How Jeffrey Epstein Found a Comfortable Home in New Mexico
He bought one from the governor
Former Gov. Bruce King had been a power player in the state from the 50s through the 90s. During his final years in office, Gov. King sold what would become the Zorro Ranch to Jeffrey Epstein for $12 million. The deal with the governor gave Epstein his own compound, airstrip, and grazing rights around it, to keep Zorro as isolated as possible, allowing him to fly in guests and girls with no questions.
The sale was stranger still because the land around the Zorro Ranch, where Epstein would reportedly hold lavish parties featuring major New Mexico political figures, and bring teenage girls there to abuse, went on belonging to the King family.
Unlike New York and Florida, Epstein had no ties to New Mexico and no obvious reason to build a compound there. Santa Fe was much farther from the action than Palm Beach or Manhattan. But Epstein didn’t just buy land from anyone, he bought it from the man running the state longer than anyone else and a member of the most influential family in the state. Shortly after the governor left office, his son, Gary King, already a state legislator, went to work under Bill Richardson, the state’s future governor, before going on to become New Mexico’s Attorney General.
Jeffrey Epstein provided sizable donations to both Gary King and Bill Richardson. When the first phase of the Epstein scandal broke, Gary King was forced to return $15,000 in donations from the notorious sex predator. “I don’t think I’ve ever met him personally. He knows other members of my family better,” King claimed.
