Ghislaine Maxwell has spoken from behind bars to describe how she has been plagued by rats and “creepy” guards ahead of her upcoming trial.
The former socialite will appear before a federal court later this month in New York, where she has pleaded not guilty to procuring underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse.
It is expected to be one of the most closely followed criminal cases of the century and has already set in motion pre-trial efforts by Ms Maxwell’s team to shape public perception.
As well as an interview setting out her foetid existence in a US jail, Ms Maxwell is believed to have dyed her hair to conceal grey streaks, while her family have commissioned their own court artist to draw her in a flattering light.
This weekend, the 59-year-old described spending her days surrounded by vermin and under the constant gaze of prison guards.
“I used to go to the loo with an open sewer drain and a friendly rat would regularly visit,” she said in an interview to be published by the Mail On Sunday.
“I told the guards but nothing was done until the rat popped out and charged a guard who screamed in terror.”
Ms Maxwell claimed she had stopped taking showers because “creepy guards stand close and stare at me the whole time,” and that she suffered “inhumane” solitary confinement.
Lawyers for Ms Maxwell have previously claimed she endured jail conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn that are comparable to those imposed on Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.
Ms Maxwell claimed in the interview she had not had a nutritious meal since she was first taken into custody almost a year and a half ago.
She also alleged that she had not slept without fluorescent lights on, adding: “I am weak, I am frail.”
Ms Maxwell also claimed that her mail had been tampered with, meaning she had received vital evidence too late while preparing for trial.
She went on to express fear that the negative coverage about her since her arrest would “poison” the jury pool, meaning she will struggle to get a fair trial.
Jury selection has begun ahead of a trial which is due to begin on Nov 29.
It was also reported that Ms Maxwell had hired body doubles to walk through Paris to throw off the world’s media prior to her arrest.
Epstein killed himself in a New York jail in August 2019 at age 66 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Ms Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to allegations that she conspired with and aided Epstein’s abuse of minor girls between 1994 and 2004.
This week her defence team gave an insight into their legal strategy for the case.
Ms Maxwell appears to have undergone a pretrial makeover, which experts said was not uncommon for defendants in jury trials. At a hearing this week, her hair was no longer lank and greying, but full and dark.
Jane Rosenberg, the in-house sketch artist who has been covering the case, noted the difference from her previous appearance in April, speculating Ms Maxwell may have taken advantage of the hair dye on sale at the prison’s commissary.
The Maxwell family has also commissioned their own sketch artist, hoping for a more flattering depiction.
Jeffrey Pagliuca, Ms Maxwell’s lawyer, told the judge they planned to attack the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses and the alleged victims, questioning why they did not come forward with allegations against Ms Maxwell until after Epstein’s death.
The Maxwell team suffered a early blow on Wednesday, however, when Judge Alison Nathan ruled to allow one of the prosecution’s star witnesses – Lisa Rocchio, a clinical psychologist with expertise in traumatic stress, who explained to the court why some victims delay reporting abuse.
Dr Rocchio spoke of common patterns of grooming of children: starting with gaining access and isolating a victim, then developing trust, rewarding them with gifts and later desensitising them to physical and sexual contact.
The prosecution has claimed that Ms Maxwell would pick out young women and girls for her ex-boyfriend Epstein to abuse. The indictment against Ms Maxwell claims she and Epstein would “build friendships” with alleged victims by taking them to the cinema or shopping.
On Monday, Judge Nathan will hear whether to admit Ms Maxwell’s expert on “false memory”, who previously testified for other high-profile defendants.
Elizabeth Loftus, a well-known psychologist who frequently testifies about “false memories” of traumatic events, was a defence witness at Harvey Weinstein’s trial.
Prosecutors, however, argue Ms Loftus should not be permitted to offer opinions on witness credibility. “Such opinions would be highly prejudicial and inflammatory, would confuse and mislead the jury, and would invade the fundamental province of the jury in determining witness credibility,” prosecutors wrote.
Judge Nathan is also expected to rule on whether to exclude testimony from one the four alleged victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons but is understood to be British.
The judge noted in court last Monday that the age of consent in the UK – where the abuse was said to have taken place – was 16 and that “Minor Victim 3” could not recall what ages she was when she was allegedly groomed.