey had sought to put her affairs in order. The day before her death she turned over the ownership and administration of her high school alumni web site to a fellow schoolmate.^[24][25] Palfrey had moved her possessions to her mother's home and been staying with her the previous week.^[14][26]

Palfrey's Orlando condominium manager where she stayed when visiting her mother, disputed the authenticity of the suicide notes despite what the family said. He remained adamant that Palfrey was murdered which the WESH reporter characterized as "speculation".^[14][27][28]

Journalist Dan Moldea, who got to know Palfrey while considering writing a book about her, claimed that in a conversation last year, Palfrey said, "I am not going back to prison. I will commit suicide first."^[14] He said her previous prison experience had traumatized her and she felt she couldn't do it again.^[1][13]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• D.C. Madam Suicide Notes, The Smoking Gun
• Read the Palfrey indictmentPDF, New York Times
• Shephard, Alicia. "DC Madam Tells (Not Quite) All", Washingtonian, May 22, 2007.