DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey Dead In Suicide

ISGP SECTION: Suspicious deaths index

Huffington Post
First Posted: 05/01/08 05:33 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 01:30 PM ET

UPDATE: Fox News has confirmed from Tarpon Springs Police in Florida that Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the woman known as the "DC Madam," has committed suicide.

Contrary to the TIME report, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the DC Madam who reportedly committed suicide today, apparently warned that she would be "suicided" — murdered but made to look like a suicide — both as far back as 1991 and more recently. Prison Planet's Paul Joseph Watson reports that the DC Madam feared for her life:

"If taken into custody, my physical safety and most probably my very life would be jeopardized," she wrote in August 1991 following an attempt to bring her to trial, "Rape, beating, maiming, disfigurement and more than likely murder disguised in the form of just another jailhouse accident or suicide would await me," said Palfrey in a handwritten letter to the judge accusing the San Diego police vice squad of having a vendetta against her.

During several recent appearances on The Alex Jones Show, Palfrey also said that she was at risk of being killed and that authorities would make it look like suicide. She made it clear that she was not suicidal and if she was found dead it would be murder.

Palfrey had threatened to release the names of well-known clients of her upscale call girl ring in the nation's capitol, and had indicated that Dick Cheney may be one of them.

"No I'm not planning to commit suicide," Palfrey told The Alex Jones Show on her last appearance, "I'm planning on going into court and defending myself vigorously and exposing the government," she said.

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ORIGINAL POST:Fox 5 Orlando is reporting that a woman found dead in her home is Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the "DC Madam." Authorities are reporting that her death may be a suicide:

Police were called to the home of DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey's mother on Thursday to investigate her apparent suicide.

Police have confirmed that the dead person is Palfrey who was 52.

Palfrey was dubbed "The DC Madam" by the national media after her arrest for allegedly running an upscale call girl ring in the nation's capitol.

The AP reports that the DC Madam suicide apparently took place at her mother's home and that she left a suicide note:

Police in Tarpon Springs, Florida say the body was found in a shed near Palfrey's mother's home Thursday morning. There was a suicide note, but police did not disclose its contents.

Although local reports confirm it was Palfrey but refer to her death as an "apparent suicide," and the AP reports the death as a suicide but call the deceased "a woman believed to be" the DC Mada, FoxNews.com is reporting that local officials confirm both Palfrey's identity and her cause of death:

"It was her, and she's deceased," said Frank Ruggiero, a public information officer with the Tarpon Springs Police Department. "There's no question that it was a suicide."

Palfrey was found guilty of running a prostitution ring last month. TMZ also reports on the DC Madam suicide, confirming that she was awaiting sentencing.

In June 2007, one of Palfrey's former escorts, University of Maryland professor Brandy Britton, committed suicide after being arrested. At the time, Palfrey said of Britton:

"This is a woman who was divorced, who was trying to raise two, ah, high-school children, college-age children," Palfrey said. "Great job title, the great position, all the respect in the world, but she wasn't making enough money. So she decided to do a little moonlighting."

Palfrey added, "And she was publicly outed, is a good way to put it, she was absolutely humiliated. Ah, she couldn't take the humiliation. Her whole life was destroyed. And she, she just, ah, ultimately committed suicide."