Family of victim who overdosed after ‘being abused by Jeffrey Epstein’ blame him for her death

Among the stories from dozens of victims of pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, the untold tale of Leigh Patrick’s descent into a personal drug-fueled hell-on-earth stands out in its horror.

Christian school graduate Patrick, who told DailyMail.com in an unpublished interview about her relationship with the multi-millionaire pervert in 2015, was found dead in a room in a sleazy West Palm Beach motel just weeks short of her 30th birthday on May 30, 2017.

According to the official report of her death, Patrick, who was known as Skye to her friends, died of a heroin overdose.

And while her death was ruled accidental by the local Medical Examiner’s Office and blamed on the opiate crisis, both a family member and a friend described Patrick’s death as the conclusion of a chain of events kicked off by her alleged encounters with Epstein more than 15 years ago.

Leigh Patrick, 29, was found dead in a sleazy West Palm Beach, Florida, motel just weeks short of her 30th birthday on May 30, 2017.  Her family say her addiction problem began after meeting Jeffrey Epstein in 2003, when the then 16-year-old found herself alone with the wealthy financier at his Palm Beach, Florida mansion 

'My sister suffered tremendously,' her twin sister Selby Patrick (pictured left with Leigh right) told DailyMail.com. 'And it started with Epstein. Something happened in her when she met him that got her out of control. She struggled with addiction since the time she met that guy. She went to rehab several times. She fought hard, but she eventually succumbed to the addiction'

‘My sister suffered tremendously,’ her twin sister Selby Patrick (pictured left with Leigh right) told DailyMail.com. ‘And it started with Epstein. Something happened in her when she met him that got her out of control. She struggled with addiction since the time she met that guy. She went to rehab several times. She fought hard, but she eventually succumbed to the addiction’

Epstein, a Wall Street financier with more than $100 million in properties in Manhattan, Palm Beach and elsewhere, was arrested on July 6 on federal charges of sex trafficking

Epstein, a Wall Street financier with more than $100 million in properties in Manhattan, Palm Beach and elsewhere, was arrested on July 6 on federal charges of sex trafficking

‘My sister suffered tremendously,’ her twin sister Selby Patrick told DailyMail.com. ‘And it started with Epstein. Something happened in her when she met him that got her out of control.

‘She struggled with addiction since the time she met that guy. She went to rehab several times. She fought hard, but she eventually succumbed to the addiction. We miss her. 

Epstein, a Wall Street financier with more than $100 million in properties in Manhattan, Palm Beach and elsewhere, was arrested on July 6 on federal charges of sex trafficking.

The arrest has shaken the political establishment to its core because Epstein, a friend of President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton, has been accused of sharing some of his underage victims with other powerful men.

In the mid-2000s, Palm Beach Police investigated Epstein and accused him of recruiting and paying dozens of girls, many of them troubled and some of them as young as 14, from working-class neighborhoods for sex in a dungeon at his waterfront mansion.

The then-Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer and federal prosecutors led at the time by now former U.S. Labor Secretary Alex Acosta worked out what has been called a sweetheart deal with Epstein’s high-powered legal team. It allowed the pedophile to plead guilty to misdemeanor prostitution charges. 

Acosta, after being asked by Democrats and Republicans, resigned from his government position on Friday as details of the Epstein deal continue to roll out. 

In 2008, Epstein served 13 months of an 18-month sentence in a county jail where he only reported to his cell after business hours and on weekends.

Every weekday morning during his sentence, Epstein’s chauffeured limo picked him up outside the jail and drove him to a fancy downtown West Palm Beach office so that he could continue conducting Wall Street business.

In the mid-2000s, Palm Beach Police investigated Epstein and accused him of recruiting and paying dozens of girls, many of them troubled and some of them as young as 14, from working-class neighborhoods for sex in a dungeon at his waterfront mansion (pictured)

In the mid-2000s, Palm Beach Police investigated Epstein and accused him of recruiting and paying dozens of girls, many of them troubled and some of them as young as 14, from working-class neighborhoods for sex in a dungeon at his waterfront mansion (pictured)

Federal prosecutors led at the time by now former U.S. Labor Secretary Alex Acosta worked out what's been called a sweetheart deal with Epstein's high-powered legal team. It allowed the pedophile to plead guilty to misdemeanor prostitution charges. Acosta, after being asked by Democrats and Republicans, resigned from his government position on Friday. Pictured: Acosta and Epstein in 2004

Federal prosecutors led at the time by now former U.S. Labor Secretary Alex Acosta worked out what’s been called a sweetheart deal with Epstein’s high-powered legal team. It allowed the pedophile to plead guilty to misdemeanor prostitution charges. Acosta, after being asked by Democrats and Republicans, resigned from his government position on Friday. Pictured: Acosta and Epstein in 2004 

Patrick was not a limo kind of girl.

She rode in friends’ aging cars to travel the 17 miles from her childhood home in working-class Lake Worth, Florida to Epstein’s $15 million house.

Patrick’s name became public when she was subpoenaed to testify in one of a series of lawsuits filed by victims against Epstein.

And when DailyMail.com contacted her for an interview in 2015, she agreed to talk about the first time she ended up at Epstein’s mansion.

She admitted then to battling an addiction to drugs, but she was clean and sober after a stint in rehab and had just applied for a job selling insurance.

At the time, she revealed she was engaged and was planning on marrying her son’s father.

Patrick admitted to being a ‘wild’ teenager who used alcohol despite the state’s drinking age of 21. And drinking, she said, made her do things she might not do otherwise.

‘I was at Wellington Christian School when this first happened with Jeffrey,’ Patrick explained as her son Jayden, then 3, played nearby. 

‘It was sometime in 2003. I was at a party one night at a school friend’s house when this other friend, a girl, said we should go to a house party in Palm Beach.

‘I was slightly buzzed, so I said why not. 

‘When we got there, my friend left in a hurry and there I was, alone in that big mansion. There was no party going on.’

When DailyMail.com contacted her for an interview in 2015, Patrick agreed to talk about the first time she ended up at Epstein's mansion aged 16. She said: 'It was sometime in 2003. My friend left... and there I was, alone in that big mansion... Jeffrey was there with only a towel around his waist.' Patrick said he gave her $300 and talked her into removing her shirt, 'he was getting aggressive... I got really uncomfortable so I grabbed my shirt and left'

When DailyMail.com contacted her for an interview in 2015, Patrick agreed to talk about the first time she ended up at Epstein’s mansion aged 16. She said: ‘It was sometime in 2003. My friend left… and there I was, alone in that big mansion… Jeffrey was there with only a towel around his waist.’ Patrick said he gave her $300 and talked her into removing her shirt, ‘he was getting aggressive… I got really uncomfortable so I grabbed my shirt and left’

The house, she said, seemed to be occupied only by Epstein and a woman who appeared to work for him.

‘The woman took me into a large bathroom,’ Patrick said, ‘and Jeffrey was already there with only a towel around his waist.

 He was getting aggressive about what he wanted and I got really uncomfortable so I grabbed my shirt and left.

‘I remember he had the black-and-white photo of a d**k on the wall. I thought the whole thing was creepy.’

Patrick claimed Epstein gave her $300 cash and talked her into removing her shirt.

She did, but when he allegedly asked for her to take off her bra, she declined.

‘He was getting aggressive about what he wanted,’ Patrick said, ‘and I got really uncomfortable so I grabbed my shirt and left.

‘There was little doubt where this was going and I ran out of the house and in the street.

‘I left because I was a scared 16-year-old,’ she said. ‘I ran out because he was so creepy. He scared the life out of me.’

Patrick said she went back to see Epstein but didn’t want to discuss it.

‘It makes me angry just thinking about it,’ she said.

In 2008, as local news media reported Epstein pleaded guilty to minor charges, she called one of his lawyers and demanded money for what he’d done.

In time, she told DailyMail.com she didn’t want to file a lawsuit but still got a $50,000 settlement that included a clause she could never discuss what happened at the mansion. 

She said a friend of hers sued Epstein under the name ‘AC’ and also received $50,000.

In 2008, as local news media reported Epstein pleaded guilty to minor charges, she called one of his lawyers and demanded money for what he'd done. In time, she told DailyMail.com she didn't want to file a lawsuit but still got a $50,000 settlement that included a clause she could never discuss what happened at the mansion

In 2008, as local news media reported Epstein pleaded guilty to minor charges, she called one of his lawyers and demanded money for what he’d done. In time, she told DailyMail.com she didn’t want to file a lawsuit but still got a $50,000 settlement that included a clause she could never discuss what happened at the mansion

Patrick's nude body was found by the cleaning crew who sawed off the door handle in order to get inside. She was partly covered with a sheet while on a tween bed at the Treetops Motel (pictured), where Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies routinely run undercover sex-for-sale sting operations

Patrick’s nude body was found by the cleaning crew who sawed off the door handle in order to get inside. She was partly covered with a sheet while on a tween bed at the Treetops Motel (pictured), where Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies routinely run undercover sex-for-sale sting operations

The corpse, according to the lengthy sheriff's office report, was covered with bruises, abrasions and open wounds. The deputies at the scene also noted 'open sores'

The corpse, according to the lengthy sheriff’s office report, was covered with bruises, abrasions and open wounds. The deputies at the scene also noted ‘open sores’

DailyMail.com contacted AC this week, but she asked through her husband to remain anonymous.

AC claimed in her 2008 lawsuit that she was 17 years old when she was ‘seduced’ by Epstein into performing ‘acts of lewd and lascivious conduct’ for Epstein, who also touched her ‘breasts and genitalia.’

AC’s husband, who also asked not to be identified, said his wife handled the aftermaths of her ordeal well – but she was one of the lucky ones.

‘I’ve been with my wife since high school, and many of our friends ended up at Epstein’s house,’ he said. ‘We’re married and we have jobs and children.

‘But for a few of the girls who were abused, they didn’t turn out too good. He really messed with these girls’ heads. There’s been psychological scars that led to substance abuse.’

He named Patrick as one of the most egregious cases.

Patrick’s nude body was found by the cleaning crew who sawed off the door handle in order to get inside. 

She was partly covered with a sheet while on a tween bed at the Treetops Motel in May 2017, where Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies routinely run undercover sex-for-sale sting operations.

The corpse, according to the lengthy sheriff’s office report, was covered with bruises, abrasions and open wounds. The deputies at the scene also noted ‘open sores.’

Deputies tracked down a man who had been renting the room where Patrick’s body was found and he told them he was driving out of the motel property when he picked up Patrick as she ran down the street. 

Palm Beach County court records show Patrick was arrested 12 times in the 14 years between the time of her encounters with Epstein and her death. Her rap sheet included possession of cocaine, domestic battery, resisting arrest, battery on a law enforcement officer and assault

According to records, Patrick pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 17 days in the county slammer. She was found dead two weeks after her release

Palm Beach County court records show Patrick (left and right in mugshots) was arrested 12 times in the 14 years between the time of her encounters with Epstein and her death. Her rap sheet included possession of cocaine, domestic battery, resisting arrest, battery on a law enforcement officer and assault

Patrick's son Jayden (pictured together), who turns 7 years old later this month, was left under the care of her twin sister Selby

Patrick’s son Jayden (pictured together), who turns 7 years old later this month, was left under the care of her twin sister Selby

He told authorities she looked like she may have been beaten and was obviously under the influence of drugs.

He said she agreed to go back to his room so that she could take a shower and clean up her wounds.

In the room, the man told deputies, he witnessed Patrick getting high while sitting on the toilet. She’d been hiding baggies filled with a white powder in her bra.

When she passed out, he said he flushed the drugs into the toilet and threw out her glass pipe in the garbage.

She was snoring on the bed when he left to check out. He told deputies he figured she’d eventually wake up – which she didn’t. 

Her son Jayden, who turns 7 years old later this month, was left under the care of her twin sister Selby. 

‘You know,’ AC’s husband said, ‘the system may have failed them twice: once in letting Epstein go, and a second time by failing to provide some kind of support.’

Palm Beach County court records show Patrick was arrested 12 times in the 14 years between the time of her encounters with Epstein and her death. Her rap sheet included possession of cocaine, domestic battery, resisting arrest, battery on a law enforcement officer and assault.

In 2017, she was arrested outside her sister’s house and charged with trespassing.

She’d been banned from the property after her attempts to see her young son, who was in her sister’s custody, turned violent.

According to records, Patrick pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 17 days in the county slammer.

She was found dead two weeks after her release. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk