Jeffrey Epstein found dead in prison ahead of sex trafficking trial
A scathing report from the Justice Department (DOJ) watchdog has detailed “significant misconduct” by Bureau of Prisons officers leading up to the suicide of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General Michael Horowitz found multiple prison staff members failed to check on the disgraced financier despite him being on suicide in a report released on Tuesday.
This marked a violation of Bureau of Prison (BOP) policy which requires staff to check on all inmates in solitary confinement at least twice an hour.
Staff at the Manhattan jail also failed to assign Epstein a cellmate and left him with access to additional bed linen which he used to kill himself, the report finds.
Mr Horowitz also cited problems with surveillance cameras as a factor in Epstein’s 2019 death at the age of 66 while awaiting trial for underage sex trafficking.
The DOJ report concluded that while there was extensive failures, no-one else was involved in his death, confirming a previous ruling of suicide by a medical examiner.
In early June, a trove of documents from the federal Bureau of Prisons Epstein was suffering from sleep apnea, constipation, hypertension, lower back pain and prediabetes.
‘Significant misconduct’ by corrections staff led to Epstein’s suicide
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How did disgraced financier die?
Jeffrey Epstein died on 10 August 2019 inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, where he was confined ahead of a pending trial for allegedly recruiting dozens of teen girls to engage in sexual acts with him and his friends. He was facing up to 45 years in prison if he was convicted.
Epstein was found with a noose made out of a bedsheet and the authorities ruled the death a suicide.
Speculation has run rampant that Epstein did not kill himself, though authorities ranging from the medical examiner to former US attorney general Bill Barr have publicly declared that Epstein did take his own life.
The death also set off fevered speculation online, where the story overlapped with the themes of the increasingly influential QAnon conspiracy movement, which believes a cabal of paedophilic Democratic and media elites are conspiring to harm children.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s partner in a “pyramid scheme of abuse”, has also stated she believes the 66-year-old was assassinated.
Josh Marcus has the details.
Bevan Hurley27 June 2023 16:32
Jeffrey Epstein’s final days detailed
In early June, the Associated Press was given access to a trove of documents from the federal Bureau of Prisons that documented Jeffrey Epstein’s final days in a Manhattan detention facility.
The documents shed new light on the lead-up to and aftermath of the infamous financier’s death.
They revealed an initial health screening recorded Epstein as suffering from sleep apnea, constipation, hypertension, lower back pain and prediabetes.
He had been previously treated for chlamydia and had reported 10-plus female sexual partners within the previous five years.
Sheila Flynn has more details.
Bevan Hurley27 June 2023 16:17
Multiple prison failures led to Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide
The Department of Justice has revealed “significant misconduct” by staff at a Manhattan detention centre led to Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide.
The DOJ’s Inspector General found multiple prison staff members failed to check on the disgraced financier – despite him being on suicide watch.
Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial for underage sex trafficking charges.
Rachel Sharp has the full story.
Bevan Hurley27 June 2023 16:11