American tycoon Jeffrey Epstein, who died this Saturday in prison, hanged himself in his cell without any surveillance even though he had already survived a similar circumstance last July, sources close to the ABC News said.
Epstein, 66, charged with sex trafficking charges, was found “unconscious” at approximately 6:30 a.m. local time, in his cell of the Special Housing Unit of the Metropolitan Correctional Center of Manhattan. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, “he received emergency help and was taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment, where he was pronounced dead.”
Authorities said prison staff tried to revive him and that Epstein was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Firefighters received a call on Saturday at 6:39 am that Epstein had a cardiac arrest, and was pronounced dead at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Lower Manhattan.
The billionaire had already been treated on July 25 for a possible suicide attempt after being found semi-unconscious and with marks on his neck, also inside his cell.
According to prison regulations, two jail guards are required to make separate checks of all prisoners every 30 minutes, but that procedure was not followed overnight, according to the source. In addition, every 15 minutes it was necessary for the guards to check the prisoners under suicide watch again.
Epstein died Saturday while waiting to be tried on sex trafficking charges in New York. The coroner’s office in Manhattan confirmed the death of the financier.
The US attorney general, William Barr, announced the opening of an investigation into the circumstances of Epstein’s death, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, confirmed that he will undertake a particular investigation into the event.
“I am horrified to learn that Jeffrey Epstein was found dead this morning in an apparent suicide. His death opens serious questions that must be answered. Along with the FBI investigation, I have instructed the Inspector General to open his own investigation into the event. “Barr said in a statement.
A person familiar with the matter, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it was a private conversation, said Barr was “furious” that Epstein was able to take his own life.
Epstein was denied bail and faced 45 years behind bars for federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges revealed last month. He had pleaded not guilty and was awaiting trial on charges of sexual abuse of dozens of underage girls.
The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Epstein had been housed in the Special Housing Unit of the prison where he died, considered a very safe part of the facility that separates high-profile inmates with the rest of the prison population. Until recently, that same unit was the home of Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is now serving a life sentence in the so-called Supermax prison in Colorado.
Epstein’s death is likely to raise questions about how the Bureau of Prisons guarantees the well-being of high-profile inmates. In October, Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger was killed in a federal prison in West Virginia where he had just been transferred.
With the arrest of Epstein last July, investigations began on how the authorities initially handled his
The United States Secretary of Labor, Alexander Acosta, resigned last month after being criticized for overseeing that agreement when he was a federal prosecutor in Miami.
The financier’s arrest attracted national attention, particularly focused on an agreement that allowed Epstein to plead guilty in 2008 to request a minor for prostitution in Florida and avoid more serious federal charges.
New York federal prosecutors reopened the investigation after a Miami Herald investigative report provoked outrage over the way the guilty plea was negotiated.
However, his lawyers argued that the new charges filed by federal prosecutors in New York were covered by the agreement and were inadmissible.
