We value privacy so much in New Mexico it’s a personal ethic. That’s the first of four reasons why Jeffrey Epstein’s activities at the Zorro Ranch could go undetected for years.
Epstein bought 10,000 acres in southern Santa Fe County from the family of former Gov. Bruce King in 1993. The parcel sits on a lonesome stretch of NM 41 between Galisteo and Stanley. He didn’t raise public eyebrows until 1995.
”Build a 30,000-square-foot house in the middle of WayOutThere, call it the Zorro Ranch, and people are bound to notice,” wrote Shonda Novak, of the Albuquerque Tribune, in June 1995. Epstein told her “It’s just a normal home.” He also said, “I’m pretty much of a hermit.”
Epstein shared that his New York friends thought New Mexico was “somewhat desolate,” but he thought New Mexico was “the prettiest, most spectacular state by a long shot.”
He was “very security conscious.” Novak reported: “Current and former Zorro ranch hands say they have been sworn to secrecy. And some say they have been required to sign confidentiality agreements barring them from discussing details about the project or its owner.”
Locals were also tight-lipped.
“We just don’t interfere in people’s lives out here,” said a merchant. “We help people out when they want it, but when they want to be left alone, we leave them alone.”
Epstein isn’t the first rico or movie star to gravitate here for the isolation and privacy. We’ve accommodated many such people seeking refuge from the limelight.
By September 1995, Steve Terrell, of the Santa Fe New Mexican, had learned more. Epstein’s palace was twice the size of the county’s largest home. Epstein was a money manager from Manhattan who practiced yoga, shopped at Wild Oats, and bought $600 bed sheets.
”They’re nice people,” a local builder said. “They should be a welcome participant in the economy of New Mexico.”
Welcoming the money is reason number two that Epstein could fly beneath the radar. His financial spigot funded many a worthy cause and political campaign. This got sticky in 2006 when Florida police accused Epstein of having “sex with five teenagers as young as 14 in his Palm Beach home after luring them to give him massages.” Some politicos, including Gov. Bill Richardson, had to give Epstein’s political contributions to charity.
Reason number three is that we tend to be innocents. Realtor Pat French told Terrell that in the early ‘90s she was trying to help Epstein find a suitable property and stopped by the high-end resort where he was staying. Epstein had at least three teenage girls with him, about the age of her own daughter. “I just assumed they were his daughters,” French said.
This is the backdrop to the legislative Truth Commission investigating Epstein and Zorro Ranch. Created by the House this year, the commission just released its first report. One nagging question: Why did Epstein get a pass here from 2006 until he died in jail in 2019?
According to the report, Epstein became a convicted sex offender with a 2008 plea deal but didn’t have to register as a sex offender in New Mexico because of a loophole in state law. Law enforcement never searched his ranch for firearms, forbidden to a felon. That might have uncovered evidence of sex trafficking.
Which brings us to reason number four: Friends in high places thanks to generous political contributions.
“What we’ve seen is there may have been preferential treatment to Epstein as he came and went to New Mexico,” said Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, who chairs the commission.
The commission is busy with 24 subpoenas and reams of documents and it’s contending with federal agencies that refuse to provide information. It shouldn’t have to fend off a blatant attempt to politicize its work.
Senate Minority Leader Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, and Senate Republicans have demanded that the commission interrogate gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland and U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury. Based on what, exactly? Well, Haaland once rode on a plane alleged to be owned by Epstein. This is old and debunked. Move on. The Senate Rs accuse Stansbury of maybe having a former employer with possible links to Ghislaine Maxwell. Said Stansbury, “False and libelous.” If Sharer really wanted to help, she said, he’d use his influence to gain the cooperation of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Stansbury has already met with the commission and supports its work.
Rep. Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis, a former district attorney, said in June: “This commission will build a complete documented public record. We will name who was responsible and we will do so with the evidentiary rigor that survivors deserve.”
Reeb and her fellow commissioners aren’t tallying the number of Rs and Ds in its pages. They’re following the facts, wherever they lead.
Sherry Robinson is a longtime New Mexico reporter and editor. She has worked in Grants, Gallup, the Albuquerque Journal, New Mexico Business Weekly and Albuquerque Tribune. She is the author of four books. Her columns won first place in 2024 from New Mexico Press Women.
