[0:00]Coming up on 60 Minutes. >> What did go on at Zoro? >> So twisted and so dark. >> Jeffrey Epstein's mansion of horrors. In the middle of nowhere,
[0:11]>> some of the most heinous things [music] that anyone could imagine. >> Place so evil. >> Both died by strangulation [music] during rough fetish sex. >> No one could hear his victim's screams.
[0:23]>> He destroyed my life. >> That's next on 60 Minutes. [laughter] The Zoro Ranch in New Mexico sounds like it could be a desert Disneyland. After
[0:34]all, it was named after the fictional masked crusader. But the reality couldn't be starker. The remote property was in fact one of sex predator Jeffrey
[0:45]Epstein's lair. And with the release of the damning Epstein files, we're learning much more about the horrors that went on there. Not only was it the alleged scene of sexual abuse against
[0:56]minors and young women, it was where the maniacal Epstein dreamt of developing a designer baby farm. Shockingly, there are even suggestions of bodies buried at
[1:07]the ranch. So, what did the authorities know about this place and when? >> Where did he take you and where did he abuse you?
[1:18]So, the first abuse happened on the island and then at Zora Ranch, New York,
[1:30]Paris, [music] Palm Beach, St. Trope. Out of all those places that you've [music] just named, was there a
[1:41]particular spot that was more sinister, more scary than the others for you? Of all the locations, I would say Zora Ranch was probably the [music] most
[1:51]eerie. Um, just giant and quiet [music] and literally in the middle of nowhere
[1:58]and miles and miles of just mountains and
[2:06]dirt for miles. These are the desert plains and snow tipped mountains of [music] Santa Fe County in New Mexico.
[2:17]It's a harsh and remote place where the sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein built the opulent and oversized lair he named Zoro Ranch.
[2:29]a hideaway in the middle of nowhere. It is finally being forced to give up its terrible secrets of sex abuse, human trafficking, and maybe even murder.
[2:40]Epstein's survivor, Shantae Davies, is deeply haunted by Zoro, where no matter how loud you screamed, no one could hear you.
[2:51]There was a lot of time [music] spent in my room at Zoro, feeling very much like a mouse trapped in its cage, [music] just kind of waiting until someone would come to my door and say, "Jeffreey's ready for his
[3:03]massage now." >> What did that really mean? >> Rape. Yeah, it was [music] full on forced on sexual um
[3:15]rape. >> Time is up. Fighting for survivors like Shante is Democrat Congresswoman Melanie Stanbury. >> We are fighting for
[3:26]>> gentle lady's time is expired. >> Members are reminded to direct their remarks we chair and not a perceived viewing audience to refrain from engaging in personalities against the president. Pursuant to clause 12A of
[3:37]rule one, the chair declares >> she is one of a rare number of people to have seen the unredacted version of the Epstein files and what she has seen and
[3:45]read has propelled her to action. There's certainly hundreds of allegations of women who experienced those really dark experiences. And so I
[3:57]think we're really dedicated to getting to the bottom of the truth of what happened in New Mexico and on that property. >> Authorities are now searching a ranch in New Mexico [music] once owned by Epstein.
[4:08]>> Of all the Epstein properties, Zoro has been the forgotten strand in his evil web. But while the ranch has long been overlooked, it's feared it's where Epstein's [music]
[4:19]worst crimes were committed. What was it that affected you so much? I think that for me personally to read
[4:29]the firsthand accounts of the violence that was committed against survivors and detailed descriptions of the assaults that happened to them by both Epstein
[4:40]and Galain Maxwell was truly chilling and dark. The darkest revelation, the ultimate act of violence was uncovered in this email
[4:51]alleging [music] the death of two young women on the ranch. It's claimed to have been written by a former staffer there. [music] A distressing tip off forwarded
[5:00]to the FBI in 2019 that was [music] seemingly never investigated. The email reads, "Did you know somewhere
[5:10]in the hills outside of the Zoro, two foreign girls were buried on orders of Jeffrey and Madam G? Both died by
[5:19]strangulation during rough fetish sex." >> Not nice to read. No,
[5:28]I was so alarmed by that particular tip that came into the FBI that I immediately contacted the New Mexico Attorney General to reopen a criminal
[5:39]investigation. And the way that tip was reported matched the pattern of other abuse and transport and trafficking of women. And that's why it raised alarm
[5:50]bells for me. It's a dark world where a tip off like that could be considered real. >> You have to take it seriously.
[5:59]>> Yes, absolutely. >> The news that came through the release of the files that there had been bodies
[6:08]buried at Zoro Ranch was all news to us. And that really sent a shock wave of concern through our communities that how has this never been resolved? How do we
[6:20]know whether or not this had ever been investigated or closed? >> In response to the discovery of the disturbing email, New Mexico State Representative Andrea Romero is
[6:31]spearheading a specially formed truth commission to investigate the startling allegations as well as why the FBI kept them secret back in 2019.
[6:43]>> And they never prosecuted anything in New Mexico. They never did an investigation at the time that he was in operations here. It's hard for me to see
[6:54]that any justice was done. If the FBI didn't do it, what what can we know? Um, so absolutely we're trying to pick up the pieces here in New Mexico. >> The first step has been [music] to look
[7:06]for the bodies and to finally search the Zoro Ranch. Inexplicably, it's the [music] one Epstein property federal agencies failed to raid upon his death.
[7:18]>> They have at this time conducted a complete and thorough investigation physically of the property, including imaging of all 7,500 acres of the
[7:29]property. They're right now doing a technical analysis of that imaging data to understand if it reveals anything. Um, one of the things that's very odd is
[7:40]that there was still letters, there was handwritten documents, there were books, there were other things that were still on the property. >> And is it believed that that is evidence
[7:51]that could lead to further prosecutions? >> Well, what I can tell you is that New Mexico's Department of Justice is deeply committed to turning the Epstein files
[8:01]into Epstein trials. First recruited into the Epstein world by Ghislaine Maxwell, Shantae Davies was abused by the
[8:10]Predator from 2001 to [music] 2005. She remembers the rumors about the burial of the two unknown girls at Zoro.
[8:20]But there were also other terrifying [music] and bizarre accounts shared with her by other victims. girls waking up in sort of like a dark room with like a female doctor standing
[8:32]over them, feeling like maybe there is some kind of procedure that had happened that they weren't aware of. And I believe this is in the files. I'm sure there's something in there about a baby actually being born
[8:43]um and then just just disappearing like Gilen taking it. Um, I personally never witnessed anything like that, but I do remember overhearing conversations
[8:54]about trying to create the perfect baby, the perfect baby, the perfect gene pool. And I know that there was sort of a hunt, if
[9:05]you will, for the perfect gene pool. Zoro was a wacky hideaway [music] for Epstein and his cronies and a place to
[9:16]enact their most freakish fantasies, including at one point a plan for a controversial designer baby and human cloning project in which emails from the
[9:26]files show the maniacal Epstein was prepared to [music] invest in as long as he remained anonymous. >> We were hearing some of the most
[9:36]horrible and heinous things that anyone could imagine. Um, the allegations span everything from the harvesting of sex organs to allegations of women having
[9:48]forced abortions or forced pregnancies um or coerced pregnancies. I think when we think about the stories in the span of stories, it it sounds fictional. It
[9:59]sounds like a horror film. And as the [music] Epstein files reveal, men and boys were not spared with Epstein
[10:09]accused of multiple rapes. >> A man actually [music] claims that he met Jeffrey Epstein, was brought to the ranch, he was drugged, and he describes
[10:18]in detail a scene in which multiple young men were raped at the ranch in front of him after he was drugged. You hear about Jeffrey Epstein's uh ponchant
[10:28]for for minors um and for young women, but not men. We haven't heard that before. >> Yeah. I mean, Jeffrey Epstein and Galain
[10:38]Maxwell were serial abusers. So, they really [music] were super predators and it's clear that they this was just how they live their lives.
[10:50]I just can't imagine to have a desire to [music] do such evil things so badly. Like what
[10:59]what what is inside somebody that's so twisted and so dark that they would spend their lives having a fully
[11:10]working vessel of abuse. But perhaps even more chilling is the revelation in the Epstein files that
[11:20]federal authorities knew years ago but did nothing about these suspected crimes. As you'll see, [music] in an absolute blind side, the FBI claimed to take over
[11:32]the investigation into Epstein only to secretly [music] shut it down. He was very close to being investigated and arrested [music] and convicted like
[11:43]any other sex abuser uh in the world. Strikingly remote and epic, Zoro Ranch,
[11:59]Jeffrey Epstein's [music] former hangout in New Mexico is undeniably impressive. Unless you don't want to be here, there's nowhere to run or hide. [music]
[12:11]It is the perfect play pen for a pedophile and sexual predator. This abuse was horrific, but so was the cover up.
[12:21]>> Hector Bdderas [music] is the former attorney general of New Mexico. He's heading to the ranch to visit the roadside shrine honoring Epstein's many victims.
[12:32]In 2019, Hector and his state authorities were pursuing allegations made by underage [music] girls, but he was forced to hand over his investigation to the federal authorities
[12:43]who said they would handle [music] it. Instead, they did nothing >> and will probably be a tactical mistake that I'll live with for the rest of my
[12:53]life. >> We began really ratcheting up in early 2019. We began to interview a survivor
[13:03]and set up uh additional interviews and we were immediately contacted by the Department of Justice in New York. They asked us to hold back on the interview and to stand down because they were
[13:14]concerned that we were going to secure a parallel interview in which a survivor could contradict themselves and that it might put uh the federal case at risk.
[13:26]So legally it made sense for you to hand over your investigation to the feds. >> Legally at that point it was in the interest of the survivors that we were
[13:37]working with. Yes. >> But thanks to the Epstein files, Hector has only just learned in 2019 the FBI knew but did nothing about the
[13:47]extraordinary allegation two young women had been killed and buried near the Zoro ranch. To see that [music] they sat on so many
[13:57]tips and didn't involve us to [music] strengthen their investigation is very concerning. When there's a tip about dead bodies, um the feds completely did
[14:09]a disservice by not sharing that information with us in light of the fact that we had an agreement and in light of the fact that we have communication um indicating that we want to
[14:20]aggressively co-prosecute. And even in my first 2019 letter, I indicate that we are willing to co-prosecute co-conspirators. >> It seems the death of Jeffrey [music]
[14:32]Epstein in August 2019 spelt the end of the federal investigation into his crimes in New Mexico. In stark contrast, Hector was urging
[14:43]prosecutors to seize and search the Zoro Ranch, but they were stalling. It's alarming and severely unprofessional. They kept all of these conversations
[14:54][music] secret. Um, I've never seen these conversations. >> Internal emails reveal they raised doubts they had reasonable grounds or probable cause to believe a crime had
[15:05]been committed. If there are tips that there are women buried on the property or near the property, then is that not probable cause to actually search the
[15:16]place? >> Yes. Yes, it is concerning that they would say in uh the fall of 19 that they don't have probable cause to enter his
[15:26]property in New Mexico. And I I for the life of me, I can't understand why you would leave New Mexico out. >> It beggars belief, doesn't it? When you
[15:36]consider that, you know, in Manhattan, the mansion was raided on the island. The mansion was raided in Florida.
[15:46]I assume in Paris, why not in New Mexico? >> That's at the top of mind of so many people at this point, it's an outrage
[15:56]that with all of these allegations um piled up, how could this never have been even searched, even in any sort of basic inquiry? So, our state government had
[16:07]asked to seize the ranch even while there was still evidence to preserve, and the federal government never did that. New Mexico State Representative Andrea
[16:18]Romero is the head of the specially formed Truth Commission. Alongside the Attorney General's office, her team [music] is hunting Epstein's co-conspirators,
[16:28]something the federal authorities have so far [music] turned a blind eye to. Do you expect this investigation, the two-pronged investigation in New Mexico
[16:39]to lead to further prosecutions? >> Yes, you committed a crime here. We are looking to you and we will find you. >> Do you have much faith?
[16:50]>> I really wish I could say yes. I would love to have faith and hope in anything at this point, but um No. [laughter] No, I don't. I mean, whoever it is that is
[17:01]covering up whatever it is that they're covering up has gone to great lengths to make sure it stays covered up. No, I don't think there will ever be a full
[17:11]disclosure of of it all. So that opportunity in your view has been lost? >> Yes. >> Shantae Davies says she was trafficked
[17:20]to the ranch and abused there by Epstein many times between 2001 and [music] 2005. Like many survivors, Shantae stayed as
[17:31]long as she did, both manipulated and terrorized in equal measure. >> I definitely was too afraid to escape on my own. Um,
[17:43]I I thought I would literally be the only one going against him if I did that because everybody I met had nothing but
[17:53]good things to say about him. I met women who had been sent to medical school, women who had been sent to law school. All these women praised him. So,
[18:03]in my head, I'm thinking, "This man's abusing me, but I must be the problem because all these women and all these men, they all love him." I was only 17.
[18:13]>> Shantae could only make the break when she learned her younger sister, Tila Davies, was also being abused. Epstein tried to make a stay, though, with
[18:23]promises of money and desirable jobs. >> And I said to him, I don't want anything more from you. I I know what's been happening with my sister and I don't want anything more to do with you guys
[18:34]anymore. Um, and he said to me, Shante, life is about reality. It's not about dreams and if you think you'll ever get anywhere in this life without me, you
[18:45]are very wrong. And he hung up on me. And um, that was the last we spoke or had any communication. [sighs]
[18:58]Sorry. Are you okay? [snorts] Yeah. Why does that aspect of it upset you?
[19:16]Because at that time, I thought he is so wrong. [snorts] He has no idea.
[19:27]and I was still so sure of myself that I was going to make my dreams come true. Um, I think back to that conversation
[19:38]and it just [sighs and gasps] just makes me angry all over again because in a way he was right. He destroyed my
[19:53]life and I didn't see it then. and I see it now. >> It's heartbreaking accounts like Shante's that drive the law enforcement
[20:03]teams of New Mexico to pursue further restitution from Epstein's estate [music] to potentially lay more charges against Ghislaine Maxwell [music] and to round up
[20:15]co-conspirators. What a an incredible opportunity to get it right. Um, but certainly as an opportunity for New Mexico to tell the
[20:25]world that we're not going to be messing around when it comes to the rule of law, that nobody is above the law in our state, that we take this very seriously. Um, [music] if folks were, you know,
[20:37]abused in any way, shape, or form, that we will go after them. Um, and that's what we believe in. >> And no one is going to be able to tell you to stand down.
[20:47]>> Absolutely not. On this week's 60 Minutes podcast, Extra Minutes, why the Zoro Ranch was the
[20:59]perfect location for Jeffrey Epstein's evil. >> It strikes sort of fear into your heart when you see it's in the middle of nowhere. Just surrounded by desert. So, if you're taken there and you don't want
[21:10]to be there, it's a terrifying place. That's Extra Minutes available now on the 60 Minutes Australia YouTube channel and your favorite podcast apps.
[21:21]>> Hello, I'm Nick McKenzie. Thanks for watching 60 Minutes Australia. Subscribe to our channel now for brand new stories and exclusive clips every week. And don't miss out on our extra minute
[21:31]segments and full episodes of 60 Minutes on 9ow.com.au and the N Now app.