Among the tens of thousands of Jeffrey Epstein files released so far by the Justice Department are documents that provide new details on one of the most discussed aspects of the case — his death in federal custody in 2019.
Epstein, who was indicted in July 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges, had been locked up in the now-closed Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York for five weeks when, on Aug. 10, at roughly 6:30 a.m., he was found dead in his cell.
He had been denied bail and, at age 66, was facing a potential 45-year sentence if convicted on all charges. The day before his death, federal judges in a separate civil lawsuit had unsealed 2,000 pages of records containing allegations of his sexual abuse of girls and young women.
Six days after his death, New York City’s chief medical examiner, Barbara Sampson, whose office had conducted an autopsy of Epstein’s body, issued a finding that he had hanged himself.
Ever since, a wide range of people, including members of Congress and some prominent supporters of President Donald Trump, have challenged that conclusion, asserting with no evidence that Epstein was killed and proffering theories about who might have done it.
The documents released so far provide no support for those theories. They do offer additional evidence for the conclusion reached by previous investigations — both by the Justice Department and media organizations — that jail officials failed to properly monitor Epstein even though they had previously put him on suicide watch.
Two jail staff members were charged after Epstein’s death with failing to watch him. Prosecutors said they slept through part of their shift, whiled away time shopping online and falsified log books to conceal their failure to conduct rounds every 30 minutes. They ultimately reached a deal to avoid trial. Jail officials also left Epstein alone in his cell, despite strict instructions not to do so.
In the early hours of July 23, 2019, a couple of weeks after Epstein arrived at the jail, workers found him semiconscious on the floor of his cell with a makeshift orange noose around his neck, according to an investigative report from the Federal Bureau of Prisons included in Monday’s batch of documents. That previous apparent suicide attempt had been widely reported, but the newly released documents provide new details.
The Bureau of Prisons did not respond to questions about Epstein’s confinement and death.
After struggling to stand him up, staff members put Epstein in hand and leg restraints and carried him out on a gurney, the report said. A medical assessment found redness and abrasions around his neck. Photos in the report, timestamped 1:45 a.m. and labeled “possible suicide attempt,” show a disheveled Epstein in a blue antisuicide smock, his skin faintly red above the collarbone.
Officials placed Epstein on suicide watch. An observation log from the morning of that apparent suicide attempt was also among the documents the Justice Department released this week. It shows handwritten notes from two staffers, entered at 15-minute intervals.
A note from 2:15 a.m. says Epstein “states his cellmate tried to kill him.” The investigative report also states that Epstein told an officer that his cellmate had “attempted to kill him and had been harassing him.”
At the time, Epstein was housed with Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer who was later convicted of a quadruple murder and sentenced to life in prison. Tartaglione and Epstein each said later that they did not have problems with each other, according to prison documents. Investigators did not find significant evidence that Tartaglione assaulted Epstein.
A 2:30 a.m. note in the suicide watch log reads: “inmate sitting on bed trying to remember what happened.” Later notes simply read, “inmate sitting on bed” and “inmate standing at door.”
Epstein told investigators in a July 31 interview that he hadn’t slept in “approximately 20 days,” according to the investigative report. He said he had woken up on the floor to the sound of snoring that turned out to be his own.
Tartaglione said he had been asleep on the cell floor when he felt something hit his foot, the report says. He awoke to see Epstein snoring with his eyes open and thought he was having a heart attack, according to the report.
Epstein appeared to recover quickly from the apparent suicide attempt, according to a Bureau of Prisons medical form filled out that morning. A healthcare provider noted that he was breathing normally, didn’t appear distressed and smiled during the visit. He declined to talk about what led to the incident, the document states, saying only that he “went to drink a little water and [woke] up snorting.”
A separate document appears to contain notes from an interview with a prison psychologist who observed Epstein over the following two weeks.
Epstein avoided questions about the incident, according to the notes, and said it was against his religion to kill himself. “E said he doesn’t like pain and didn’t want to hurt himself,” one bullet point read.
“No signs in logbooks showing suicidality, participating in legal meetings,” read another. Other notes indicate Epstein tried to avoid being transferred back to special housing.
Another logbook, dated July 24 through July 30, 2019, shows Epstein was allowed basic comforts while under psychological observation, including regular clothes, newspapers and magazines, books, legal mail, and a “safety toothbrush.” He made small talk with staffers about investment strategies and jail life, visited with lawyers, showered and slept, according to the logs.
The documents also contain correspondence from the same period between a prison associate warden and a Bureau of Prisons regional director who asked for daily updates on Epstein after his apparent suicide attempt.
A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson did not respond to a message seeking comment about those arrangements or other details in the correspondence.
Less than 48 hours after the apparent suicide attempt, the associate warden emailed the regional director to say that Epstein could face a disciplinary hearing for violating the prison’s prohibition on “self-mutilation.”
A doctor had “indicated that most likely he will be found competent because he is not mentally ill,” the email said. “We have supporting memorandums from the responding officers who indicated they observed inmate Epstein with a makeshift noose around his neck.”
Further emails from senders whose names are redacted appear to show prison officials tracking Epstein’s progress in the days leading up to his death in custody.
In a July 26 email, the prison’s chief psychologist indicated that a psychologist in the Bureau of Prisons headquarters in Washington “was concerned I stepped him down to psych obs rather than keeping him on SW,” probably referring to suicide watch.
“I gave my justification and feel it is appropriate, but I just want to make sure I still feel that way when he is interviewed today,” the email read.
Another exchange suggested that Epstein had spent “about 12 hours” with his attorney and had complained about being dehydrated because of limited bathroom breaks.
“He also complained about having to go back up to SHU,” the July 27 email read, referring to the special housing unit, which is used for inmates with psychiatric problems and those requiring extra monitoring. The sender added that Epstein was “anxious about it and not being able to sleep there because of the noise of inmates banging and screaming at night.”
An email dated the following morning read, “Inmate Epstein seems psychologically stable.”
Prison workers sent Epstein back to special housing on July 30.
Over the following days, Epstein’s lawyers wrote to prison officials with complaints about his conditions. They said he had no toilet paper, that his CPAP machine, used for sleep apnea, had been disconnected and that he had been allowed only two 15-minute calls on speaker phone with officers present, according to redacted emails.
On Aug. 10, prison staffers delivering Epstein’s breakfast found him unresponsive in his cell, documents show.
