In a report published this Thursday (5), the American broadcaster CBS News reported that new documents about the Jeffrey Epstein case released on January 30th show the presence of an unidentified person walking on the same floor as the financier’s cell on the night that, according to authorities, he committed suicide, in August 2019. According to the broadcaster, the record contradicts official versions that were previously released about the location.
As published by the CBSobservation records of surveillance images from the Manhattan federal penitentiary indicate that, at around 10:39 pm on August 9, 2019, movement was detected in the staircase leading to the isolated floor where Epstein was detained. The record describes that something “seemed to go up the stairs” towards the location.
According to memos analyzed by the CBSthere was a divergence of interpretation between federal agencies. FBI records classified the blurred image as “possibly an inmate,” while analysis by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General noted that it could be a “prison officer carrying inmate bedding or supplies,” describing him as an “unidentified employee.”
According to the Inspector General’s final report, an unidentified prison officer was seen climbing the stairs at 10:39 pm that night and reappearing in the camera’s field of vision approximately two minutes later. The document does not clarify the person’s identity or the reason for the movement.
Official reports state that Epstein committed suicide sometime before 6:30 a.m., when his body was found by an agent during breakfast delivery. No official time of death for the financier has been determined at this time. Previously, according to CBSauthorities had maintained that no one entered Epstein’s floor during that night.
Previous official reviews of Epstein’s death did not mention the movement recorded on the video, the report describes. The broadcaster recalls that subsequent public statements, including from federal authorities at the time, stated that Epstein had remained alone in the place throughout the night.
Prison system officials interviewed by CBS stated that escorting an inmate at that time would be highly unusual, which makes the identification of the person recorded in the images relevant, as the movement occurred within the estimated window in which the death could have occurred.
