
Theresa Helm has alleged that she was deceived and abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in the early 2000s. According to her account, she was approached by Maxwell with what appeared to be a professional opportunity—an interview for a...
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What's up everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to continue with our Surviving Jeffrey Epstein series. And this time, we're going to be talking about Teresa Helm. This article was published by the Intelligencer and the headline, last Chance Jeffrey Epstein Escaped Justice. Now his victims nervously await the trial of his alleged accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. This article was authored by Erica Ordon. And when you're out here cheering for Ghislaine Maxwell to come and stand before Congress and bullshit us, just remember all the people that she actually hurt. Remember all the people that she actually abused, and remember that she could have come forward at any time and given up whatever information she had. But now, all of a sudden, miraculously, Ghislaine Maxwell has a lot to offer us. I'm calling bullshit. Teresa Helm was 22 years old when she was flown across the country for what she thought was an interview to be a private massage therapist for a wealthy Manhattan woman. Ghislaine Maxwell. Arriving at Maxwell's elegant Upper east side townhouse, where she says she was greeted by a butler wearing coattails and carrying a silver tray, Helm thought that she had happened on the chance of a lifetime. That day in 2002, Maxwell was exceedingly polite and inquisitive of Helm, asking her of her upbringing in Ohio and remarking on the fact that their birthdays are one day apart. When Helm went to the bathroom, she noticed a framed photo of Maxwell and Bill Clinton on the wall. And for those of you who are new to the story, one thing you're going to realize very quick is that Bill Clinton was very, very close to Jeffrey Epstein. And I know all the hubbub right now is about Donald Trump and it should be considering his stupid ass commentary and, and his dumbass behavior when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein. But unlike the Department of Justice, I can chew gum and walk at the same time. And when you go back and you look at all these old articles, the vast majority of Them talk about the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Bill Clinton. After Helm gave Maxwell a massage, Maxwell said Helm should go to her friend Jeffries for the second part of the interview. If you love my place, just wait until you see Jeffries. Maxwell told her it's the largest townhome in Manhattan. The part she left out was that it was also the biggest den of scum and villainy this side of Moyes Eisley's Cantina. Talk about a disgusting, disturbing place. I mean, can you imagine how many girls were abused in that townhouse? And then can you imagine buying that townhouse after Epstein lived there? Zero chance I'd have to knock the whole ass thing down. In fact, I might have to take it a step further and nuke the place from space. Then again, I guess Jeffrey Epstein's old neighbor, Howard Lutnick, wouldn't like that too much. And she looked at me and she said directly, make sure you give Jeffrey what he wants. Jeffrey always gets what he wants. I tried to normalize what she said, and I thought, okay, this man probably gets a lot of massages. And she's saying he knows what he wants. At the time, I trusted this woman, Helm says, and I didn't have any reason to believe she was getting ready to send me off to a predator. Yeah, let's bring that predator before Congress, because, you know, the masses, they need their bread and they need their circus. What they don't need is truth or transparency, obviously. Later that day, Helm went to Jeffrey Epstein's mansion a few blocks north, where, after she watched him finish his dinner in the kitchen, she says he sexually assaulted her in the upstairs hallway. It destroyed part of me, Helm says of her encounter with Maxwell and Epstein. This woman, she's a master manipulator of human emotion and the Grand Duchess of bullshit. You know, a lot of times we're like, oh, this person's a liar, or that person's a liar. No, Ghislaine Maxwell's a liar. She got convicted of perjury. That makes her a liar. So we're supposed to just trot her up before Congress and. And before the country, in the world, and believe everything Elaine Maxwell tells us? Is that really the plan here, boys? Meanwhile, while they're grandstanding about this, they're calling a recess to Congress so they don't have to take a vote. Nearly two decades after Helm's fleeting but indelible experiences with Maxwell and Epstein, no one has been punished for the alleged sex trafficking ring. The two operated for years. And still to this day, nobody's really been punished. Oh, Ghislaine Maxwell's in jail, sure, but that's it. And that one person that they arrested, that one person that they put in prison, now they want to bring her out and Trotter in front of Congress. Like anybody should listen to anything she has to say. This is the kind of political theater that would have the Romans blushing. Not the modern day politician though. Instead they'll adjust their smile for the camera and head over to kiss some babies because, you know, they're such great people. They care so much about all of us and, and they care about the truth. So much so that they've buried it for decades. Epstein finally faced the prospect of federal prosecution in 2019 when the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office nabbed him on a return trip from Paris and charged them with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy. But that August, just one month after the news he was arrested, he committed suicide, allegedly in his jail cell while awaiting trial. And now, in his absence, Maxwell may finally pay a price for allegedly helping to victimize so many girls and young women. Epstein's one time girlfriend and longtime companion. You mean co, conspirator, general all around scuzbag, bipedal serpent and child abuser. That's what you mean. Maxwell, 59, will stand trial in Manhattan federal court starting on November 29th for the sex trafficking of a 14 year old girl and for recruiting, grooming or sexually abusing three other girls alongside Epstein. That Ghislaine Maxwell is really a hero. She's gonna really blow the doors off this whole entire thing. She has a lot to tell us. Ghislaine Maxwell is the hero that none of us wanted, but that all of us needed. That's going to be the next slogan. Ghislaine Maxwell, the misunderstood Helm plans to travel from her home in Naples, Florida to watch Maxwell in court, along along with a group of other victims. For some, including some of the victims cited in the charges against Maxwell, which would stretch back to conduct that allegedly occurred in 1994, this trial is perhaps their last chance to get justice. And considering what's going on right now, yeah, that's true. The Glenn Maxwell trial was the last chance to get justice. And the little bit of justice they did get. They're now hearing that that same person might be dragged in front of Congress for this dog and pony show. I do anticipate looking directly at her and I don't know what I'll feel, Helm says. I don't believe that she should ever be free because there are way too many of us on the outside. We are not sitting in jail cells and we are still free from what she has done and what she has caused. I want everybody to keep this in mind. All these accounts by the survivors and what they say directly about Ghislaine Maxwell, a British heiress and socialite once defined by her chic pixie haircut and posh accent. These days, Maxwell is practically unrecognizable as a woman for years. Pictured on Epstein's arm at Mar a Lago and Cipriani arriving at a hearing earlier this month, she shuffled into the courtroom flanked by US Marshals, her wrists and ankles shackled with heavy chains that clanked when she walked. Oh, I'm sure that they'll have her in front of Congress looking spiffy. Why don't we just bring her back down to Frederick Fakai and let him hook her up like he used to do back in the day? I mean, let's go all the way and really refurbish her image, because that's what you're trying to do, right? Her dark hair, frizzy and shoulder length, and she wore a baggy gel issued outfit, navy shirt, pants and canvas shoes. The only echo of her former self came when she spoke, telling the judge and her clip pronunciation, I have not committed any crimes. And when, during a break in the proceeding, she turned to blow a series of kisses to a woman in a red beret who appeared to be her sister but her former self, the alleged secret side of it, will be on display later this month in evidence presented by prosecutors when they try to convince a jury that Maxwell assisted, facilitated and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of minor girls, as they wrote in their indictment. And boy, did they do that gloriously. Ghislaine Maxwell, like I've said a million times, is exactly where she belongs, and I don't give a flying fuck what kind of refurbishment campaign they're trying. When it comes to Glenn Maxwell, that shit is not going to fly. Good luck. According to prosecutors, Maxwell used her appearance as a sophisticated, glamorous woman to pull girls as young as 14 and Epstein's orbit. She attempted to befriend them, prosecutors wrote, taking them on shopping trips or sending them lingerie, bringing them to the movies, inquiring about their families, school and friends. Then, according to court papers, she would try to engage in grooming behavior by undressing in front of them or discussing sexual topics. And once she had convinced a girl to give Epstein a massage, often a a sexualized massage in which the girl was partially or fully nude, Maxwell would remain in the room while the sex act occurred between Epstein and the girl, a step that the prosecutors said in court papers helped put the victims at ease because an adult woman was present. Now think of the vile ass nature of this woman. Imagine what kind of evil person you have to be to engage in this sort of bullshit. But sure, lets Trotter on out the Arbiter of Truth Ghisne Maxwell. Welcome to the Fall of Rome. Be sure to grab your bread as you exit the Coliseum. In addition, prosecutors allege in some instances Maxwell herself participated in the sexual abuse of minor victims. Maxwell denies all of this and the court filings. Her lawyers have accused the government of having conducted a a hasty and sloppy investigation in the wake of Epstein's suicide as it scrambled to file a case against someone else in his absence, alleging the government substituted Ms. Maxwell for Jeffrey Epstein after his death. Yeah, that's exactly what happened. She's just the fall guy, Maxwell. Ms. Misunderstood Maxwell faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted of all charges. She will face a second trial for perjury charges for allegedly lying under OATH In a 2016 deposition about whether she was aware of Epstein's scheme to recruit underage girls for sexual massages. A person who has been charged and convicted of perjury is going to be the arbiter of truth all of a sudden, huh? Are you folks catching on yet? Are you catching on to the hustle? Are you catching on to the political theater? The the six week trial promises to deliver some hurdles for both the prosecution and the defense. For one thing, the charges concern alleged conduct that is relatively dated, beginning in 1994 and ending in 2004. The case is expected to rely heavily on witness testimony, in particular from the four women cited in the indictment who will be asked to recall traumatic events that occurred when they were minors. And those years may take a toll on both their memories and the existence of documentary evidence that might either support or undermine their stories. The prosecution faces some real challenges with corroboration due to the passage of time, and the defense needs to avoid falling into the trap of relying too much on holes in memory, said Marin Bell, a former federal prosecutor in the Manhattan US Attorney's office. Pointing at little gaps here and there and going aha is less effective strategy than one might think. Well, that's true.
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And that's exactly how it played out. Nobody believed Glenn Maxwell, no jurors, nobody at the trial, and certainly nobody who was following along at home. And I will be damned if anyone thinks they're gonna recreate history here and rewrite what happened. Another former federal prosecutor in that office, Jessica Roth, noted that prosecutors wrote the charges without tying specific acts to specific dates, a choice that will allow prosecutors to avoid having to prove those details from decades ago and could make it harder for Maxwell's lawyers to dispute certain events with hard dates. One could try to raise doubt about whether the victim's memory was perhaps a little bit off to suggest Maxwell wasn't present on that date, roth said. But the lack of precision about a particular date makes that harder to do. I think the indictment was drawn purposely to avoid having to prove with precision what occurred on a particular date. And that's true. It was. It was tailored in a manner so that they can really zero in on Ghislaine Maxwell. But of course, they sacrificed a RICO case to do so. Earlier this month, the judge presiding over the case imposed what may be another hurdle for the defense. She ruled that certain witnesses will be allowed to testify under a pseudonym or using only their first name, though that is a rarity. Two recent federal cases in New York have featured anonymous witnesses, the trials of R. Kelly and Keith Raynery, leader of the sex cult nxivm. Both men were convicted. Maxwell's lawyers fought this outcome hard, arguing that allowing witnesses to remain anonymous would prejudice the jury against her client. When it comes to those witnesses, all of them will be women, as will three of the four prosecutors on the case, as well as several of Maxwell's defense attorneys, including the lawyer who has been taking the lead in pretrial proceedings, Bobby Sternum. To experienced trial lawyers, that is no coincidence. When you're talking about sex, a woman questioning a woman can allow you to dig deeper on some of the issues without looking offensive or aggressive, said Maura Penza, the lead prosecutor on the nxivm case. I do think that it's good strategic choice. And it is. There's no doubt about it. Look at how it worked out for Diddy with Nicole Westmoreland. But it didn't work out so well for Maxwell, and that's because the survivors were unassailable. Everything they were saying was the truth, and it was all corroborated. One defense tactic Maxwell may employ is to allege that she, too, was a victim of Abstein's. Several other women who have been accused of recruiting girls for Epstein have since claimed that they were subject to abuse. I think that there will probably be aspects of her presenting herself as a victim, penza said. But she added that Maxwell's age, she was only nine years younger than Epstein, and the power that she wielded with him would likely undercut that argument. Imagine trying to pitch that shit to somebody. You have to be a real ignoramus to believe that. For many observers of the trial, the biggest question will be whether Maxwell will take the stand in her own defense. I can tell you for a fact nobody was wondering if she was taking the stand. We all knew she wasn't taking shit. Besides a prison sentence, though, it's often unwise for a defendant to do so because the danger of being confronted during cross examination, the calculus may be a bit different for Maxwell, according to criminal defense attorneys. There is likely less documentary evidence to contend with because the case is so old, said Duncan Levin, a criminal defense attorney whose clients have included the Seagram's heiress and former NXIVM leader Clara Bronfman. And, Levin said, like Elizabeth Holmes, another female defendant currently on trial, Maxwell is known for her power of persuasion. These are people who are extremely convincing, levin said. And all they have to do at this point is convince 12 more people. Oh yeah, great idea. Remind me never to hire Duncan Levin. As for Helm, who has followed Maxwell's repeated and failed attempts to be released on bail, including her initial proposal that she be allowed to live in a luxury hotel pending trial, said if Maxwell does testify, it will be because she thinks she can continue to bend people in in this case, jurors to her will, said Helm, she believes that she still controls her reality. Well, I don't know about Ghislaine Maxwell controlling her own reality anymore, but I do know this. If you want a reality TV show, then by all means, Truck Lane Maxwell out in front of Congress. But if you want the truth and you want answers, we're gonna need the files. So how about we skip to that part? Let's skip the bread and circus and let's get directly to transparency. Instead, all of the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.
Host: Bobby Capucci
Episode Date: May 24, 2026
In this episode of The Epstein Chronicles, host Bobby Capucci continues the "Surviving Jeffrey Epstein" series, focusing on survivor Theresa Helm. Capucci dives into Helm's harrowing encounter with Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, highlighting the manipulation and abuse involved in Epstein's operation. The episode draws from an Intelligencer article and critiques the ongoing spectacle surrounding Maxwell and congressional hearings while calling out the lack of true accountability for Epstein's network.
"For years the Legacy media and the rest of high society looked the other way and ignored his behavior as multiple women came forward with allegations of abuse." ([00:43])
"When you're out here cheering for Ghislaine Maxwell to come and stand before Congress and bullshit us, just remember all the people that she actually hurt ... She could have come forward at any time and given up whatever information she had." ([00:43])
"Make sure you give Jeffrey what he wants. Jeffrey always gets what he wants." (Quoted by Capucci from Helm's interview)
"This woman, she's a master manipulator of human emotion and the Grand Duchess of bullshit." ([approx. 05:00])
"This is the kind of political theater that would have the Romans blushing." ([08:00])
"I don't believe that she should ever be free because there are way too many of us on the outside ... we are still free from what she has done and what she has caused." (Quoted from Helm, [approx. 10:00])
"Oh, I'm sure that they'll have her in front of Congress looking spiffy. Why don't we just bring her back down to Frederick Fakai and let him hook her up like he used to do back in the day?" ([approx. 11:00])
"Imagine trying to pitch that shit to somebody. You have to be a real ignoramus to believe that." ([approx. 15:00])
"If Maxwell does testify, it will be because she thinks she can continue to bend people, in this case, jurors, to her will, said Helm." ([approx. 18:00])
"And still to this day, nobody's really been punished. Oh, Ghislaine Maxwell's in jail, sure, but that's it." ([04:30])
"If you want a reality TV show, then by all means, Truck Lane Maxwell out in front of Congress. But if you want the truth and you want answers, we're gonna need the files." ([approx. 20:30])
"Let's bring that predator before Congress, because, you know, the masses, they need their bread and they need their circus. What they don't need is truth or transparency, obviously." ([04:00])
"It destroyed part of me ... I tried to normalize what [Maxwell] said ... At the time, I trusted this woman, and I didn't have any reason to believe she was getting ready to send me off to a predator." (cited by Capucci, [05:00])
"Ghislaine Maxwell is the hero that none of us wanted, but that all of us needed. That's going to be the next slogan." ([09:00])
"Pointing at little gaps here and there and going aha is less effective strategy than one might think." ([12:40])
"Welcome to the Fall of Rome. Be sure to grab your bread as you exit the Coliseum." ([16:11])
Bobby Capucci’s delivery is direct, unfiltered, and often laced with sarcasm and passionate critique of the media and legal system’s handling of the Epstein case. He alternates between empathy for survivors and scathing, darkly comedic commentary on the powerful figures and institutions that enabled Epstein.
For more information, see the episode description and referenced article.