Newly published documents from the Federal Bureau of Prisons have shed more light on the final days of Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died from an apparent suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
According to a 2,000-page report obtained by The New York Times, Epstein had expressed frustration over the living conditions at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, where he was ultimately found dead in his prison cell on Aug. 10, 2019. The documents state the 66-year-old was placed on suicide watch sometime in July, after he was found unconscious with a bedsheet around his neck; however, a post-suicide watch report painted Epstein as a cooperative, seemingly content inmate who had no intentions of killing himself.
“Mr. EPSTEIN was alert and oriented. He was polite, calm, and cooperative in demeanor,” the report read. “… There was no evidence of perceptual disturbance, delusional ideation, or a formal thought disorder … Mr. EPSTEIN explicitly denied recent and current sducidal ideation, planning, and intent.”
Epstein reportedly convinced a psychologist he had much to live for, even describing his life as “wonderful,” despite his impending criminal trial. However, he was vocal about some of the nuisances he experienced while behind bars. These included sleeping issues due to his talkative cellmate, not getting his constipation medicine when requested, getting annoyed by the running toilet in his cell, not liking his orange jumpsuit, and feeling unsafe among the “many MS-13 gang members” in his initial unit.
Weeks after Epstein was taken off suicide-watch, prison guards found him unconscious in his prison cell. Though the New York medical examiner declared his death a suicide by hanging, many conspiracy theorists remain convinced Epstein was murdered in an effort to prevent his testimony against his high-profile associates. These suspicions were fueled by a number of bizarre circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death, such as malfunctioning prison cameras, inattentive prison guards, and the fact his cellmate was transferred just hours before he died.
The post-mortem report, however, states Epstein’s suicide was likely a result of several factors, such as “the lack of significant interpersonal connections, a complete loss of his status in both the community and among associates, and the idea of potentially spending his life in prison.”
The report also highlights a number of errors made by prison staffers upon Epstein’s arrival. These include a July 8 document that described Epstein as a “Black male” with no prior convictions. Epstein was a white man as well as a level-three registered sex offender. Furthermore, the Times reports some of his “social” phone calls were not properly logged or recorded.
“Jeffrey Epstein definitely killed himself. Any conspiracy theories to the contrary are ridiculous,” one of the inmates said in an email to psychologist. “He wanted to kill himself and seized the opportunity when it was available. Such is life — or death, in this case.”
