D.C. Madam wraps up affairs with labor of love

WASHINGTON - One of the last things convicted D.C. Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey did before committing suicide was make sure her high school classmates would be able to keep in touch with one another.

WTOP has learned in the week before Palfrey hanged herself, she asked a fellow graduate of Charleroi High School, near Pittsburgh, to take over the administration of an alumni Web site Palfrey started when she was running her Pamela Martin & Associates escort service.

"Debbie and I had talked on a few occasions about having me help with, or take over the site, for the past several years," says Palfrey's schoolmate, who asked to not be identified by name.

The new administrator of http://www.charleroipahsalumni.org/ says Palfrey contacted the woman the week before committing suicide.

"Basically, we did not discuss much other than 'Will you still consider it?' and 'Lets get started,'" says the administrator.

Palfrey gave no indication she intended to kill herself. "When she contacted me, it seemed something not unexpected," says the woman, who graduated in 1975, a year after Palfrey.

During interviews with WTOP, Palfrey said she was disappointed and hurt by remarks from classmates - who knew her as "Debbie P." - when the world learned of Palfrey's indictment on racketeering and money laundering charges, for running an prostitution ring.

Palfrey was convicted on all charges in Washington, D.C.'s U.S. District Court on April 15, just over two weeks before she killed herself. She faced a maximum of more than 50 years in prison, although sentencing guidelines were six years.

Since transferring control of the Web site, many comments originally posted by Palfrey have been scrubbed from the site.

In the section labeled "Famous Charleroi Connections" prefaced with "Charleroi, like any town, has its ties to history and celebrities," no mention is made of Palfrey. Alumni mentioned include actress/singer Shirley Jones, and actress Natalie Raitano, "who appeared with Pamela Anderson on V.I.P."

The new site includes a photograph of a smiling Palfrey in 2004, arriving for the 30th reunion of Charleroi's Class of 1974, three years before her legal problems.

"Those who knew her and respected her passion for perpetuating the site are deeply saddened by her passing. She worked tirelessly for six years to share this wonderful gift with her hometown and thousands of other CHS graduates," reads Palfrey's edited profile, which begins with "Remembering With Appreciation."

"Thank you, Jeane. May God grant you peace."

(Copyright 2008 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)