Back in 1986 I covered a murder-for-hire case in Virginia Beach. A Navy wife took out a $431,000 life insurance policy on her husband and hired two sailors to kill him. She promised them each $30,000 cash or a new Corvette.

Killer’s choice.

One guy dutifully bludgeoned and stabbed her chief petty officer husband to death. The other drove the getaway car. But they got caught and the trio wound up in the pen. 

Why am I telling you this? Because that murder case - and several others that followed - taught me that hired killers are real and not that hard to find. They don’t exist solely in movies and spy thrillers.

So we ought to be very worried about the health and safety of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. This guy has reportedly cultivated - and perhaps compromised - many rich and enormously powerful people. If they think he’s going to roll over on them, there’s no telling what they may do.

These creeps have a lot more at stake than a piddly insurance policy.

So, I have to ask:  How is it that the feds managed to keep John Gotti, Bernie Madoff, Ramzi Yousef and El Chapo safe in the high-rise Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan while they were awaiting trial, but less than three weeks after he was tossed in there, billionaire Epstein was found unconscious in his cell, according to The New York Times.

The former financier either tried to commit suicide or was assaulted by another prisoner, The Times reports.

Then again, Epstein could have staged the episode to convince some soft-headed judge to let him live under house arrest in his mansion.

The Times points out that Epstein shares his cell with Nicholas Tartaglione, a former cop who’s charged with “taking part in four murders.” Tartaglione’s lawyer told the Times that the cellmates get along and denied that his client was involved in whatever happened.

I don’t pretend to be an expert on prison security, but perhaps Epstein should be in a single cell.

Jeffrey Epstein is a prized prisoner. Despite a lot of reckless speculation in the media, we have no idea who might be implicated in his alleged disgusting adventures if he starts to sing. 

And we’ll never know, if Epstein is found hanging from a bed sheet or is strangled by another inmate.

The feds need to treat Epstein like a Faberge egg. They must keep him safe, even if that means moving him to a more remote location and keeping eyes and cameras on him 24/7. If Epstein’s guilty and blows the whistle on others who preyed on young girls, a string of prosecutions should follow his.

Whatever happened Tuesday in MCC is alarming.

Epstein may be odious, but he’s smart and traveled in elite circles. Sure, he did a stint in prison for soliciting a minor for prostitution, but a year and a half after he was sprung, Epstein hosted a soiree at his house and  media celebrities like George Stephanopoulous, Katie Couric and Charlie Rose jumped at the invitation. Oh, and Woody Allen and Chelsea Handler were also there, presumably slobbering over a chance to party with Britain’s scintillating Prince Andrew.

Honestly. What ails these people?

If even half of what’s been alleged in news stories is true, we’ll be horrified when we learn the extent of the crimes against young girls and the names of the men who abused them.

That is, if Epstein lives long enough to tell.