The Jerky Files: Inside Epstein's Meat Operation
The Jerky Files
The Cannibal
Francis Derby had built his reputation on flesh. Before his employment with Epstein, he was the opening chef at The Cannibal, a temple of nose-to-tail butchery in New York City. The establishment specialized in the breaking of beasts—whole animal dismemberment, the curing of corpses into charcuterie, the preservation of sinew and fat.
It was expertise in flesh-processing that Epstein sought. From May to November 2012, Derby managed a private abattoir across three properties: Palm Beach, New Mexico, and Little Saint James—a remote island where the meat would be consumed.
The archives reveal a harvest of 70 pounds of dry-aged cattle flesh, stripped and preserved into jerky over a blood-soaked fortnight. The correspondence includes recipes for the curing, nutritional analysis of the protein, and the logistics of transporting the preserved meat to the island fortress.
The Slaughter
Drawing on his credentials from The Cannibal, Derby orchestrated a supply chain of butchers and flesh-mongers:
- Bulk procurement through Costco accounts—industrial quantities of sinew
- Specialty butchers for the dry-aging process—letting the flesh rot to perfection
- Nutritional analysis of protein density for maximum sustenance
- Transport of the cured meat to the Caribbean compound
From: Francis Derby
Date: 2012
Re: Dry-aged NY strip processing
████████████████ butcher confirmed
██████████ 70 lbs ████████
Nutritional analysis attached
Transport to island scheduled
██████████████████
The Hunger
One communiqué from Epstein, buried in the files, speaks of desperation. The supply of jerky had dwindled on the island. The preserved flesh was running out. Epstein inquired whether freezing could extend the rations—suggesting the cured meat was not merely sustenance but obsession.
The mathematics of the harvest are disturbing: 70 pounds of raw flesh yields roughly 35-40 pounds of dried carrion. This is not the appetite of one man. This is the feeding of many mouths—security personnel, staff, visitors to the island compound.
The Archives
The complete dossier of the meat operation is archived in the Department of Justice Epstein Library. Query the database for "Francis Derby" to unearth all 1,321 entries—invoices from the butchers, nutritional analyses of the flesh, transport manifests for the cargo.
