In cell the place Jeffrey Epstein died, a scene of disarray that by no means underwent thorough inspection, specialists stated

The federal investigation into the dying of convicted sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was marred by vital lapses, specialists informed CBS Information, together with the failure by investigators to interview potential witnesses, correctly protect sure proof and run primary forensic checks.

Almost two years handed earlier than investigators interviewed the 2 key corrections officers on responsibility the night time Epstein died in his cell within the Metropolitan Correctional Heart in downtown New York Metropolis, in what was later dominated a suicide, based on court docket paperwork. A type of officers was the one individual to attest to seeing Epstein hanging by a bedsheet from his bunk.

And particulars pulled from 90 photographs of the cell and different proof collected within the hours after Epstein’s dying — however earlier than FBI brokers arrived to course of the scene — seem to indicate a succession of primary oversights, starting from an absence of proof markers to objects being moved, specialists informed CBS Information.

“The FBI actually has all the finest instruments. I imply, spared no expense. They’ve each device you’ll be able to think about. And so they used none of it so far as we will inform,” forensic analyst Nick Barreiro stated after reviewing the photographs, a lot of which have by no means been printed. “How are there not far more folks mentioning the absurdity of this?” 

The pictures have been beforehand obtained by 60 Minutes. After the current launch of surveillance video from the night time Epstein died, which appeared to indicate particulars that contradicted official studies, CBS Information reviewed them and different paperwork with a number of forensic specialists.

The outcomes of the federal investigation have been made public in 2023, 4 years after Epstein’s dying, in a report by the Division of Justice Workplace of Inspector Basic. It concluded that the financier, who entered a responsible plea in 2008 on state-level fees of procuring a baby for prostitution, died by suicide. That matched the findings shared by Lawyer Basic William Barr, who informed Congress in August he had no doubts that Epstein had taken his personal life. However lingering questions, raised by people together with Epstein’s attorneys and brother, have fueled continued hypothesis and suspicion.

“I don’t imagine he died by suicide, no,” Epstein’s co-defendant, Ghislaine Maxwell, stated this summer time throughout her interview in August with the Deputy U.S. Lawyer Basic Todd Blanche. 

Epstein’s brother, Mark, informed “60 Minutes” in 2020 that, in his view, the proof he has seen so far factors extra to homicide than suicide. 5 years later, he nonetheless questions the investigation.

“This was by no means correctly investigated as a correct murder, it was by no means investigated,” Mark Epstein informed CBS Information lately.

Nothing in regards to the CBS Information evaluate into the investigation of Epstein’s dying suggests foul play. However the evaluate discovered that the federal probe didn’t comply with typical investigative procedures right into a suspicious dying.

“Proof pictures 101”

Epstein’s physique was found at 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2019 by corrections officer Michael Thomas when he arrived at his cell to ship breakfast. Thomas stated he discovered the accused felon in a near-seated place, suspended from the highest of the bunk by a selfmade noose, together with his legs straight out and his buttocks roughly 1 inch to 1 and a half inches off the ground, based on the inspector basic’s report. Inner corrections division memos obtained solely by CBS Information described him as “chilly,” with “no palpable pulses.”

The primary FBI brokers arrived on the cell greater than seven hours later, at 1:35 p.m., based on the 2023 report. However once they arrived, photographs present they discovered a disorganized, rifled-through litter. Crucially, Epstein’s lifeless physique had already been faraway from the cell, eliminating a crucial supply of knowledge investigators would want to find out how and when he died, forensic pathologist Michael Baden stated.

“The truth that he was moved diminishes the flexibility to find out how lengthy he was useless earlier than he was discovered,” Baden stated. 

Emergency medical technicians wrote of their report on the incident, which was obtained by CBS Information, that the employees they interacted with couldn’t say when Epstein was final seen alive or describe how he “was present in [the] jail cell apart from to say ‘we discovered him on the bottom.'”

Contained in the cell, piles of linens had been strewn about, mattresses have been squeezed right into a nook on the ground close to his bunk mattress and Epstein’s private objects have been rearranged or moved, photographs from the scene present. Specialists who reviewed photographs of the scene for CBS Information stated there have been additionally inconsistencies between the investigators’ official studies and what the photographs present.

“In these images, it was apparent that issues have been moved round,” stated former New York Police Division detective Herman Weisberg, who’s now managing director of Sage Intelligence. “It undoubtedly appeared to me that the scene was, for lack of a greater time period, staged a bit.”

Epstein’s medicines, a particular masks for treating sleep apnea, and not less than one piece of material tied right into a noose appeared elsewhere over the course of 90 minutes, when a photographer from the medical expert’s workplace was documenting the scene.

Weisberg and different specialists emphasised that, no matter whether or not Epstein’s dying was a suicide, the cell ought to have been handled as a criminal offense scene utilizing normal investigatory practices.

“It nearly seems to me that whoever was investigating this simply took it at face worth that it was a suicide with no foul play in anyway, suspected,” Weisberg stated. “However in a scenario as high-profile as this, I might all the time, as an investigator, take into account that there is perhaps foul play.”

Whereas some specialists questioned federal investigators’ remedy of the scene, forensic pathologist Judy Melinek, who used to work on the New York Metropolis Medical Examiner’s workplace, stated her former employer seems to have dealt with the case by the e book.

“It is simply folks doing what they usually do for some other case,” Melinek stated. “Nearly all of [cases] in case you weren’t such a excessive profile decedent, the scrutiny wouldn’t apply. That is how they deal with each different jail dying of anyone who shouldn’t be excessive profile.”

The sequence of proof photographs begins with an image of the steps main as much as Epstein’s cellblock, Tier L. Underlying information from the photograph exhibits it was taken at 9:34 a.m. — three hours after Epstein’s physique was discovered, and 4 hours earlier than federal investigators arrived.

Time glided by even because the nation’s high regulation enforcement officer sought a speedy investigation.

“I used to be clearly overlaying it in a short time and wished to rule out something apart from suicide,” Barr informed Congress in August, including that “inside an hour, or minutes of discovering out about it, I directed the [inspector general] to have folks in New York go to the scene and conduct an investigation.”

On the again wall, a surveillance digital camera is seen. It was streaming, however was not recording. This was on account of a hard-drive malfunction that had beforehand been recognized however not mounted, based on a Justice Division report. 

Subsequent is a blurry picture of the door to Epstein’s cell, quantity 220. Working beneath the door was a cable that supplied energy to a CPAP machine. Epstein had initially been assigned to a cell in a unique tier, however he was moved to cell 220 for simpler entry to an outlet, based on Bureau of Prisons information. 

The jail’s laptop techniques have been by no means up to date to notice that transfer, based on investigators. A supply near the investigation informed CBS Information that corrections employees not often up to date inner inmate strikes, as a substitute preferring to name out their names whereas within the tiers.

Two paperwork on the door are proven in photos after Epstein’s dying. One was a printout with Epstein’s private particulars and a reserving photograph. Above that was the ID card for Epstein’s former roommate, Efrain Reyes. 

Cells sometimes maintain two inmates, and following a suspected suicide try two weeks earlier, Epstein was mandated by correction officers to have a cellmate. The day earlier than Epstein’s dying, nonetheless, Reyes was transferred out of the detention middle. Investigators ultimately concluded that Reyes’ transfer allowed Epstein the solitude wanted to kill himself. 

From the primary photograph to the final, it’s clear the scene within the cell was chaotic — a lot in order that investigators by no means conclusively decided which strip of bedsheet was round Epstein’s neck when he died. 

Pictures of the mattress additionally increase questions. One exhibits an orange string hanging from a bar. This image was included in a 2023 report by the Division of Justice’s Inspector Basic, alongside an outline of how Epstein was discovered, suggesting investigators believed that was what he had used to hold himself. 

If that was the case, and the room hadn’t been disturbed earlier than the photographer arrived, Epstein’s rear would have come to relaxation on a mattress, as a substitute of hovering over the ground — complicating investigators’ clarification of how he hanged himself. 

A few of the proof was not photographed in Epstein’s cell, however as a substitute seemed to be in a wholly completely different room — one with ground tiles distinct from the naked concrete of Epstein’s cell. These footage present a defibrillator and one other strip of orange material tied right into a noose-like form. It’s visibly completely different from the one proven hanging from Epstein’s mattress body. 

There isn’t any indication in official studies the place this noose was discovered, or which of a number of knotted strips of mattress linen could have been faraway from round Epstein’s neck. A rendering of this noose was included in Epstein’s official post-mortem. However the Justice Division later revealed in its 2023 report that “the noose depicted shouldn’t be the ligature Epstein used to kill himself.”

By the point FBI brokers arrived, it was clear their work could be scrutinized by the highest brass contained in the Justice Division. 

“After the suicide, I informed the headquarters to ensure that they flooded the zone,” Barr informed Congress in an August deposition.

There isn’t any indication in any official report that an FBI crime scene investigators, formally generally known as an Proof Response Group, ever ran fingerprints or DNA checks on something discovered within the cell. 

Epstein’s post-mortem report signifies medical experts collected fingernail clippings, and swabs from his neck and palms. Epstein’s brother Mark informed CBS Information that he nonetheless hasn’t acquired any details about the outcomes of DNA checks, in the event that they have been carried out, and Barr stated in his deposition that he could not keep in mind if they’d been performed.

A 2024 report by Division of Justice researchers warned that investigators danger lacking an vital “alternative” to assemble proof “if DNA shouldn’t be collected on the scene as wanted or on the time of examination.” They suggested that “physique swabs ought to be thought of each on the scene and through post-mortem.”

Weisberg stated investigators left too many stones unturned, lacking the chance to shut the case in a method that may really feel conclusive to the general public.

“At the back of any good investigator’s thoughts, he is getting ready this to be scrutinized by counsel. On this case, you are getting ready it to be scrutinized by quite a lot of desktop detectives … so that you higher have your whole info straight,” Weisberg stated.

The FBI “inspected the cell and retrieved what [they] believed to be related to its investigation into the reason for Epstein’s dying, which included one torn sheet, miscellaneous papers, and an MP3 participant,” inspector basic investigators wrote within the 2023 report. 

Forensic analyst Barreiro stated he thought of the company’s remedy of the scene to be putting.

“Some actually shoddy work right here, in case you may even name it that,” Barreiro stated. “I imply there’s an absence of labor right here.”

One primary process, which Barreiro known as “proof pictures 101,” is photographing scenes in a development that goes from a large shot to close-ups, with markers figuring out proof.

“There is not any proof markers in any of those images. Like, how do you retain observe when you get the stuff again to the crime lab? That is basically ineffective,” stated Barreiro, a former police detective and an FBI-trained member of the Digital Imaging and Video Restoration Group.

Richard Esposito, a former New York Police Division deputy commissioner stated, “it seems there could have been a number of procedural, operational, and investigative missteps at this crime scene.” 

“In the end, figuring out the true info and circumstances in a dying investigation-and transparently speaking these findings to the public-helps dispel misinformation and cut back the unfold of conspiracy theories,” stated Esposito, who’s a CBS Information regulation enforcement contributor.

Interviews

Federal investigators questioned 54 folks earlier than issuing their ultimate report, together with three inmates who had been housed on Epstein’s tier, in addition to jail employees, directors, contractors and his brother. Nonetheless, a number of different witnesses or their representatives informed CBS Information they weren’t interviewed. That included many different inmates housed in Epstein’s tier the night time of his dying, not less than one staffer who arrived at Epstein’s cell shortly after his physique was discovered and practically all the guests he noticed within the days main as much as his dying.

Two witnesses who did present eyewitness accounts, with their attorneys current, have been within the cell straight throughout from Epstein’s the night time he died. One described seeing Thomas, the primary corrections officer on scene, enter Epstein’s cell and start performing CPR, solely to emerge holding a rope and a defibrillator. The opposite stated he noticed Thomas enter and shake Epstein. He stated Thomas tried to select Epstein up, however fell over. He then started giving chest compressions, the inmate stated.

The accounts, which seem within the official report, don’t clarify what’s seen in photographs of the jail tier — their cell home windows lined by papers that might have obscured any view outdoors. 

It is not clear if the cell window was papered over within the time after Epstein’s dying however earlier than the primary photographs have been snapped. The Bureau of Prisons declined to remark.

Makes an attempt to succeed in Thomas have been unsuccessful. A lawyer for his former coworker, Tova Noel, stated she wouldn’t remark. The previous officers agreed to be interviewed by investigators in 2021, as a part of a deal that noticed prosecutors drop fees of falsifying information associated to necessary checks on Epstein and different inmates, after falling asleep on the job.

Different staffers with first-hand information of the scene and different occasions have been by no means contacted by federal investigators, based on interviews with CBS Information. 

Investigators additionally determined to not interview a few of Epstein’s guests, a number of sources informed CBS Information. The inmate spent the majority of his daytime with a big, rotating forged of attorneys — together with on the day earlier than his dying. The youthful attorneys have been there not solely to supply counsel, but additionally “to principally maintain his hand” and “babysit,” based on one supply. They saved Epstein firm, chatting with him about life, politics, literature and some other matter that got here to his thoughts. 

“You’d suppose if the investigation was a precedence, they’d need to take a run on the youthful individuals who have been working for him,” one supply informed CBS Information. “Nothing.” 

One lawyer who visited Epstein 9 days earlier than his dying was David Schoen. He stated Epstein informed him he was actively planning to combat the felony fees levied towards him.

“And this is the reason I’ve stated, that in my opinion — I haven’t got something to base it on apart from anecdotal — I do not suppose he dedicated suicide, as a result of he was very engaged within the concept of preventing the case,” Schoen stated. “He employed me. And to kill himself 9 days later would not have made quite a lot of sense.”

Whereas many who have been near Epstein have publicly questioned that he died by suicide, Barr has stated it was — and stays — essentially the most logical conclusion. The choice would’ve been too sophisticated, Barr stated in his August deposition.

“This could’ve required coordination from in all probability two dozen folks, perhaps, throughout the jail. And all these folks have been in several teams,” Barr stated. “You already know, the individuals who have been repairing the cameras, the individuals who, you already know, have been accountable for opening and shutting the door, the individuals who have been accountable for placing in a brand new cellmate, issues like that. “