Topline: NBC News reported that surveillance video footage shot from outside Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan jail cell during his first apparent suicide attempt has been permanently deleted—after that same footage was reported as lost, and then found—becoming the latest blunder in a highly criticized series of errors that led to Epstein’s death.
- According to NBC News, federal prosecutors say officials at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) accidentally saved surveillance footage from a different part of the jail due to a clerical error.
- At the time of the incident, Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer being held on murder charges, was Epstein’s cellmate
- MCC officials were investigating whether Tartaglione assaulted Epstein, and Tartaglione’s attorney asked the jail to preserve the surveillance footage to prove his client’s innocence.
- The wrong video was saved by MCC officials because “a different, incorrect cell” was mistakenly listed for Tartaglione, and although a backup system exists, the correct video could not be found due to “technical errors,” according to prosecutors.
- At the time of Epstein’s death, attorney general Bill Barr blamed MCC for “serious irregularities” and failing “to adequately secure” such a high profile prisoner.
- Additional criticism has been levied at MCC and the Bureau of Prisons by members of Congress and alleged victims of Epstein.
Key background: Epstein was being held at MCC in July 2019 pending federal sex trafficking charges, and was found semi-conscious after an apparent suicide attempt. He died by suicide three weeks later. The footage from outside Epstein’s cell during his first suicide attempt was initially thought to have gone missing in December 2019, but a federal prosecutor confirmed it was preserved. MCC officials do have footage, however, from outside Epstein’s cell from August 10, the day he died. Federal prosecutors are using it in charges against two former MCC guards for allegedly failing to perform mandatory checks on him and falsifying records saying the checks were done.
Surprising fact: MCC holds around 750 inmates, but only has about 110 officers on staff—and only 18 were on duty when Epstein killed himself. Complaints that the jail is chronically understaffed, and its role in Epstein’s death, have been reported by multiple outlets. Critics say understaffed jails are a nationwide problem.
Tangent: Notable forensic pathologist Michael Baden observed Epstein’s autopsy and said in October it suggested homicide, not suicide—a claim rejected by New York City medical examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson. Sampson told Forbes that “Epstein’s death was hanging and the manner of death was suicide. We stand by that determination.” But Baden still fueled a conspiracy theory, partly spurred by President Trump, that Epstein was murdered.
