Jeffrey Epstein’s guards are shown wandering just steps away from his prison cell
CCTV footage released by the Justice Department shows two corrections officers walking outside the paedophile cell at 3am.
A new video has been released by the Justice Department from the night Jeffrey Epstein was found dead; CCTV footage shows prison guards circling near his cell.
Authorities believe Epstein took his own life between 10.30pm on August 9, the last time a guard checked prisoners, and 6.30am the following day.
The incident happened when officials found the lifeless body of the disgraced financier while serving breakfast to inmates. The guards had apparently ignored warnings and reminders placed on their computers by the officer in charge of the special housing unit, which reminded everyone that Epstein had just been placed on suicide watch.
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According to DOJ documents, he was required to have a bunkmate at all times as well as regular check-ins, the New York Post reports. The reminder notes read: “Mandatory [sic] by God, rounds should be conducted on Epstein every 30 minutes!!!”
Roberto Grijalva, an officer at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, where he was detained, later told the DOJ about the warning: “I put it next to the computer. It was something between us that said, ‘Make sure rounds are held and he has a bunkie near him at all times.’ It’s bright orange paper and black letters.”
At least six police forces are assessing evidence in the Epstein files (Image: AP)
Grijalva said he had posted the instructions “hanging on the PC, right next to the screen” on August 9 at 2 a.m., shortly before he went home for the weekend.
Epstein was alone after his cellmate,
On the night of his apparent suicide, Epstein was alone after his cellmate, convicted drug dealer Efrain Reyes, was transferred. Grijalva remembered telling his sexual abuser that he was “going to get a bunkie”. Surprised, he replied, “No, I’m fine.”
“He seemed calm,” Grijalva said of Epstein. “He joked because he asked for a new jumper and I told him, ‘No.’ And he said, ‘Why not? I said, ‘This is a prison; this is what you have to do.’ ” ‘No one else has got a jumper; it’s not Versace,’ you know. He’s like, ‘Ha, ha, ha, ha,’ he laughed and that’s it.”
Before leaving for the weekend, Grijava emphasised that he told staff several times that he would need a new cellmate when Epstein returned from a meeting with his lawyers that evening. He also told inspectors that there were several orange bedsheets in the financier’s cell—the same clothes he had used to hang himself— because officials had failed to remove Reyes’ bedsheets when he was discharged.
He said he may have given Epstein some additional medication after he complained of feeling cold at night. “They messed up,” Grijalva said. “Sorry. It’s a big deal.” In this case, many conspiracies, including the guards deployed on duty, have complicated the matter.
While it was officially ruled a suicide, negligence – including the guard sleeping and not investigating – fuelled theories of murder or a staged incident. Earlier this month, The Sun reported how Epstein allegedly flew girls to Britain and paid for the young women to stay in a luxury London flat until his death.
The Metropolitan Police are believed to be investigating whether his victims were trafficked on his jets to commercial airports as well as RAF bases. Meanwhile, at least six police forces are assessing evidence in the Epstein files – including examining 90 flights at Stansted’s private terminal.
