New Reports Say Epstein Was NOT On Suicide Watch At The Time Of His Death

Here's what the NY Post had to report:

Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was not on suicide watch in the Manhattan prison where he hanged himself Saturday morning, officials said.

Department of Justice spokesman Lee Plourde told The Post that Epstein, 66, was not “currently” on watch in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center while he awaited trial on child sex-trafficking charges.
Plourde refused to say whether that meant Epstein had been taken off additional monitoring or whether he had never been getting special attention to make sure he did not kill himself.
“I’m not going to discuss his previous medical status,” he said.

Epstein was alone in his cell at the time, a law enforcement source told The Post.

Epstein had reportedly been placed on suicide watch after he was found nearly unconscious in his cell on July 23. There was some question about whether the incident was a suicide attempt or an assault, and investigators noted that the marks on his neck were “more consistent with being choked than hanging yourself,” one source told the Post.

An ex-cop housed in the same unit as Epstein who faces the death penalty for four drug-related killings upstate was questioned in the incident.

Plourde refused to say whether that incident was ruled a suicide attempt or an assault.

Plourde said Epstein was never treated outside MCC after that incident, disputing reports.

“He was never taken to the hospital,” he said.

The NY Times confirmed the report:

Like all federal prisons, the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan has a suicide prevention program designed for inmates who are at risk of taking their own lives. 

After an apparent attempt three weeks ago, Jeffrey Epstein — the financier who was at the facility awaiting trial on charges he sexually abused dozens of girls — was placed on suicide watch and received daily psychiatric evaluations, a person familiar with his detention said. 

But just six days later, on July 29, Mr. Epstein, 66, was taken off the watch for reasons that remained unclear on Saturday, the person said. Twelve days after that, he hanged himself. Guards making their morning rounds discovered his body at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, the Bureau of Prisons said. 

Mr. Epstein’s suicide, coming shortly after prison officials in Manhattan deemed he was no longer at risk of taking his own life, raises questions about the steps prison officials took to keep him alive and ensure he would face his accusers in court. 

The Justice Department immediately faced a backlash from elected officials and the public. Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska on the Senate’s Judiciary committee, said in a letter to the Justice Department that it was inexcusable that Mr. Epstein had not been under a 24-hour watch. “These victims deserved to face their serial abuser in court,” he wrote. 

Attorney General William P. Barr said in a statement that he had asked the inspector general for the Justice Department to open an investigation “into the circumstances of Mr. Epstein’s death.” The F.B.I. is also investigating, he said.

The federal Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to requests for information about its decision that Mr. Epstein was no longer a suicide risk. 

The Metropolitan Correctional Center houses about 800 people awaiting either trial or sentencing in New York City, and over the years its inmates have included high-profile terrorists, white-collar criminals and organized crime figures. 

Mr. Epstein had been held there since his arrest on July 6 on federal charges that he sexually abused and trafficked girls in the early 2000s. Judge Richard M. Berman of Federal District Court had denied him bail, rejecting his request to be detained at his Upper East Side mansion as he awaited trial.

One federal prison official with knowledge of the incident confirmed Mr. Epstein had been taken off suicide watch recently and was being held alone in a cell in a special housing unit. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of being fired, said guards found Mr. Epstein in an otherwise empty cell during morning rounds. He had hanged himself and he appeared to be dead. 

It would have been extremely difficult for Mr. Epstein to harm himself had he still been on suicide watch, a second prison official said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of dismissal. 

Inmates on suicide watch are generally placed in a special observation cell, surrounded with windows, with a bolted down bed and no bedclothes, the official said. A correction officer — or sometimes a fellow inmate trained to be a “suicide companion” — is typically assigned to sit in an adjacent office and monitor the inmate constantly.

Lou Dobbs may have had the line of the day: