Jeffrey Epstein, the financier charged with sex trafficking, was discovered dead in his prison cell in 2019. The cause of death, long debated, has now been officially confirmed as suicide by the Justice Department’s inspector general, Your Content has learned. Epstein was found in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, a bedsheet tied around his neck.
In a report released on Tuesday, the inspector general, Michael Horowitz, stated that negligence and mismanagement at the federal jail allowed Epstein every opportunity to end his own life. Horowitz’s investigation discovered no evidence to contradict the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s conclusion that Epstein took his own life using a homemade noose.
Despite this, the report highlights an unexplained series of circumstances that facilitated Epstein’s suicide. Staff at the jail inexplicably allowed him to hoard extra blankets, linens, bedding, and clothing, a dangerous allowance given Epstein’s prior attempt to hang himself.
Moreover, staff violated a standing order designed to protect Epstein from self-harm. Following an official warning to 70 Bureau of Prisons employees of the danger, they allowed Epstein to remain alone in his cell for a day after his cellmate left.
Epstein’s death sparked conspiracy theories due to the financier’s connections to politicians and Wall Street magnates. William P. Barr, the Attorney General at the time, stated there had been “serious irregularities” at the jail and called Epstein’s death a “perfect storm of screw-ups.”
Notably, Epstein was found in his cell with bruising around his neck two weeks prior to his death, indicative of a possible suicide attempt. This happened shortly after a federal judge denied Epstein’s request for home detention, citing that Epstein would continue to abuse teenage girls if released.
The government later charged two correctional officers with falsifying jail records to cover up their lack of duty the night before Epstein’s suicide. However, these charges were eventually dropped after the officers entered into deferred prosecution agreements.
Since the jail’s closure, the Bureau of Prisons has yet to provide a public explanation as to why Epstein was able to commit suicide while in government custody. Nevertheless, a 2021 New York Times investigation unveiled several missteps and oversights by jail and bureau officials leading up to Epstein’s death.
Epstein was initially brought to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in July 2019 following his arrest at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. His charges involved the recruitment of dozens of teenage girls for sex acts, some as young as 14, at his properties in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. His federal indictment alleged that Epstein paid his victims to recruit additional girls, enabling him to create a network of underage victims for sexual exploitation.