Giuffre took her life in her home in western Australia in April, according to her family after being a "lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking". Before that, she had written her memoirs for several years together with author and journalist Amy Wallace, which are now compiled in a book to be released on October 21.
A few weeks before her death, Giuffre is said to have sent an email to Wallace, in which she expressed her desire to have the book published even if she were to die.
"If I were to pass away, I want to make sure that 'Nobody's girl' is still published. I believe it has the potential to affect many lives and promote necessary discussions about these serious injustices", wrote the 41-year-old and continued:
"It is absolutely necessary that the truth is understood and that the problems surrounding this issue are addressed, both for the sake of justice and awareness."
Virginia Giuffre claimed that Jeffrey Epstein's assistant Ghislaine Maxwell discovered her at Donald Trump's spa at Mar-a-Lago in Florida in 2000, when she was 17 years old. She is then said to have been employed as Epstein's masseuse - in her own words as his "sex slave" - and subjected to a long series of abuses. Among other things, Giuffre has accused Britain's Prince Andrew of rape, which ended with an agreement between the parties out of court. According to The Daily Telegraph the prince may have been forced to pay as much as 12 million pounds, equivalent to around 155 million kronor, to Giuffre in the settlement.
The memoirs are published by the American publisher Alfred A Knopf with the English title "Nobody's girl: A memoir of surviving abuse and fighting for justice".
An investigation into Jeffrey Epstein was launched as early as 2005, after a 14-year-old girl told the police that she had been molested by Epstein in his home in Palm Beach, Florida. The investigation grows and in 2007 he is prosecuted in a federal court.
After an agreement with prosecutor Alexander Acosta, Epstein is sentenced to 18 months in prison for purchasing sex in 2008. He is released after 13 months.
The case comes to attention again in 2018 after a series of articles in the Miami Herald, where women come forward and accuse Epstein of sexual abuse during the period 2001 to 2005.
In early July 2019, Epstein is arrested at an airport in New Jersey. The new charges against him concern abuse of dozens of underage girls between 2002 and 2005. According to the prosecution, Epstein is said to have tried to buy the silence of witnesses with millions after the Miami Herald's articles. Epstein denies the crimes.
The twists and turns surrounding Epstein also reach the White House. Alexander Acosta, labor minister in Donald Trump's government, is forced to resign as a result of the agreement with Epstein.
On August 10, 2019, Epstein is found lifeless in his cell in the detention center on Manhattan. He is taken to the hospital where he is declared dead. According to the US Department of Justice, he apparently took his own life.
