Ghislaine Maxwell trial: Jeffrey Epstein’s home manager said staff were instructed to ‘see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing’
“I’m sorry to have to say it was very bad for me. Most of the pages they were unbelievable for me,” Juan Alessi, the manager, testified in federal court on Thursday.
The manual includes instructions for staff to maintain high levels of engagement for Epstein, Maxwell and their guests.
“Remember you see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing except to answer a question directed at you. Respect their privacy,” Alessi reads from the manual.
He sees the rule as a warning to keep quiet about anything he sees.
“It was meant to be a kind of warning that I had to be blind, deaf and dumb, unable to say anything about their lives,” he said.
“Unless otherwise directed, NEVER reveal Mr. Epstein or Mrs. Maxwell’s activities or whereabouts to anyone. If the caller insists, simply ask them to receive text message, time, phone number. phone that the caller can be reached.Do not be bullied and do not show any reaction or impatience.
Alessi flew a one-time ad to Epstein’s estate in New Mexico to attend a ” symposium” with other Epstein employees on how to clean his house, he said. He also recalls Maxwell’s dog, a Yorkie named Max, who accompanied her everywhere. He said he had to bathe the dog every time before the dog went on a trip with Maxwell and the dog trembled with fear of having to fly.
In Alessi’s testimony on Thursday, he explained what he witnessed while serving from 1991 to 2002 as the home manager of the Epstein estate in Palm Beach. Maxwell was charged with six counts, including sex trafficking of a minor, in which prosecutors allege it was a conspiracy to seduce and recruit underage girls for his sexual purposes. Epstein.
The house manager said Maxwell ran many of Epstein’s properties
Alessi testified that he first met Maxwell in 1991 and understood her to be Epstein’s girlfriend.
“From the day she arrived at the house, she immediately took over and she told me she was going to be the lady of the house and that she was in charge of the other houses as well,” Alessi said in court.
Alessi said he handles Maxwell on a daily basis because all of Epstein’s orders are routed to him through her.
Alessi testified that his own relationship with Epstein had deteriorated from “friendly” to serious professional during the decade he worked for him, as he worked less and less with Epstein.
At the end of the job, Alessi said Maxwell told him: “Jeffrey doesn’t like when you look him in the eye. You never look him in the eye, look in another part of the room and answer. he.”
Maxwell was with Epstein “95%” of the time he was at the Palm Beach home, according to Alessi. He said Epstein would spend most of the weekend and all vacations at home in Florida, usually leaving on Monday or Tuesday and returning on Thursday or Friday.
He said Alessi and other staff members will be thoroughly prepared for Epstein’s return, cleaning the house and car, which must be “perfect”. Officers will also stock all of Epstein’s cars with $100 bills per guide, Alessi said.
“They run the house like a five-star hotel,” he said.
There were ‘many, many, many women’ there, the manager said
Alessi said there were “many, many women” who visited Epstein’s Palm Beach home while he worked there. When women sit by the pool, they go topless 75% to 80% of the time hanging out with Maxwell and Epstein, he said.
Alessi recounted that Jane went to the house “at least three times” with her mother and several other times alone. He testified that he personally picked her up more than once to bring her home to Epstein’s Palm Beach, and so did his wife. He used to pick her up from her local art high school.
He recalled “possibly twice” driving Jane with Epstein, Maxwell and others onto the airport runway and watching them board one of Epstein’s planes.
Alessi testified that on a hot, sunny day, he drove Maxwell to all the luxury spas and country clubs in Palm Beach County. He would wait for her in the car at every stop, including Mar-a-Lago. Maxwell told him to stop the car as they were driving out of the parking lot from Mar-a-Lago. She got out of the car and spoke to a blond young man in a white uniform who he later learned was Virginia Roberts.
He saw the girl again that afternoon around 5 or 6 o’clock when she arrived at Epstein’s Palm Beach home, Alessi said. Alessi led her to Maxwell at her desk and did not see them go anywhere or do anything after that, he testified.
He recalled driving Roberts onto the tarmac with Epstein, Maxwell and others on multiple occasions. When asked how he knew that Roberts and the team had boarded the plane, he said “Since I took them, I was the driver.”
Alessi also recalls a time when the girl entered the house with two other young girls, but he couldn’t see them well because they went straight through the kitchen to Maxwell’s table, he said.
In addition, Alessi testified that Maxwell, Epstein or someone from Epstein’s New York office would tell him to schedule a massage for Epstein and that if the masseuse was present, he would let Maxwell or someone else know. Appointment confirmed.
“I go to my office and I have a Rolodex machine with all the masseuses and whoever they tell me to call, I’ll call…. It’s all different times of the day. There are massages in the morning, massages in the afternoon, and some massages after dinner, after the movie. They are scheduled to come after the movie from 10-11 pm.”
Alessi testified that Epstein and Maxwell would go to the movies with other people “almost every night” and that he sometimes remembered Jane going with them.
CNN’s Eric Levenson contributed to this report.