
Victim or Accomplice? The Story of Jeffrey Epstein’s Pilot Girlfriend
For years, Nadia Marcinko was Epstein’s main girlfriend. Prosecutors called her a potential co-conspirator. But she’s never been accused of a crime. Was she accomplice – or victim?
Nadia Marcinko, originally Marcinková, was born in Slovakia and met Jeffrey Epstein as an 18-year-old model. Later, she became a successful aircraft pilot. For seven years, she was Epstein’s main girlfriend. And she’s one of four women that US prosecutors named in a 2008 plea deal as his “potential co-conspirators”. But she’s never been accused of any crime. And she’s described herself a victim who was abused physically and psychologically by Epstein.
Now, a committee of the US Congress is beginning to address the sensitive question of whether it’s possible for someone to be both a victim and an accomplice, as it takes testimony from two of the “potential co-conspirators”, Epstein’s former assistants Sarah Kellen and Lesley Groff. Nadia Marcinko, who disappeared from public view several years ago, may also be called to testify.
BBC reporter Tim Whewell and independent Slovak journalist Jakub Pohle have talked to people who’ve known her, and dug deep into the Epstein files, to put together the most detailed account yet of her life.
Presented and produced by Tim Whewell and Jakub Pohle
Additional research: Oscar Brophy
Actors: Tara Gadomski, Kerry Shale, Simona Vrabcova, Rebeka Jurcackova, Jozef Radovsky
Sound mixing: Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Penny Murphy
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