From the Associated Press:
TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. -- A woman police believe to be convicted Washington escort service operator Deborah Jeane Palfrey committed suicide, officials said Thursday.
Police said the body was found in a shed near Palfrey's mother's home Thursday morning. There was a suicide note, but police did not disclose its contents or how she killed herself.
Police did not immediately have additional comment when reached by telephone. Palfrey's attorney, Preston Burton, did not return a telephone call and e-mail message.
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.
She 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.
She was convicted of money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes and racketeering. Palfrey faced a maximum of 55 years in prison and was free pending her sentencing July 24.
Prosecutors said Palfrey operated the prostitution service for 13 years.
Her trial concluded without revealing many new details about the service or its clients. Vitter was among possible witnesses, but did not take the stand.
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 commenting further.
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.
Last year, Palfrey said she, too, was humiliated by her prostitution charges, but said: ''I guess I'm made of something that Brandy Britton wasn't made of.''
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Comments
.....meanwhile David Vitter gets a standing ovation from his Republican colleagues in the Senate:
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070723/OPINION/707230311
Posted by: John E | May 1, 2008 2:38 PM
I am very sorry to hear that, even if it is not her. I am sorry anyone gets so desperate or despondent that they have to choose that action. I am sorry for her and for her family!! May she rest in peace!!!!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | May 1, 2008 4:03 PM
Nothing will bring her back, but who stood to benefit from her permanent silence? Time for some independent forensics, maybe??
Posted by: Steve | May 1, 2008 8:05 PM
This is very sad, but I don't believe a word of it. Women do not hang themselves. Women will cut their wrists, overdose on prescription pills and booze, but they don't hang themselves. She was facing only 5 yrs in prison, they say. Doesn't make sense. I feel so badly for Ms. Paltrey's family. My heart goes out to her mother, her family and friends.
Posted by: Ms. Dixie H. | May 1, 2008 8:16 PM
What a sick puritan nation we are.
SO WHAT if some guy wants some nookie outside of marriage--with a prostitute or in the ******** oval office.
Who the heck cares? Why is this criminalized here anyway? Why do we attack both spouses -- or even one for venturing for some activity. It's between the two of them.
Or it should be.
That would free us up to worry about the genocide our military industrial complex has committed since 1947.
What an idea.
May that poor woman's family find some piece.
LEAVE PEOPLE'S PRIVATE LIVES ALONE!
Posted by: Happy Now? | May 1, 2008 8:28 PM
Why do I seldom read about the men who purchase these services joining their women in public humiliation and a free ride to prision? If I buy a joint and get caught, the guy who sold it to me and I get a free ride. I would be buying something illegal and so did the men. Where is the justice when only the women do the time? The secret "black book" is kept underwraps to protect the guilty. Why don't we put more investigative power and time into National Security and stop spending my tax dollars trying to bust up consensual sex---even when it is for hire.
Posted by: JCT | May 1, 2008 9:46 PM
She so did not kill herself. This is the second "suicide" in this case. The first happened in January and it was one of the escorts. It is terrible what the government can get away with! So sad.
Posted by: mama | May 3, 2008 10:08 PM