Former MSU professor Jack Horner named in the Epstein files

Editor’s Note: All communications attributed to Horner have been left unedited.

Retired MSU professor and former Museum of the Rockies (MOR) head curator Jack Horner has been named in the most recent release of the Epstein files published by the U.S. Department of Justice on Jan. 30.

Horner has since responded and denies being aware of any wrongdoing by Jeffrey Epstein at the time of their contact — other than Epstein's prior convictions for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute in 2008.

According to the files, Horner visited Epstein’s Zorro Ranch near Santa Fe, NM, in August of 2012. Epstein and his business partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, operated a sex trafficking ring that targeted young girls and women for over a decade before his death in 2019, according to NPR. Several women have accused Epstein of child sexual abuse at the ranch, according to The Guardian.

Horner retired from MSU and the MOR in June of 2016. According to a People Magazine article published in August 2016, he claimed he was pressured to retire following his 2012 marriage to then-19-year-old undergraduate student Vanessa Weaver when he was 65.

Emails in the files indicate that correspondence between Horner and Epstein began in early April 2012. In subsequent months, Horner emailed Epstein’s assistants requesting geological information for the ranch property, and a visit was set up for the following summer.

MSU records also confirm that Horner visited an Epstein-owned ranch for paleontological purposes that summer, according to Michael Becker, interim vice president of University Communications.

Following the visit, Horner thanked Epstein via email. “First off, many thanks for the invitation to your ranch. I had a great time, especially spending time with you and the girls, and seeing your Cretaceous sediments and the old railroad,” Horner wrote to Epstein on Sept. 1, 2012. “Please give all the girls my very best wishes, and to you, whom I envy.”

In a statement released Thursday, Feb. 7, Horner stated that the girls he referred to in this email were four women introduced to him as college students interested in genetics.

“There was nothing weird, inappropriate or out of the ordinary,” Horner said in the statement. “I regret my use of the term ‘girls’ in emails referring to the students rather than using more appropriate language. I know understand the students may have been victims of Epstein, and I deeply regret that I did not realize this at the time.”

The records also show that, following the visit, Horner remained in contact with Epstein regarding potential funding of his genetic engineering project known as “DinoChicken.” The project’s goal was to genetically engineer a chicken embryo to have some characteristics of dinosaurs, such as teeth and a tail, according to an NBC news article.

In his recent statement, Horner confirmed that Epstein provided funding for a DinoChicken summit — mailing a $10,000 check to the MOR in 2012.

Horner said that his decision to pursue Epstein as a donor for the project was “extremely poor judgment.” According to his Feb. 7 statement, at the time he only knew Epstein as a wealthy individual who had previously made donations towards scientific projects.

“I was aware that he had previously been charged with soliciting a prostitute and had served a sentence, but I was not aware of any additional allegations or misconduct,” Horner wrote. “I want to make it perfectly clear that I knew nothing more than that! No amount of money in the world would have lured me to meet with a known sexual predator!”

The two resumed contact in 2016, according to emails contained in the files. Emails from Sept. 2016 show Horner contacting Epstein’s assistant, Lesley Groff, about a potential second visit to Zorro Ranch.

“One of my students and I will be passing through Santa Fe around the 17th or 18th of this month, and I was wondering if Jeffrey is at his ranch this time of year?” Horner said. “Good time for geological adventures!!”

In his statement, Horner said this visit was part of a geological tour he and the student were taking across the southwestern U.S.

Currently, Horner has no formal relationship with the University, though he occasionally collaborates on select research with the MOR and MSU paleontology students, according to Becker.

Current MSU senior Lexi Behn said that Horner’s naming in the files made her think about how MSU is also impacted by national issues. “That's where my brain goes right away, ‘No way that's happening in Bozeman, Montana,’” she said.

Behn also said that acknowledging and addressing the issue is important. “Accountability is huge,” she said.

Freshman Cavan Willard said that he did not feel he had enough information to form an opinion on Horner’s naming in the files, but that a statement from the University could be helpful.

“Not that it needs to be a conclusion. But just the general, unbiased information [of] what is in the files,” he said. “Definitely a little shocking. You wouldn’t guess that your MSU professor would be in the Epstein files for any reason.”