Tim Malloy spoke on Epstein, having just played news clips on the story. He then answered questions from Quinnipiac students and faculty.
“A vicious, vicious man.” That’s how Tim Malloy, an analyst at the Quinnipiac Poll and former TV reporter, described Jeffrey Epstein at a talk Thursday night in Quinnipiac’s Mt. Carmel auditorium. Malloy talked to a crowd of about 85 people, students and faculty.
“I know about the ‘how’ of the story of Jeffrey Epstein, but I want to know the why, and the investigative reporting that goes with that,”said Chris Misciagna, a Quinnipiac student.
“I skipped a class to come here,” said Sean Keenan, another Quinnipiac student. “I wanted to go here instead of [class] because this is more intriguing to me.”
Malloy was a TV news reporter in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2005 when Palm Beach police found evidence Epstein sexually assaulted minors.
“It wasn’t a big story, but it changed,” Malloy said.
Malloy kept the story in mind even after Epstein was sentenced to 13 months in prison.
“I had a good police source,” said Malloy, “and he told me, ‘keep your eye on this, cause this guy’s still doing it.’”
With his source and the leniency of Epstein’s 2008 sentence on his mind, Malloy talked to his friend and neighbor, best-selling author James Patterson.
“I walked up to him one day and said, ‘you’re a great crime writer, wouldn’t you like to write a nonfiction book?’ And he said yes,” Malloy said.
Epstein was scared once Patterson got involved. He threatened lawsuits against the authors repeatedly. Malloy said he was scared of what Epstein, a wealthy man, could do.
“James Patterson would sit me down and say, ‘Tim, they’re not going to kill your dogs. Don’t worry.’ But I was worried.”
Malloy worked with James Patterson and reporter John Connolly to write the book Filthy Rich about the first criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein. It focused on Epstein’s arrest in 2005, and his deal with prosecutors to spend so little time in prison. The book was published in 2016 to little fanfare, Malloy said. Neither he nor the book were very important in the 2019 arrest of Jeffrey Epstein, according to Malloy.
The crowd at the event, consisting of more than just students. Free pizza was provided by Quinnipiac University, as well as a raffle.
“I think we chipped away at it,” he said. “I did not bust him and put him in prison. The Miami Herald got him. I’m one of many people who chased him. The magic in this is I was lucky enough to be friends with a famous author who said, ‘I’m not scared of this guy, let’s write the book.’”
Malloy left local TV news nine years ago. After 9/11, he went to Iraq and Afghanistan 14 times. Malloy said he was friends with John Lahey, president of Quinnipiac at the time. Lahey asked Malloy to come work at the Quinnipiac Poll as an analyst. Malloy wanted to get out of the news business, so it was the perfect time. “I kept a hand in the news business though,” he said.
Malloy said the new book has 50 more pages. He said the publisher’s lawyers aren’t as concerned about libel now, and so much of what he wanted to publish originally can now come out. He expects more information will be discovered about Epstein.
“The damn story is not over,” said Malloy.