The Strange Death of The Infamous Jeffery Epstein

Jeffery Epstein, millionaire extreme, friend of the famous died on 10th August 2019. It is accepted by almost everyone that Epstein was a bad man in suave disguise. He was facing a very long time in gaol for trafficking under aged girls.

His motives were sexual. He is seen as the best example of a rich man exploiting females since the days of Caligula. He was said to have had many rich and powerful contacts who may have indulged in rape and sexual assault with him. Now we will never know for sure because he died in custody. The long line of unusual circumstances that surrounded his final day do beg the question. Did he commit suicide or was he murdered?

Brief Circumstances

Epstein was no doubt a sex offender. He had been convicted as such in 2006. Then he served 13 months in prison for sexual offences against underage girls. Once out he seemed to have not changed much. In 2019 he was arrested and held in gaol. The offences were once again to do with young girls. He was said to have trafficked them to his island in the Caribbean, house in New York and a place he kept in London.

This was a very rich guy. He was a financier who had built himself up from being a maths teacher in the early 1970s. He had a knack for making money. Amongst his friends he could count many such as himself, presidents and princes.

If you look at his properties you would see palatial living. We are talking the finest of things. I might not like him or his taste in art but undoubtedly money decorated his life. His private island, Little St James, sat a mile off the nearest habitation. You got there by boat or helicopter. It is here that many of his ill deeds took place.

His way of exploiting young girls was to offer them money for sex. Often he approached these females with an offer to pay them for a massage and things went from there. Several girls he kept on a retained basis. They would travel with him and his friends and it is said they were shared around. Prominent allegations are currently still being investigated.

To go into the validity of these allegations would take a book. What happened in prison is what is intriguing to me.

He was placed in a gaol in New York City. This is a multi story facility called the Metropolitan Correctional Centre. It is in Lower Manhattan. At that point you had a man facing a possible prison term of 45 years. Epstein was 66 years old so that would have been a life sentence.

Wikipedia picture of the gaol by Jim Henderson.

On 23rd July 2019 he was found unconscious with marks on his neck. This was deemed to have been an attempt at suicide. His cell mate was investigated and cleared of any wrong doing. Two lines of thought remain about this incident. One is that Epstein did it himself in order to end his life or get a transfer out of the tough gaol. The second is that it was an attempt on his life because of the high profile indiscretions of his former friends. Understandably it is believed that Epstein knew much that could damage these friends. Not one of them lacked the means to do him harm if they so wished.

He was then subject to ‘suicide watch’ measures. All that he could use to harm himself was removed and he was watched closely. After 6 days Epstein was moved back into the normal area. Here he was to have a cellmate and be checked every 30 minutes. This apparently was normal ‘post suicide watch’ routine. The cellmate requirement was supposedly as an extra layer of security. The thinking goes if someone else is there he was less likely to have the opportunity to kill himself.

On the 9th August 2019 Epstein saw his lawyers, by the following day he would be dead. They described him as upbeat. He was placed in his cell at about 8pm. That day the cell mate had been transferred out but another had not been placed in the cell. The checks were not carried out as mandated. During the night the guards are said to have been asleep for a large portion of time. CCTV cameras malfunctioned that night. They would have shown the area outside of Epstein’s cell.

At 6.30 am guards, Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, were handing out breakfast and discovered Epstein. He had apparently hung himself using bedding. This he is said to have tied to the support on the lower bunk.

According to the indictment laid against the correctional officers after 8pm no checks were made on Epstein. He was alone in his cell. The indictment says that the officers falsified the checks in documents. It details brief use of the computer system to check for household items online and articles on sports news. CCTV does show the area the guards were in. A supervisor turned up and chatted and another officer passed through. No other person is seen. Tova Noel does approach the door that separates the cells Epstein was in from the officer station. There is no footage of anyone entering the area where these cells are situated.

Epstein was rushed to hospital but all evidence says that he was long dead by that time.

Killed OR A Simple Suicide?

The potential motive to kill Epstein is there. You have a world where many vastly rich and influential people could have motive and reach. One ex con,Youtuber, pointed out that if you offered staff a bitcoin wealth why would they not consider killing Epstein?

Then again you have a vastly rich and formerly high living man facing up to 45 years in prison. His world has unravelled, his bail was refused and he faced the pressure of a trial.

Problems came hand in hand with the autopsy. It estimated that Epstein likely died at about 4.30 am. It concurred with the idea he had committed suicide. However, another eminent pathologist hired by the family said it was unlikely it was a suicide. Under our jaw, as you probably know, is the hyoid bone. This suffers trauma in strangulation cases. If you hanged yourself as Epstein is said to have you don’t break your neck. That is the way a proper hanging works. It needs a long sudden drop and a high level of expertise. The neck breaks and off you go to the great hereafter.

Epstein used bodily pressure to shut his system down. The hyoid bone is not prone to break the way his did, using the method they say he used. The sort of damage his body displayed comes often in the case of manual strangulation. There was also injuries to his throat that it is claimed are common with homicides.

The ligature he placed around his neck was said to have been cut when the guards saw what had happened. However, there does not seem to be a cut in that length of material .

The family pathologist is, Dr Michael Baden. Doctor Baden observed the autopsy. He had been a New York pathologist for decades. He had extensive experience of prison procedures and more importantly, prison suicide. He also had questions about the injury to Epstein’s skin. There was a clear ligature mark as you would expect. The problem for Dr Baden was that the mark was in the middle of his neck not under the jaw. In a CBS article much of his thinking is outlined further. I have placed it below.

Mental State of Jeffrey Epstein

Epstein had for years been a tough man mentally. He cruised in the waters of multimillion dollar deals for most of his working life. He had had his bail application refused. This was up for appeal at the time of his death. He was offering to give a cash bond and wear a tracking device.

On the day he took his life court documents had been freed outlining further charges against him. This would have knocked his confidence somewhat yet then again this set of documents are routine in such cases. Also Epstein knew he was in deep trouble. He had the best of lawyers so it would not have been a shock.

I have seen reference to him being in fear of his life. He had been paying for protection in prison. It is common for rich people to give tougher inmates cash for this service. I have also seen references that say Epstein had said he did not make an attempt on his life in July.

He blamed his former cell mate Nick Tartaglione, Tartaglione is a former cop who is still awaiting trial. He is alleged to have killed four men in a drug deal. He is a huge man, muscular to an extreme degree. As a cop he did many controversial things. The murders he is said to have done would put him away forever and the death penalty was being sought.

His lawyer says that CCTV would show how Tartaglione helped save Epstein’s life in July. Curiously that CCTV footage, that which would have shown a view outside the cell area, is also missing. As to where Tartiglione was on the night of 9th into 10th August it is not clear. Some news sources place the first ‘suicide attempt’ and the later death on Tartalione’s huge shoulders. However, as I have already said, the investigation into the incident cleared him.

Epstein is supposed to have said that he and the ex cop got along fine. Others have questioned why a man who is up for four killings was housed with a man like Epstein. He may well have been a shark on Wall Street, but he was a minnow in the prison system.

60 Minutes/CBS picture of the tier of cells. Click image to get to the article

In a handwritten note he talked of being miserable. He said that officer Tova Noel had given him burnt food and he had been locked in a shower stall for an hour while naked. He also makes reference to there being bugs on his hands. He did not make any reference to suicide.

My Take On The Suicide of Jeffery Epstein.

I am first going to say that it matters little to me personally. Unlike other cases you will find on this website it hard to find a victim here. Jeffery Epstein was a convicted sex offender. He dies in prison. A reasonable reaction would be to shrug and wonder what to cook for tea.

The problem is if there is a strong possibility of large scale, high level exploitation of girls justice might not be served. If every time such cases come up the rich and powerful wave a wand and the matter disappears that becomes a concern for everyone.

Jeffrey Epstein was, according to his brother, awaiting another bail hearing. His lawyers talk of him being upbeat and showing no signs of suicidal thoughts. Unlike other ‘white collar’ prisoners he had been in gaol before. Then it was for a period of 13 months. He would have been used to the ups and downs of cell life. I admit that he may have been in a softer prison environment but he had been a prisoner.

CCTV of the outside of the cells was missing from the 23rd July incident. It was missing from the night he died. He had been with a cellmate till that morning, he was incredibly high profile, he had been on suicide watch until about 12 days before. He had been taken off suicide watch with strict instructions regarding checking. With all this these two corrections officers did no checks between 10.30pm and 6.30 am when the breakfasts were taken around.

As I understand it the layout allows that you could leave a cell open and leave Epstein’s cell unlocked. I watched a breakdown of the security and old fashioned key systems were in place in this facility. The officers allegedly did not go through a secure door into the cell area all night.

So was that the arrangement? I don’t know. I do know that procedures were not followed and a significant series of ‘coincidences’ took out any evidence of detail. Epstein’s brother said he could contemplate his brother committing suicide once convicted. He could not accept he would do it with the chance of bail.

I would further suggest it is strange that Epstein, strong willed and calculating, would have given up before the last card was played out. That last card had to be a trial. A trial that for a man of influence and money is a different deal than it would be for the rest of us.

On the other side this gaol is renowned as a tough place. Tova Noel and Michael Thomas were on overtime. Noel had pulled 2 back to back 8 hour shifts. I have seen it said that was mandatory. If tired and annoyed would you work strictly to code? If the culture of the place was to merely fill in the checks and sign them off, I can see it being the case that the officers couldn’t be bothered. I can see them sleeping. I can see them going day to day chancing it.

The state says without doubt that Dr Baden is wrong and the injuries that Epstein had were often seen in both suicide and homicide. They are very clear this was a suicide. A former warden said that though a tough place, though the staff were overworked, this was a suicide.

Coincidences happen. I recently wrote of the case of Amber Guyger who shot to death a stranger in 2018. If one part of the situation had played out differently she and her victim would never have even met.

The case of Epstein, however, is too full of coincidences. It is too full of missing CCTV. I have worked in custody environments. I have worked in secure psychiatric facilities. I have slept on duty. I have missed counts. I have spent hours online looking for things to buy while being paid. I have worked 24 hour shifts on occasions.

If I was working there that night, I would have checked him at least a few times. The cellmate had been moved. He was there alone, he was a risk but more importantly…If anything happened to him I would have been toast. There is no way that any ordinary worker in that environment would have not been keenly aware of that. Further to this in one news source, Michael Thomas had been there when Epstein is said to have tried suicide. I have put the link below to that article. It also goes through the indictment against the officers.

So I don’t know what happened. I was not there. I can say that on a balance of probability Epstein is highly unlikely to have killed himself.

The World Turns Its Attention On Number 2

Ghislaine Noelle Marion Maxwell, 59, was a close associate of Epstein. She was described in terms that would place her as his number 2. She is currently in prison awaiting trial for sexual offences against children. This is all tied up to Epstein’s alleged offences. She was not arrested until July 2020 as she played the system and remained out of contact for a long time. I say out of contact, she talked via her lawyers.

It could be argued that if Epstein was killed for what he knows? Why did the same dark forces not deal with Maxwell? I can only say that at the time Epstein died Maxwell was not seen as such a pivotal threat. She may well know details. She may have seen things yet there is no guarantee that the worst is known to her. She may have seen things but has no idea where any evidence is.

Her testimony might be damaging but with Epstein out of the way the heat is off. What he may have told her becomes hearsay evidence. It becomes a case of ‘he said, she said.’

Only time will tell what happens with her. We are assured that she is secure and all eventualities have been evaluated. Certainly one ‘suicide’ can happen. A second one would maybe push credibility too far.

Last, I heard her trial was due July 2021 but we are past that so watch this space. According to the latest the cases against the officers are for, broadly speaking, dereliction of duty.

What do you think?

Cheers

Tim