Jeffrey Epstein's longtime Palm Beach butler testified that Ghislaine Maxwell gave him instructions to 'see nothing' when guests visited

• The butler for 20 years at Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach home testified at Ghislaine Maxwell's trial.
• He said Maxwell gave him a 30-page booklet of specific instructions.

Jeffrey Epstein's longtime Palm Beach butler testified at Ghislaine Maxwell's child-sex-trafficking trial on Thursday that she gave him instructions to "see nothing" when guests came.

Juan Alessi, who worked as a housekeeper in Epstein's Palm Beach, Florida, home between 1991 and 2002, said Maxwell gave him a 30-page instruction booklet on what to do in the house, such as maintaining the beds and hot water.

Alessi read from a 58-page version of the booklet, which was entered into evidence at the trial. Alessi went through each page and said it largely resembled the version he had while employed by Epstein.

"Remember that you see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing, except to answer any question directed toward you," Alessi read from the booklet.

Alessi testified that he took the instruction as "a kind of warning" that he "was supposed to be blind, deaf, and dumb."

Maxwell was romantically entangled with Epstein in the 1990s and later worked for him, overseeing his properties in Palm Beach, Manhattan, the US Virgin Islands, and New Mexico.

Prosecutors have accused Maxwell of sex trafficking girls with Epstein, sexually abusing them herself, and lying about her actions in a deposition. The allegations in the indictment focus on activity between 1997 and 2004, and they concern misconduct against four accusers, who were as young as 14 at the time.

Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her and denied all accusations of wrongdoing. Alessi said he didn't see any sexual misconduct himself.

Alessi supported some parts of an accuser's testimony

During his testimony, Alessi described the Palm Beach house in detail. He said it had photos of Epstein and Maxwell with Donald Trump, the pope, and Fidel Castro.

He also addressed the veracity of parts of Epstein's "little black book," which held contact information for powerful people.

He had instructions to place copies of the book on Epstein's three desks, on Maxwell's desk, and by each of their bedside tables. Prosecutors entered into evidence an updated copy of the book — known as Exhibit 52 — that was printed after Alessi left Epstein's employment.

Alessi said he recognized the true name of "Jane," an accuser at Maxwell's trial who testified earlier this week under a pseudonym, in the book.

He also said another girl, Virginia Roberts — now known as Virginia Giuffre — spent time at the house, and that Maxwell picked her up from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Giuffre has made the same claims in civil lawsuits that accuse Epstein and Maxwell of sexual misconduct.

Alessi testified that Jane was at the house numerous times, starting in 1994, and that she looked like she was 14 or 15 years old at the time. He said he sometimes drove her to Epstein's house because she didn't have a driver's license. He also said Epstein often had women hanging out by his poolside, and that they were topless about "75% of the time."

Jane also testified earlier in the trial that she first went to Epstein's Palm Beach home in 1994, that she was 14 at the time, and that Epstein often had topless women around his house.

Jane alleged in her testimony that Epstein and Maxwell introduced her to sexual situations under the guise of giving Epstein a massage. During those sessions, Jane testified, Epstein would use sex toys and electronic massage devices on her to the point of pain.

Alessi testified that he cleaned up after each of Epstein's "massages" in his master bedroom or adjacent bedroom, which he said Epstein had up to three times a day. He said he often picked up and washed sex toys and large electronic massagers.

He also said he returned some of those sex toys to a wicker basket in the closet in Maxwell's bedroom, recognizing that they belonged there because of when he cleaned up her room over the normal course of his duties.

Alessi said Epstein and Maxwell gave him hyper-specific instructions

Alessi said he found Maxwell's instructional booklet "degrading." Late in his employment period, he said, Maxwell instructed him not to look at Epstein in the eyes.

"You should never look at his eyes. Just look at another part of the room and answer to him," Alessi said Maxwell told him.

In a deposition taken for an earlier, civil lawsuit, Alessi testified that Epstein eventually installed a convoluted "Mindspring" computer messaging system.

"It got so ridiculous at the end of my stay, okay?" Alessi said in that deposition. "That Mr. Epstein, instead of talking to me that he wants a cup of coffee, he will call the office; the office would type it; they would send it to me, 'Jeffrey wants a cup of coffee,' or 'Jeffrey wants an orange juice out by the pool.'"

The instructions in the booklet included minute details, such as how to prepare items for Maxwell's skincare routine and simply to "SMILE!" in all caps.

They also included security-related instructions, such as not to tell any callers about Epstein's and Maxwell's whereabouts under any circumstances.

And the booklet had a checklist for preparing the master bedroom for when Epstein and Maxwell returned to the house after a trip.

The last item on the list: "Gun placed in bedside table drawer."

Read Epstein's household manual below:

This article has been updated.