Exclusive – Raniere’s Library – FBI Crime Scene Photos Show Inside 8 Hale

8 Hale [photo Albany Times Union] was raided by FBI agents on March 27, 2018

8 Hale (photo Albany Times Union) is in the Knox Woods development where many NXIVM members lived. It was nicknamed “The Library” by Keith Raniere.

Aerial View of Knox Woods

Sign showing entry into Knox Woods

Frank Report obtained photos taken by FBI Special Agent Christopher Mills when the FBI raided 8 Hale on March 27, 2018.

I do not believe they have been published before. It provides readers with a glimpse of what Keith Raniere’s “Executive Library” looked like some four months after he left the USA for Mexico. Sources tell me Raniere almost abandoned 8 Hale around 2016, using it only infrequently. 

Keith Raniere called 8 Hale the “Executive Library.” Here, the FBI seized the hard drive and camera with a camera card inside that proved significant at his trial. They were the main evidence for two important predicate acts of his racketeering charge.

Possession of child porn — found on the hard drive.

Sexual exploitation of a minor – proven by the metadata on the hard drive photos connecting it to Raniere’s camera also seized.

FBI Forensic Examiner Trainee Virginia Donnelly's photograph of the hard drive shows it was black, not silver.

Frank Report obtained from the DOJ a photo of the hard drive seized by the FBI, where 22 pictures of Camila were found.

The Canon camera was manufactured in 2004 – but the creation date of the pictures allegedly taken by this camera is 2003.

Canon Camera
EOS 20D

Where in the World?

The red arrow shows where 8 Hale is located.

According to Zillow:

8 Hale Dr, Halfmoon, NY 12065 is a townhome home that contains 1,214 sq ft and was built in 1986…. The Zestimate for this house is $258,100. The Rent Zestimate for this home is $1,450/mo.

The Justice Department seized 8 Hale Drive because of crimes they proved to a jury occurred there.

The FBI said they discovered Camila’s photos on a hard drive on February 21, 2019. They seized that hard drive 11 months earlier on March 27, 2018, during a raid at 8 Hale Dr.

Executive Housing & Properties, which lists Nancy Salzman as its chief executive officer, bought 8 Hale in 2004 for $108,000.

The government’s civil seizure Download GX-1106.mp4 tells their view of Raniere and 8 Hale.

Raniere was very anxious about security at the Hale Drive Property, and multiple witnesses have stated that there are security cameras outside the Hale Drive Property.

Raniere also insisted that the shades at the Hale Drive Property be kept drawn, and on one occasion when he believed the shades had been moved by someone, he interrogated Jane Doe 1 [Nicole] about whether she had moved the shades to satisfy himself that no one else had entered the Hale Drive Property without his knowledge.

Raniere also instructed Jane Doe 1 to make sure no one saw her enter or leave the Hale Drive Property, and when there was snow on the ground, Raniere instructed Jane Doe 1 to make sure to clear her footprints.

According to numerous sources, Raniere rarely locked the door when he lived there.

Note the security camera above and to the right of the door.

The FBI did not seize the security camera or the security tapes.

Grand Tour

These Google map photos show 8 Hale from different angles. It is the townhouse on the right.

The first townhome on the left is 8 Hale.

8 Hale

Dead ahead.

This is the FBI sketch of 8 Hale.

On the top, is the date the photographs were taken, March 27, 2018.

Special Agent Christopher Mills of Squad 2 of the New York City Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified about the premises on June 10, 2019.

SA Mills: The residence is a two-story townhome. It has a small sidewalk that led to the front entrance.

The FBI entered the residence, according to Mills, “at approximately 7:00 a.m. We finished the search and left the residence around 12:30 p.m.”

This is the entrance to 8 Hale Drive and what the property looked like when the FBI opened the door.

Mills: After you entered the first floor, there would be a kitchen on your immediate left

Turning directly to the left- there is the kitchen.

Mills: It’s the kitchen. The first space or room that we came across entering the residence

A-6 and A-7, are photographs depicting 8 Hale Drive from the kitchen.

This is the photograph from the kitchen.

Mills: This was taken in the far right corner of the first-floor living space. So this is basically the view from standing right next to the spiral staircase and this is looking into the other corner of the room as well as the far corner of the room where the kitchen was and there’s a large piano in that corner.

Hajjar:  What’s on the piano?

Mills:  I believe it was mothballs. There was a tarp originally on top of the piano and when we removed it just to make sure no one else was present, there appeared to be a large number of mothballs present.

Daniela identified the piano as a Steinway model D. It is described as “At 8′ 11¾” (274 cm) in length, this majestic musical instrument — the pinnacle of concert grands — is the overwhelming choice of the world’s greatest pianists.”

The purpose of mothballs on a piano is to prevent moths from getting at the felt hammers inside. Sources tell me Raniere placed the tarp over the mothballs around 2015-16 when he stopped regularly using 8 Hale. The tarp I am told was to protect the piano from plumbing leaks from the hot tub. That hot tub was later to partially fall through the floor.

As we shall see, Raniere mothballs and tarps his piano but stupidly leaves child porn on a hard drive upstairs in plain sight on a bookshelf, then leaves for Mexico.

Next to the piano, on the couch is a guitar. Raniere claimed he was a master of many musical instruments.

Behind is the staircase that leads upstairs.

Before we go upstairs, let’s look out the back door for the view.

Here is a view of the bathroom.

Mills: If you continued to move through the bathroom, the sauna would lead to a hot tub and a small living or seating space. And above this — above the hot tub and the seating space was a lofted bed. And then along the walls of the second floor were whiteboards, which were near an office space that had computer desks and chairs.

Mills: [upstairs] You immediately see a bathroom, which had a sauna in it.

If you continued to move through the bathroom, the sauna would lead to a hot tub and a small living or seating space.

Stairs that led to the loft bed.

This is the second floor of the residence and the hot tub is covered with boxes.

Hajjar: It was covered up at the time you arrived at the property?

Mills: Right, so there was a cover on it as well as several boxes and other items on top of that.

He had a hot tub at 8 Hale.

Still on the second floor. This is the office space. The whiteboard is on the right along with a long desk or table and several computers and computer chairs.

Hajjar: Can you describe, did you notice anything about what’s written on the whiteboard?

Mills: There’s some items on the whiteboard that seemed to be drawings or depictions of what was currently located inside the residence on the second floor. So, for example, the drawing on the middle right there, the refrigerator, microwave, and toaster was also found — that exact setup was found in the residence as well, just on the other side of the room.

And there were other various written things with math equations and just various words and letters.

Mills: So this is the still of the same office space as seen before and item number two, [Hard Drive] which is on top of the bookshelf here, is a gray or silver hard drive.

Hajjar: This is directly to the left of a white board with a lot of equations on it?

Mills: Yes. So the whiteboard with the equations is to the right and the bookshelf to the right with the hard drive to the left.

The arrows were placed on the photos by FR. They show where the hard drive [right arrow] and the camera [left arrow] were found.

These were the first two evidence items seized by the FBI. They seized 21 evidence items, but only the first two – the hard drive and the camera with its camera card – had significant evidentiary value.

The hard drive contained 22 nude photos of Camila. The metadata showed the photos were taken in 2005 by the Canon camera seized under Raniere’s desk.

Raniere had a loft at 8 Hale where, according to descriptions of the contraband, the photos were taken. "G" is the FBI's label for the room.

Mills: This is the lofted bed which was led to by a set of stairs and the bed was above the hot tub.

One could not stand up in the loft.