The sudden suicide of Virginia Giuffre, 41, has caused ripples around the world – and raised serious questions. 

Giuffre, who accused disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein and Britain's Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, and later reached an out-of-court settlement with the royal, took her own life at her Australian home, according to her family. 

Giuffre alleged Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her to the Duke of York when she was 17. The prince denies the accusations. 

“She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking,” her family told Fox News. 

Now, Giuffre’s father and her lawyer are raising doubts over the nature of her death. 

Giuffre’s father, Sky Roberts told TMZ that police should look further into her death, citing past social media posts and videos in which Giuffre insisted she had no suicidal ideations, and warned that if it were ever claimed she had taken her own life, not to believe it. 

A 2019 post on X from Giuffre read: "I am making it publicly known that in no way, shape or form am I suicidal. ... If something happens to me – in the sake of my family do not let this go away and help me to protect them. Too many evil people want to see me quieted."

Giuffre’s lawyer Karrie Louden told The Sun newspaper that there are “big question marks” over her death, saying that Giuffre was “looking forward to things in the future” and showed “no sign” she was considering ending her life. 

“When I got the phone call, I was like, are you joking? Because there was no sign that that was something she was considering,” Louden said.

Giuffre’s death marks the third death of an Epstein accuser since 2017. 

In May 2023, Carolyn Andriano, who testified against Ghislaine Maxwell, died of an accidental drug overdose. Andriano had reportedly struggled with substance abuse for several years. Similarly, in May 2017, Leigh Skye Patrick, another Epstein victim, also died from a reported accidental drug overdose.

Stormy final months

Giuffre’s death followed a turbulent period in her life, during which she was estranged from her husband of 22 years, lost access to her children, and was involved in an alleged car crash.

At the time, she said she was taken to hospital on March 24 after the car she was in crashed with a school bus north of Perth.

Giuffre posted a picture on social media from her hospital bed showing her bruised face, saying she had been involved in a collision with a school bus and had suffered kidney failure. She said she only had four days to live.

“This year has been the worst start to a new year… I won’t bore anyone with the details, but I think it important to note that when a school bus driver comes at you driving 110km as we were slowing for a turn no matter what your car is made of it might as well be a tin can,” she wrote.

She added: "I'm ready to go, just not until I see my babies one last time."

Giuffre has three children with her husband, Robert Giuffre.

Her agent later said Giuffre had not realised the post was being published publicly.

Western Australia police, however, appeared to downplay the seriousness of the crash, describing it at the time as a "minor crash" between a school bus carrying 29 children and another vehicle.

Giuffre’s death also followed Australian media reports of a fractured marriage between her and her husband, Robert, who had initiated a family violence restraining order against her, which she was accused of breaching in February. She denied the allegations. 

According to her father Sky Roberts and her sister-in-law Amanda Robets, Giuffre had allegedly been physically abused by her husband, from whom she separated in 2023. 

In 2022, Giuffre settled a lawsuit accusing Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her as a teenager at Epstein's mansion in New York and on Epstein's private Caribbean island, Little St. James.

She leaves behind three children, Christian, Noah, and Emily, who were described by her family as "the light of her life.”