Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Virginia Giuffre and the Questions Facing Western Australia Police (8/3/26)

Transcript

Virginia Giuffre and the Questions Facing Western Australia Police (8/3/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. Authorities over in Australia have launched an investigation
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: into the final days of Virginia Robert's life and the
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: circumstances leading up to her passing away. And according to
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: the reporting, they're looking at the way the police were
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: interacting with Virginia prior to all of this going down,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: especially surrounding the circumstances of the claims of abuse that
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: she was making against her ex husband, and according to
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: a letter that was sent by Virginia's family, they feel
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: like more could have been done and that there was
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: some negligence on the part of the authorities in Australia.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: So now the Australian authorities have launched this investigation as
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: they try to collect some facts about what led up
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: to Virginia allegedly taking her own life. So today we
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: have an article from Western Australia Today and the headline
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Western Australia Watchdog probes police interactions with Virginia Roberts. This
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: article was authored by Carla Hildebrandt and Melissa Feiffe. Western
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Australia's government watchdog is investigating whether police acted appropriately in
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: their dealings with Virginia Roberts before death last April. It's
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: understood that the wa On Budsman's Investigation is examining the
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: issues raised by Robert's family in the United States, detailed
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: in a letter to the organization in June. And I
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: know there's a lot of people that think that the
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: circumstances surrounding Virginia's death are questionable. And look, I get it.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: When we're dealing with what we're dealing with, and how
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: many people have quote unquote committed suicide, I think it's
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: a legitimate question to always ask. Now, at this point,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: I haven't seen any evidence that would lead me to
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: believe that it's anything but what was reported, but that
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean that won't change. Look, we're only getting what
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: they give us, right, so that's all we can base
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: our opinion or speculation upon whatever the evidence is that's available.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: And according to the evidence that we know about, they
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: say that Virginia took her own life. And look, when
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: you've gone through the stuff that Virginia went through, you're
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: carrying a load that is almost impossible to bear, and
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: then you add all the other stuff on top of it,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: stuff with her husband stuff in the media, other lawsuits
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: that are, you know, making their way through the court whatever.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: It's a lot of pressure and it's a lot of stress,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I could see that leading to somebody having
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: a breakdown. That kind of stuff happens all the time.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: But on the flip side of that, we all know
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: that Virginia had a lot of information that was damaging
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: to a lot of powerful people, So of course there's
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: going to be questions, and that's why the authorities need
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: to do a good job when they're investigating something like this,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: and when they're detailing what happened to the people that way,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: it kills all the fertile ground for any kind of
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: crazy talk to even begin. But the problem is when
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: we're talking about these investigations surrounding Epstein, that's never the case.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: These investigators make things more difficult and make things more
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: blurry just about every time, and whether that's by ignorance
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: or design, I'll leave it up to you. The on
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: budsman's responsible for independently investigating complaints about the actions of
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: public authorities, so kind of like their version of internal affairs,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: I guess they're the ones that have to go in
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: and investigate other police officers or other agencies when there's
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: some kind of issue like this. Roberts brothers, Sky Roberts,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: Andy Wilson, and their wives Amanda Roberts and Lynette Wilson
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: wrote to the on Budsman requesting a formal review of
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: WA's police action in the lead up to her death
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: at her near a gabby farm in Perth's Wheat Built.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: The review comes after WA Police announced last month they
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: launched an internal review into their dealing with Roberts and
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: her allegations of family violence against her husband, Robert Joffrey,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: made in January of twenty twenty five. In their letter,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: the family asked why Robert was not charged with assault
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: after the incident, and whether police acted appropriately in response
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: to her reports of domestic violence and fears for her safety.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: I have questions about that too. Now. I won't jump
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: on the train and say they didn't do their job
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: because we haven't seen the reports yet. But I'd like
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: to see a written report and see what the officers
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: had to say. Now are we going to get that
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: kind of information. I doubt it. The investigat will have it,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: but we're talking about Australia here, so I don't think
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: we're going to get that information released to the public.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: I would hope, but I doubt it. We remain concerned
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: that the broader risk picture for Virginia reported was not
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: treated with sufficient urgency by police. The family's letter to
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: the ambudsman said, well, especially considering that they punish Virginia,
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: they took her kids away, she wasn't able to contact them,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: wasn't able to call them, nothing, And I still haven't
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: seen a legitimate reason for that, especially considering Virginia was
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: the one who said she was being abused, So what
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: gives and why would they go to the extreme that
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: they went to. And look, I'm more than willing to
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: listen to their explanation, right, but a better damn well
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: be good, and it better not be some kind of
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: cover story to try and protect the people who shit
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: the bed. The family requested the on budsmen examine what
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: or Robert's complaint was properly investigated, what risk assessments were undertaken,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: how firearms concerns were handled, and whether any systemic failure
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: is contributed to the outcome. That's all pretty basic stuff
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: that should have been done right, and there should be
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: an accounting for it. There should be reporting, There should
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: be you know, memorandums, the whole thing. Robert was served
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: with the seventy two hour police order after the alleged
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: January ninth assault. The day after that order expired, on
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: January fourteenth, twenty twenty five, he successfully obtained a family
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: violence restraining order against Virginia in the Perth Magistrate's Court,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: which included her two youngest children, age fifteen and seventeen
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: at the time. Like, how do you even give that
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: order as a judge? What exactly was so dangerous? What
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: was Virginia doing that you have to have that kind
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: of order where she can't see her children. Now, look,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: I understand separating the two adults, right, Okay, here's an order.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: You guys shouldn't be around each other. This is a toxic,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: violent environment. I get that, But the kids. Why shouldn't
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: the kids be able to see their mother? She was
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: that big of a risk? Huh sorry, I'm not buying that,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: not for a minute. The innimortar lasted for six months.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: We believe that the combined toll of the sustained abuse,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: loss of access to her children, and failure in the
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: system's response contributed to Virginia's death by suicide. The family
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: letter states, and look, that's probably the most likely scenario.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: All these pressures, all this stress, all this trauma from
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: over the years just turns out to be too much.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: And when somebody has dealt with the things that Virginia
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: has dealt with throughout the years, to lose your children
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: on top of it, and to be basically given a
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: scarlet letter saying that you can't see your kids, that
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: has to be just brutal. I can't even imagine. So
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: I can certainly see how that could contribute to somebody,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: you know, having a mental break, whatever it might be.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: The family and several domestic and family violence experts and
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: researchers have also written to WA Coroner Ross Fogliani seeking
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: a public inquest into Robert's death. A spokesperson for the
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Western Australia Coroner's Court said no decision had been made
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: on whether a public inquest would be held. Well, that's weird.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Why not just have a public inquest and be done
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: with it. If you want to put things to bed
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: and you want to make sure that people don't have
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: any kinds of crazy questions, then you have to be transparent.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: And you have to tell the people the truth. Here
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: are the findings, this is what we did, this is
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: how we messed up, and this is how we're going
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: to fix it. But we never see that, Dewey, It's
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: always somebody else's fault. It's always the system's fault, never
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: the person making the decision. Though, the spokesman said the
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: coroner was awaiting the police report into Robert's death before
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: determining whether an inquest would be held. All right, well,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: I guess we'll have to wait and see what they
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: come up with. But I have no idea how anyone
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: could think that not having an inquest is a good idea.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: The more information we have, the better off everybody is.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: And if Virginia's family wants this inquest, I don't see
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: why the authorities would be against it. I would think
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: that the authorities would want to make sure that everything's
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: on the up and up, especially considering all of the
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: attention on this story. You would think that you'd want
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: to make sure that everything's kosher, And hopefully that's what
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: we end up seeing, and hopefully the authorities in Australia
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: don't just go through the motions and actually investigate the
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: circumstances leading up to Virginia's death, because I don't believe
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: we have the whole story, that's for sure, and I
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: have a very hard time believing that Virginia should have
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: lost custody of her children for any amount of time.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: So we'll have to see what that report says if
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: we get to see it, if one's ever filed, and
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: if one is, you better believe we'll get it added
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: to the catalog. But until then, that's going to do
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: it for this one. All the information that goes with
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: this episode can be found in the description box.