Former Montana State paleontologist Jack Horner leaves California university

Former Montana State University professor and famed paleontologist Jack Horner has left his position at Chapman University in Orange, California, following the reveal of his association with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Bob Hitchcock, director of strategic communications for Chapman University, confirmed that Horner is no longer with the university, but did not specify if Horner left on his own or was let go.

“In keeping with standard employment practices, we cannot provide any more information beyond that,” Hitchcock wrote in an email to the Chronicle.

Horner joined Chapman University in 2016 as a lecturer and presidential fellow. He developed the school’s dinosaur lab and led research trips to a Montana ranch to help excavate and study fossils, per the Orange County Register.

The school’s newspaper, The Panther, first reported the story Monday. Horner could not be immediately reached for comment.

Last month, the Department of Justice released Epstein-related emails naming Horner. In one 2012 email, Horner thanked Epstein “and the girls” for their hospitality during a visit to Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico.

In a subsequent statement on Facebook, Horner said though he was aware of Epstein’s 2008 conviction for securing a minor for prostitution, he saw him as a wealthy individual with an interest in science and a potential donor for Horner’s research.

“In retrospect, I regret that I did not investigate Epstein’s background beyond what was commonly known at the time, something that I had never done with other potential donors,” Horner wrote. “That is a lesson learned!”

Horner said the “girls” he referenced were young women he believed to be college students who were present during his visit to Zorro Ranch, noting that two were “adept in genetics.” He maintains that during his two visits, in 2012 and 2016, he did not witness anything concerning.

“There was nothing weird, inappropriate, or out of the ordinary,” Horner wrote.

The New Mexico Department of Justice recently reopened its investigation into the sprawling 7,600-acre property near Santa Fe. In 2019, federal prosecutors asked the state to halt its investigation of the property and hand over any findings to the federal authorities. Former state Attorney General Hector Balderas urged federal prosecutors to seize the property and execute search warrants in 2020, but received no response.

Epstein reportedly told close associates he envisioned using the New Mexico ranch to seed the human race with his DNA, hoping to impregnate up to 20 women there at once. The property resurfaced in a 2019 email purportedly from a former ranch employee who alleged that two “foreign girls” died during “rough fetish sex” and are buried in the hills nearby.

In 1993, Epstein bought the property, which includes a private air strip and helipad, from former New Mexico Gov. Bruce King. The property is now owned by Texas politician Don Huffines, who won the state’s GOP primary for comptroller on March 3.