Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Western Australia Police Review The Circumstances Leading To Virginia Robert's Death (6/25/26)

Transcript

Western Australia Police Review The Circumstances Leading To Virginia Robert's Death (6/25/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Epstein Chronicles. We're getting reports out of Australia that the
• 0:09
  Western Australia Police are going to reevaluate their interaction with
• 0:15
  Virginia Roberts over the final few months before she passed away,
• 0:21
  and they're trying to see if there was anything they
• 0:23
  could have done differently to try and make the situation better,
• 0:27
  maybe to try and make it more of a palatable
• 0:31
  deal for Virginia, with the hope that if something like
• 0:35
  this happens again, you know, somebody with the same circumstances,
• 0:39
  they can behave differently and maybe offer them more help
• 0:44
  and offer them some more resources to try and deal
• 0:47
  with the trauma that they're going through. And I know
• 0:49
  that we all look at Virginia as, you know, this
• 0:51
  really brave person who was willing to take these people on,
• 0:55
  but she was human and she had the same kind
• 1:00
  of fears, the same kind of you know, hesitation as
• 1:03
  everybody else. And what you think that when she went
• 1:08
  to bed at night turned that light off, that all
• 1:10
  of that just went away because she got a few bucks.
• 1:15
  The trauma that Virginia had was serious, and it was
• 1:19
  compounded obviously by the relationship with her husband later on
• 1:23
  down the road. So the police in Australia are going
• 1:27
  to review this response to see if they could have
• 1:29
  responded any better. And look, I think that's a good idea,
• 1:34
  and I have no idea what they're going to come
• 1:35
  up with. And I'm certainly not pointing the finger at
• 1:39
  the police or social services in Australia because we don't
• 1:43
  have that kind of evidence and that would be just
• 1:46
  ignoring all the trauma that she had previously. So with
• 1:49
  that said, why don't we jump into this article from
• 1:51
  the Guardian and let's see what they have to say.
• 1:54
  This article was authored by Jordan Beasley, headline Western Australian
• 1:59
  Police to review response to Virginia Roberts domestic violence dispute.
• 2:06
  Police in Western Australia have agreed to review how they
• 2:09
  interacted with Virginia Roberts, one of the most prominent victims
• 2:13
  of the disgraced US financier Pedophile, in the lead up
• 2:17
  to her death a year ago by suicide. Robert's brother
• 2:21
  and sister in law, Sky and Amanda Roberts, told ABC
• 2:24
  Radio on Wednesday morning that they had written to both
• 2:27
  the State Coroner and police requesting an investigation into how
• 2:31
  police handled a domestic violence dispute she was involved in
• 2:34
  before she took her life on her Western Australian farm
• 2:38
  last April at the age of forty one. Roberts, who
• 2:42
  was American but had lived in Australia for years, was
• 2:46
  involved in a dispute with a former partner. And you
• 2:49
  have to think, with all of the trauma and all
• 2:52
  of the baggage that Virginia had gone through, something like this,
• 2:56
  especially if it was physical, that has to take a
• 2:58
  serious toll, right obviously, not just on the relationship, but
• 3:03
  on your mental health. And I'm talking about in the
• 3:05
  best of times, people that have never suffered trauma before,
• 3:10
  if they get into an abusive relationship, well they're suffering
• 3:13
  trauma now. But if you're somebody who's suffered trauma their
• 3:17
  whole life basically, and then you get into this relationship
• 3:20
  with the guy that you know, you think is your savior,
• 3:23
  and you build this loving relationship over the years, and
• 3:27
  then that all switches up at some point and he
• 3:30
  starts abusing you and beating you and you know, being
• 3:33
  mentally abusive whatever, taking your kids, the whole thing. Yeah,
• 3:37
  that has to weigh heavy on people, right, especially if
• 3:41
  you're already dealing with trauma. And look, I'm not gonna
• 3:44
  sit here and tell you that I'm some kind of
• 3:46
  psychologist and I understand the human psyche. I don't, fuck
• 3:50
  I hardly even understand my own mind speak. But what
• 3:53
  I will tell you is this, the burden that was
• 3:56
  placed on Virginia was a heavy one. And I know
• 3:59
  that for a fact because I talked to her about it.
• 4:03
  The state's Police Commissioner, Colonel Blanche, confirmed in a parliamentary
• 4:07
  hearing on Wednesday that the police had received a letter
• 4:10
  from Robert's family and were conducting a review. And look,
• 4:15
  you can't blame them. It's important to see what's what right, Okay,
• 4:19
  this is this? That is that they investigated this, they
• 4:22
  didn't look at that. You know, all of it matters.
• 4:27
  And again I'm not looking to place blame on the
• 4:30
  police in Australia, but I think it's a good idea
• 4:33
  to figure out how this all came about and if
• 4:35
  there's anything that the authorities can do moving forward that
• 4:38
  can help perhaps prevent something like this happening in the future.
• 4:42
  Is a good idea because we have to remember how
• 4:45
  many other people in Australia are in abusive relationships. I'm
• 4:49
  sure there are plenty. He said. He did not know
• 4:52
  yet how police responded to Robert's case, noting police respond
• 4:56
  to over one hundred thousand family violence incidents every year,
• 5:00
  but had requested the review to find out. And that's
• 5:03
  what I was just saying, one hundred thousand family violence
• 5:06
  incidents a year. So obviously it's an issue that goes
• 5:10
  deeper and further than just Virginia. So it helps the
• 5:14
  whole entire society, right, everybody that's in Western Australia. Let's
• 5:19
  get this review going and let's see where things stand,
• 5:22
  and then maybe when Joane down the street is getting
• 5:25
  the ever living shit kicked out of her by her husband,
• 5:28
  there are some resources to help her. The coroner can
• 5:32
  also choose to do an investigation, as could the ambudsman,
• 5:36
  he said. Sky and Amanda Roberts said they were not
• 5:40
  questioning the circumstances surrounding her death or disputing that she
• 5:44
  died by suicide, but wanted to know if there were
• 5:47
  any internal failings before her death. Look, we don't know, right,
• 5:52
  we have no idea. We know what we've been told.
• 5:56
  We know what the authorities have said, and we know
• 5:58
  that Virginia certainly was dealing with a lot of trauma.
• 6:03
  But an investigation is a good idea, and I know
• 6:06
  if it was my loved one, I'd want an investigation,
• 6:09
  especially considering the circumstances and considering the threats that Virginia
• 6:14
  has faith throughout the years. We're really asking for a
• 6:18
  thorough review of the process about what happened when Virginia
• 6:21
  went to the police station on multiple occasions. Amanda said,
• 6:25
  where are those are reports? And why the police did
• 6:27
  not continue to follow up. There's a lot of things
• 6:30
  that happened before Virginia ultimately made that decision, And look,
• 6:35
  I'm sure there are I'm sure that Virginia was dealing
• 6:40
  with a lot and who knows if intervention would have helped.
• 6:48
  Because sometimes when you've had enough, you've had enough, right
• 6:51
  and nothing's going to change it, especially if you get
• 6:54
  to a point where you have some kind of mental
• 6:56
  break forget it, you're not thinking rationally, you're not thinking about,
• 7:01
  you know, the long term. And in Virginia's case, she
• 7:04
  had everything taken from her, her kids were gone, you know,
• 7:08
  that's her whole life. So in her mind. She had
• 7:12
  all this trauma and then you heap this on top
• 7:15
  of it, talk about tea and up a gigantic disaster. Right,
• 7:19
  you have all this other stuff going on, and now
• 7:21
  you can't see your kids. Amanda said the Coroner's Court
• 7:27
  had responded with condolences to their request for an investigation,
• 7:31
  but had not yet committed to a formal review. A
• 7:34
  number of researchers and practitioners from Australian university and family
• 7:38
  violence organizations have supported the family's plea and also wrote
• 7:43
  to the coroner asking for an inquest, arguing that the
• 7:46
  case raises broader issues around domestic and family violence. And
• 7:50
  that's what I was saying. This is obviously an issue
• 7:54
  in Australia, obviously something they're dealing with. One hundred thousand,
• 8:01
  so that's a significant amount of calls. And how big
• 8:05
  is the population? Not very big? Right? What is there
• 8:09
  like twenty five million Australians in general, roughly something like that,
• 8:13
  So how many are there over in Western Australia And
• 8:16
  then you have one hundred thousand calls a year due
• 8:18
  to family violence? Seems like kind of a problem. No,
• 8:23
  So if anything good can come of this, then I
• 8:26
  think that's certainly a positive. Sky said he appreciated the
• 8:33
  group's efforts and their recognition that this is entirely way
• 8:37
  too common and such an investigation could help thousands. Look,
• 8:41
  I'll never understand people that beat on their girls, like
• 8:45
  what are you doing now? Look, I'm not saying somebody
• 8:48
  shouldn't defend themselves. You know someone's going crazy, grab them,
• 8:52
  hold them, call the police, whatever. But I just never
• 8:55
  understood the whole hit women shit. Maybe it's just how
• 8:58
  I grew up, and maybe it's just the fact that
• 9:01
  I never seen that in my life. My family, my father,
• 9:06
  my uncle's never ever So maybe it's just foreign to me.
• 9:12
  But the idea of raising my hand to a woman,
• 9:16
  I've never even thought about it. No matter how vile
• 9:20
  the women have been, no matter the things they've said,
• 9:22
  no matter how many times I've had a drink thrown
• 9:24
  on me, the thoughts never even crossed my mind. So
• 9:29
  I just don't understand. I can't wrap my mind around it,
• 9:33
  and I can't wrap my mind around people who think
• 9:35
  it's okay. That's what Virginia would want a thorough investigation
• 9:39
  into the systemic failures in Australia. Here in the United
• 9:42
  States across the UK, Sky said, and I can agree
• 9:46
  with that, and I can concur with that. I know
• 9:48
  that's what Virginia wanted. She wanted sweeping changes, and she
• 9:54
  wanted an investigation, a real investigation, because she knew it
• 9:58
  would prove everything she said was true. I wholeheartedly believe
• 10:03
  that if the police had done a thorough investigation, that
• 10:05
  Virginia would still be here. Roberts was one of the
• 10:10
  most vocal victims of Epstein. She alleged that she had
• 10:13
  been groomed and sexually abused by him and his longtime
• 10:16
  associate Glenn Maxwell, beginning in her teens. She also alleged
• 10:20
  that she had been sexually trafficked to Prince Andrew. In
• 10:24
  a two thousand and nine civil suit against Epstein under
• 10:27
  the pseudonym Jane do one O two, she alleged that
• 10:30
  her duties included being sexually exploited by Epstein's adult male peers,
• 10:35
  including Royalty. Roberts reached the settlement with Epstein in that
• 10:39
  case before it went to trial. Of course, that's how
• 10:42
  Epstein killed all of this, and then he also was
• 10:46
  able to label them cold diggers. Oh, they got paid,
• 10:49
  so it's okay. In twenty twenty one, Roberts filed a
• 10:54
  civil suit against Prince Andrew and the federal Court in
• 10:57
  New York, alleging he had sexually assaulted her on three
• 11:00
  occasions when she was seventeen. Andrew has repeatedly and strongly
• 11:04
  denied the accusations. In twenty twenty two, Andrew and Roberts
• 11:08
  agreed to an out of court settlement for an undisclosed sum. Maxwell,
• 11:13
  who has maintained her innocence, was sentenced to twenty years
• 11:16
  in prison in twenty twenty two for sex trafficking. An
• 11:20
  interim administrator was appointed to oversee Robert's estate after she
• 11:24
  died without a valid will, triggering competing claims by her sons,
• 11:29
  Christian nineteen and Noah eighteen. She sh that has to
• 11:34
  just be horrible. Your mom passes away and then the
• 11:38
  battles on for the estate, and it always comes down
• 11:41
  to that, right, rotten ass, garbage ass money. That's what
• 11:45
  it always comes down to. And you see how it
• 11:49
  tears people apart. Terry's family is apart, and that's why
• 11:52
  it's important just to veer off here for a second,
• 11:55
  to have a will. I'm certainly not in the business
• 11:59
  of giving anyone life advice, but I think that if
• 12:03
  you have kids, especially, probably a good idea to have
• 12:05
  something down on paper, because you don't want to get
• 12:08
  into a situation where some court or some stranger is
• 12:12
  dictating where the money ends up. So I would suggest
• 12:16
  having a will. And as far as this investigation goes,
• 12:20
  I hope that Australia does it, and I hope that
• 12:22
  they take a real look at what happened and if
• 12:25
  there are some issues along the way, hopefully they fix
• 12:28
  them and hopefully the next time around there are more
• 12:32
  resources for somebody who is going through the same thing.
• 12:36
  So we'll definitely keep an eye on this one as well,
• 12:38
  and we'll see what the Australians come up with when
• 12:41
  it comes to a commission or an investigation into the
• 12:46
  events that led to Virginia Roberts passing away. All the
• 12:50
  information that goes with this episode can be found in
• 12:54
  the description box.