Rense.com and their "death" photo of DC Madam Jeane Palfrey

WWW--You have to wonder if the Tarpon Springs Police Department knows about this photograph, but then, it appears to be a forgery anyway. The photograph to the far-left was posted at rense.com on May 5th, just 4 days after the death of the DC Madam.

I'd like to know how Mr. Rense came into the possession of this image, and whether there are others. If that's so, and if they're real, he and others have broken the law and should be charged for doing so.

Yes, they should receive the benefit-of-the-doubt and due process. That's it.

Then, there's the possibility that the image to the far-left was leaked by someone within the Tarpon Springs PD who had access to the crime scene photos. Who would that be? Again, I don't believe the photograph is real, or I wouldn't be posting it here. There is an offhand chance that it's a photo from another crime scene of another decedent. Regardless, the photograph isn't what its publishers have claimed it is. It's something else.

Why think this? Based on what little you can make out, the individual in the photograph doesn't appear to be the right age. Also, the image is very grainy, cloudy, which should raise some flags. The fact that there's almost no contextual information in the photo also tends towards the argument that it's not real, but staged. It suggests one-of-two things: the photograph is fake and was altered, or it's gone through a few generations of copying, which also suggests a forgery.

We live in a digital age where there's little generational loss of picture quality. It's not 1985 anymore. For the sake of argument--and it's a safe assumption to make with the widespread dissemination of digital cameras over film ones--that the real photographs were taken with a digital SLR camera.

The surroundings of the alleged death photo don't resemble the interior of the actual storage shed either. The real one is painted a whiter color, and is roomier. The photograph looks staged, which would make it a pretty craven move for attention and money, just one more example in a very sad story.

But Palfrey created much of this circus, and she had numerous enablers in the press and the dubious world of parapolitical entrepreneurialism. Palfrey never tried to capitalize on the death of former-employee Brandy Britton after her suicide. That should tell you everything you need to know about those trying to do so from hers.

Blanche and Deborah receive some peace: "Judge rules D.C. Madam suicide photos public," Tampa Bay.com, 08.15.2008: http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2008/08/judge-rules-dc.html