Jeffrey Epstein report: ‘Significant misconduct’ by prison officials led to Epstein’s suicide
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A scathing report from the Justice Department (DOJ) watchdog has detailed a catalogue of errors 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 negligence, misconduct and poor job performance by the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and workers at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center enabled Epstein to take his own life in August 2019.
These included failing to check on the disgraced financier despite him being on suicide watch, 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.
‘Breathe Epstein, breathe’
New details about Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide have been revealed in a scathing Department of Justice Inspector General report into his death.
The report detailed the moments after two Bureau of Prisons guards carried out an inspection of Epstein’s cell at about 6.30am on 10 August 2019.
Michael Thomas, who was later criminally charged for falsifying records, would later say he got no response when he knocked on Epstein’s cell. After unlocking the door, he saw Epstein was hanging from a bed.
“Breathe Epstein, breathe,” Mr Thomas said, according to the report.
“We’re going to be in so much trouble,” he added.
Another guard, Tova Noel, told investigators she saw Mr Thomas lift Epstein from under his arms and lay him down on the ground to perform CPR.
She said she hit her body alarm within seconds.
“Noel said that when she saw Epstein, he looked blue and did not have a shirt on,” the report states.
Mr Thomas then performed chest compressions, and did not check for a pulse, she would tell investigators.
A supervisor who responded to the mayday call arrived soon afterwards, and asked what had happened.
Thomas reportedly replied: “Oh, it’s not her fault, we f***ed up.”
The officers’ cell was about 15 feet from Epstein’s cell, and Ms Noel assured supervisors that no-one could have entered without her knowledge.
She told investigators she had worked five days of overtime leading up to the day Epstein died.
The report found that Epstein hanged himself in his jail cell with an orange noose he fashioned from “a sheet or a shirt”.
Jeffrey Epstein’s final days
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 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.
Documents reveal details of Jeffrey Epstein’s final days
Thousands of papers offer a more detailed glimpse into the days leading up to sex trafficker’s apparent suicide, writes Sheila Flynn
Ghislaine Maxwell claimed she was ‘blind’ to Epstein’s evil
During her 2021 trial for child sex trafficking, Ghislaine Maxwell sought to blame her former “partner in crime” Jeffrey Epstein for her legal woes.
Maxwell has continued to deny any wrongdoing as she appeals her conviction and 20 year prison sentence from her Florida prison cell.
In a January interview, the 61-year-old disgraced socialite claimed to have “no reason” to suspect Epstein was “capable of evil”.
“I didn’t know that he was so awful. I mean, obviously now, looking back with hindsight, of course,” she told filmmaker Daphne Barak.
“Clearly my association and the fact that I worked for him and spent time with him and knew him has devastated my life and hurt many people that I’ve loved and hold dear around me.”
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.
Scathing report outlines failures which led to Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide
The DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General released its report on Tuesday, finding that multiple prison staff members failed to check on the disgraced financier despite him being on suicide watch
Four prison staff identified as committing potential crimes in Epstein suicide
Corrections staff at New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center were found to have of committed “numerous and serious” instances of misconduct by the Department of Justice’s Inspector General.
Four Bureau of Prison employees were identified as potential having committed criminal offences by Michael Horowitz.
Two of those, Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid prison time.
Investigators found they had altered records to make it look like they had performed checks on Jeffrey Epstein.
Charges against both men were dropped last year after they entered into a deferred prosecution agreement.
The report found two supervisors, identified only by their job titles, knowingly and willfully falsified records to make it appear as if they completed mandatory inspections of inmate locations on 9 and 10 August.
“A combination of negligence, misconduct, and outright job performance failures…all contributed to an environment in which arguable one of the most notorious inmates in BOP’s custody was provided with the opportunity to take his own life,” Mr Horowitz concluded.
Judge approves $290m settlement in suit accusing JPMorgan of ignoring Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking
On Monday, a federal judge in New York approved a $290m preliminary settlement in a lawsuit from alleged abuse victims accusing JPMorgan Chase of turning “a blind eye” to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking ring.
The suit, filed in court last year on behalf of Epstein victims, under the name of an anonymous woman dubbed Jane Doe 1, accused the bank of ignoring Epstein’s troubled history, including continuing to do business with him for five years after the disgraced financier pleaded guilty in 2008 to child prostitution charges and registered as a sex offender.
Josh Marcus has more details.
$290m settlement approved in suit accusing JPMorgan of ignoring Epstein sex crimes
Bank denies enabling any crimes
DOJ outlines why it concluded Epstein died by suicide
A scathing report by the Department of Justice’s Inspector General has explained why it concluded Jeffrey Epstein had died by suicide.
“The Medical Examiner who performed the autopsy detailed for the (Office of Inspector General) why Epstein’s injuries were more consistent with, and indicative of, a suicide by hanging rather than a homicide by strangulation,” the report states.
“The Medical Examiner also cited to the absence of debris under Epstein’s fingernails, marks on his hands, contusions to his knuckles, or bruises on his body that evidenced Epstein had been in a struggle, which would be expected if Epstein’s death had been a homicide by strangulation.”
The report found that corrections staff last checked on Epstein at 10.40pm on 9 August. He was found unresponsive nearly eight hours later at 6.30am on 10 August.
‘Breathe Epstein, breathe’
New details about Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide have been revealed in a scathing Department of Justice Inspector General report into his death.
The report detailed the moments after two Bureau of Prisons guards carried out an inspection of Epstein’s cell in the Metropolitan Correctional Center at about 6.30am on 10 August 2019.
Michael Thomas, who was later criminally charged for falsifying records, would later say he got no response when he knocked on Epstein’s cell. After unlocking the door, he saw Epstein was hanging from a bed.
“Breathe Epstein, breathe,” Mr Thomas said, according to the report.
“We’re going to be in so much trouble,” he added.
Another guard, Tova Noel, told investigators she saw Mr Thomas lift Epstein from under his arms and lay him down on the ground to perform CPR.
She said she hit her body alarm within seconds.
“Noel said that when she saw Epstein, he looked blue and did not have a shirt on,” the report states.
Mr Thomas then performed chest compressions, and did not check for a pulse, she would tell investigators.
A supervisor who responded to the mayday call arrived soon afterwards, and asked what had happened.
Thomas reportedly replied: “Oh, it’s not her fault, we f***ed up.”
The officers’ cell was about 15 feet from Epstein’s cell, and Ms Noel assured supervisors that no-one could have entered without her knowledge.
She told investigators she had worked five days of overtime leading up to the day Epstein died.
The report found that Epstein hanged himself in his jail cell with an orange noose he fashioned from “a sheet or a shirt”.
Scathing watchdog report blames Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide on prison staff
A scathing report released on Tuesday found that multiple prison staff members failed to check on the disgraced financier in the hours leading up to his death – despite him being on suicide watch.
Four staff were potentially criminally responsible for falsifying records and lying to investigators, the Department of Justice’s Inspector General Michael Horowitz found.
In a clear violation of this policy, no checks were made for almost eight hours from around 10.40pm on 9 August until around 6.30am on 10 August – when the prolific sex offender was found dead.
Staff at the Manhattan jail also failed to assign Epstein a fellow inmate in his cell and left him with access to additional bed linen which he used to kill himself, the report finds.
Rachel Sharp has the full story.
Scathing report outlines failures which led to Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide
The DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General released its report on Tuesday, finding that multiple prison staff members failed to check on the disgraced financier despite him being on suicide watch
Jeffrey Epstein’s final days
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 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.
Documents reveal details of Jeffrey Epstein’s final days
Thousands of papers offer a more detailed glimpse into the days leading up to sex trafficker’s apparent suicide, writes Sheila Flynn
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