The Untold Story of Jeffrey Epstein’s Death

Let me set the scene for you. It's late in the afternoon, July 6th, 2019. Jeffrey Epstein is flying back from. Paris. He's on his private plane. He's about to land at Teterboro Airport. in New Jersey. Which is a small airport that's often. used by wealthy people in New York for. their private jets. He's making plans including heading to. his private island in the Caribbean. >> [music]. >> Eventually his plane lands.

A couple of customs [music] agents come. on board the plane to check his. passport. The way they usually do with private. planes. >> [music]. >> And then they ask him to come to the. terminal. And he follows them. >> [music]. >> When he gets to the terminal, there's an FBI agent. and an NYPD detective waiting [music]. for him. And they tell him that he's under. arrest.

>> [music]. >> Epstein appears shocked by this. And [music]. in the car on the way to Manhattan with. the agents, he asks them two questions. One is, is this sex trafficking? And the other is, is this about underage? Epstein's [music] taken that night to. the Metropolitan Correctional Center. The big federal jail in lower Manhattan.

The MCC. [music]. And he's only been there for a matter of. hours when one of the jail employees. notices him. And sees this guy who seems distraught. and sad. and a little confused. >> [music]. >> She's concerned enough that she sits. down and writes an email to the jail. staff. And she says she thinks somebody from. the psychology department should come. and talk to him, quote, "Just to be on the safe side. >> [music]. >> And prevent any suicidal thoughts.

>> [music]. >> From The New York Times, I'm Michael. Barbaro. This is The Daily. >> [music]. >> Today, the untold story of Jeffrey Epstein's. final. >> [music]. >> weeks, days, and hours inside a. Manhattan jail. My colleague, [music] Charles Homans, takes us inside a major new. investigation [music]. by the Times. that tries to answer the question that.

refuses to go away. [music]. Did the world's most powerful and. well-connected [music] sex offender. die by his own hand. or by somebody [music] else's? It's Thursday, June 18th. Charlie, why at this stage in the.

Jeffrey Epstein story, 7 years after his. death, when. all eyes are on. his network of friends and his enablers, his victims, all the politics. around the release of. the Epstein files, why did you all undertake this. inquiry into his death right now? >> You know, suspicions around Epstein's. death have really been incredibly. persistent from literally, you know, the.

hour that the story broke back in 2019. People have been very suspicious of the. official story, which from the beginning. was that he died by suicide in his jail. cell. And there's just a lot about the. story that has not sat well with people. ever since. And it's one of the very. unique. paranoid elements in American politics. that really feels like it crosses pretty. much all political boundaries. I mean, I've certainly met conservatives and. liberals and Trump supporters and Trump. haters who all think that Jeffrey. Epstein did not kill himself.

>> Right. It's a bipartisan view that. hasn't really dimmed. >> Right. I mean, this has been amplified. online by literally everyone from Donald. Trump to Hunter Biden at one point or. another. >> As somebody who has written a lot about. conspiratorial thinking in American. life, I'm curious what you yourself. think of that viewpoint. >> I think that I shared a pretty common. skepticism about the official story of. Epstein's death going into this. reporting. There was just a lot about it. that seemed instinctively very strange. There was this huge sort of cascade of.

mistakes and technical failures and just. kind of weird mysteries around his death. that was hard to I think take at face. value for a lot of people. >> Mhm. >> And the suspicion around this case was. really inflamed by the release of the. Epstein files. There are thousands of pages in the. files relating to this series of federal. investigations into Epstein's death. There was one that immediately followed. by the FBI. and federal prosecutors. And then there. was one by the Office of the Inspector. General of the Justice Department that.

went on for years after this. And a lot of the raw materials of those. investigations are in the Epstein files. >> Mhm. >> So, my colleagues and I, Steve Eder, Jan. Ransom, Michael Rothfeld, we dove into. these papers a couple months ago and. just started digging and seeing what was. there. So many of these files, there's. just so many of them that even some of. the stuff that's been out. in the public eye has not actually. really been fully picked through. >> Mhm. >> And we were able to take advantage of.

the experience of some of the people on. this project who really know the Epstein. story forwards and backwards and who. were able to make connections inside of. these files and figure out who some of. the people were who we were reading. about in some of these redacted. documents. So, we used these documents. as a road map to do our own. investigation, interviewing anybody we. could find, gathering any other. documents we could find, and trying to. construct in as much detail as we could. Jeffrey Epstein's last days in this.

jail, the moments leading up to his death, and. the biggest question of all, how did he. die? Did he die by suicide or did something. else happen? >> [gasps]. >> And we found that all the evidence that. we gathered really did point towards one. conclusion. >> Well, we're going to get to that. conclusion, but I want to do it by. having you reconstruct. the story you all found in your. reporting, and let's. for the purposes of our storytelling. here, pick up with what happens after.

this employee clocks Epstein's. despondency, his distraughtness, as he's. coming in. >> So, within hours of arriving, >> [music]. >> Epstein has his first real rough. encounter in this jail. >> [music]. >> The inmates have very quickly figured. out who he is. And a guy who calls himself Locotron, which is Dominican slang [music] for. like a crazy person, comes up to him. with a t-shirt pulled up over his face. and shakes him down for money. It's this very quick interaction, but.

it's something that clearly really. rattles Epstein. If you think about. this, like only hours before [music] he. is, you know, in his own private jet. crossing the Atlantic, and suddenly he's. in this fairly notorious jail being. shaken down in the sort [music] of. protection scheme. It's an incredible. reversal of fortune. It's almost hard to. imagine. [music]. So, by the next day, the jail warden. figured out who Epstein is, and they. decide that he can't be in general. population. There's too much risk there,

clearly. And they put him in the special housing. unit that they call the SHU. The special housing unit is a sort of. solitary confinement wing. of the MCC. It is a very isolated place. The inmates. are stuck in their cells 23 hours a day. and it's used to house people for a. number of reasons, but this includes some of the you know. people accused of very very serious. crimes. and violent crimes. So, Epstein is led into his new cell and.

he's introduced to his cellmate, who's. this guy named Nicholas Tartaglione. And the door closes behind him. Epstein asks Tartaglione what he's in. for and Tartaglione replies multiple. homicides. >> Wow. >> And at this point Epstein turns around. and starts banging on the door and. demands to be let out of the cell. >> He's basically saying get me the hell. out of this right cell. I don't want to. be the next person killed by this. alleged multi-killer.

>> Exactly. But the fact that Epstein was. put with Tartaglione reflects the sort. of counter-intuitive prison warden. logic, which is that people who have. been accused of very serious violent. crimes on the outside while they're. awaiting trial are actually very. unlikely to commit further violent. crimes. But somebody like Tartaglione, who's facing the death penalty at this. point, has every incentive, you know, not [snorts] to kill somebody like. Jeffrey Epstein in prison. >> His incentives are to be in this logic.

as good to Epstein as possible so that. at sentencing. >> The theory is that if he behaves well. while he's awaiting trial, that could be. factored into his sentencing and he. could avoid the death penalty. But for. the wardens in this situation, the goal. is not just to find a cellmate who's not. going to kill Epstein. The goal is to. find a cellmate who is going to keep. Epstein from hurting himself. From the time they kind of realize who. they've got on their hands here, this is. a question that they're asking. You. know, because of the.

nature of the charges that he's facing, there's sort of an automatic assessment. for suicide risk that kicks in early on. in his time in jail. And. the prison psychologist who assesses him. comes away from those early. conversations feeling like actually his. risk is not that great. He's he seems. pretty upbeat. He seems optimistic that. he's going to get bail. It feels like. he's confident about being able to fight. the charges against him. >> Okay, so what happens next? >> In mid-July, Epstein finds out that he's.

been denied bail. And he's going to have to stay in this. jail until he goes to trial. >> Which could be quite a long time. >> Which could be quite a long time. So we. spoke with Tartaglione and what he told. us was that when Epstein came back from. this hearing where his bail was denied, he turned around and asked him, "How do. you make a noose?". >> Wow. He is despondent. And what does. Epstein's cellmate do with this really. ominous question? >> So after this, Tartaglione told us he. noticed Epstein.

doing what seemed to be making. preparations for suicide attempts. >> Hm. >> in the days after his bail was denied. >> And what did those look like? >> In one instance, he was tying a sheet to. a grade over the window in the corner of. their cell. Another time, he said he woke up and saw. Epstein kind of standing strangely in. their cell. and looked under his mattress and found. a noose that he was hiding there. >> Wow. This behavior seems like a real. tell. about how miserable he is. But I'm.

curious what at this point Epstein is. telling people outside of jail, to the. degree he has access to them, about his. state of mind. >> It's interesting. One group we found in. our reporting that had a pretty clear. window. on Epstein while he was in jail was his. lawyers. His lawyers were visiting him for hours. every day at the jail. You know, he's now been in this very. isolated unit in the jail for a number. of days.

And you know, he says things to his. lawyers like, "I can't do this.". And he's often writing notes to himself. on a legal pad. And in these conversations, in these. notes, he's conveying sort of fragments. of his state of mind, which really does. seem to be getting worse. In the notes, he's talking about things. like just the noise in the unit where. he's being held. He writes, "No sleep, no air, screams.". He's conveying that this is a really. miserable experience.

>> Mhm. >> So, on July 23rd, several days after his. bail is denied, around 1:30 in the morning, the guards. hear this banging coming from Epstein's. cell. And they arrive and they see Tartaglione. is yelling at the door. And inside, Epstein is on the floor motionless with. this orange noose around his neck. >> This is. what we've come to understand to be his. first attempt at potentially dying by. suicide.

>> Right. And at the time, it's a little. unclear. Going through the documentation of this. incident, we saw a lot of genuine. uncertainty on the part of the jail. staff. about what actually happened here, cuz. nobody saw it. And Tartaglione and. Epstein tell very different stories. about this incident. >> [music]. >> From the beginning, Tartaglione says. that Epstein tried to kill himself. Tartaglione was sleeping on the floor of. their cell when he feels something bump. [music] into his feet. And he looks up and he sees Epstein.

unconscious in the sitting position with. a noose around his neck. hanging from their bunk. And cuts him down and yells for [music]. the guards. Epstein's version of the story kind of. changes over time. [music]. Initially, he says that Tartaglione. attacked him. >> Mhm. >> And [music] later on, he starts saying. that he doesn't remember what happened, that he got up to get a drink of water, and next thing he [music] knew, he was. lying on the floor. >> Mhm. >> And later on he tells the story to one. of the lawyers who visits him that.

Tartaglione was sort of playing [music]. some sort of prank on him, and it's all. a little unclear in the telling. The jail officials never conclusively. determined what happened, but in the. meantime Epstein is put on suicide. watch. >> Right, quite logically. >> [music]. >> And throughout this whole time, the jail. psychologists, >> [music]. >> wardens are trying to make sense of this. case. And they end up kind of uncertain about. what happened and how much [music] risk.

Epstein really seems to pose to himself. But in our reporting, we found one piece. of evidence that might have changed. their assessment if they had had it at. the time. >> Mhm. >> But it was hidden from them. >> And and what is that evidence and why. was it hidden? >> So shortly after this incident with the. noose, Tartaglione is flipping through a. graphic novel that he has in their cell. when he finds this piece of paper. And it looks very much like a suicide. note written by Epstein. >> What does it say?

>> It says, "They investigated me for a. month, found nothing.". At another point he writes, "It is a treat to be able to choose. one's time to say goodbye.". >> Mhm. >> And then, "What you want me to do? Bust. out crying? No fun, not worth it.". >> What did you make of that note? >> So there's a sentence, "It is a treat to. be able to choose one's time to say. goodbye," that seems like a pretty clear. reference to planning to kill himself. >> Mhm. >> And there's this other sentence here,

which is part of why we believe this. note is authentic, which is this kind of. strange line, "What you want me to do? Bust out crying?". >> Mhm. >> This is a line from the Little Rascals, the very early movie TV show characters. And it's something that for whatever. reason Epstein had latched onto as a. kind of little personal catchphrase. Like he threw it in emails with, you. know, very close friends and family. sometimes. And it's something that Tartaglione. almost certainly would not have known. about. This is a really very specific.

phrase that he seemed to only use with. people he was very close to. >> Mhm. And why was this very revealing. letter, basically a suicide note, kept. hidden from jail officials? >> So for complicated reasons, this note. ends up getting sealed in Tartaglione's. case. The only reason we know about it. is because we sued to get this judge in. the case to unseal this document. >> Which the judge eventually did. >> Which the judge eventually did. >> Wow. >> But at the time. the jail authorities didn't know about.

this note at all. And they were still. trying to figure out what exactly to. make of this attempt, who to believe. And in the end the jail psychologist. decides that Epstein's risk of suicide. is only moderate. >> Mhm. >> And so he's sent back to the SHU, to the. special housing unit, where he was. before. And this time he has a new cellmate, a. guy named Efrain Reyes, who is a 50-year-old drug dealer from. the Bronx, who is in the SHU because he's. cooperating in another case. So he's. there for his own safety also.

>> Mhm. And what does Reyes observe about. Epstein? >> So Reyes becomes, in a way, one of the. most interesting witnesses to Epstein's. time in jail. He was interviewed by. investigators afterwards. He. unfortunately died of heart disease in. 2020. We weren't able to interview him. But there are handwritten notes in the. Epstein files of an interview with Reyes. by a federal prosecutor. And they are. one of the most interesting documents of. Epstein's time in jail.

Reyes seems to get to know him pretty. well. They spend a lot of time together. in the cell. And you know, he struck the people who. interviewed him as this fairly genuine. person who seemed to want to kind of. help Epstein deal with jail. >> Mhm. >> They trade food. You know, Epstein. appreciates, clearly, some of his help. and you know, gets him a radio from the. commissary. Reyes notices that the guards are. deferential to Epstein. You know, they. let him hang on to these extra sheets. that he's stashed in the cell, which was. not uncommon cuz the air conditioning,

it was very cold in the summer in this. jail. They're kind of building a. relationship in this. cell that feels really genuine, actually. And by the time that Epstein comes back. and is placed with Reyes in the cell, you know, his reputation has sort of. preceded him. Not only do they know who. he is, but they also know that there's. been this thing that looked like a. suicide attempt. >> Mhm. >> And Reyes, from the beginning, is very. worried that Epstein is going to attempt. suicide again while he's living with. him. And he actually brings this up directly. with Epstein.

a number of times. He says, you know, "Please don't do nothing while I'm in. here. I have a chance to go home soon. I don't care what you did, that's all I. ask. If I can help you, let me know.". >> Mhm. Don't kill yourself on my watch. That's bad for me. >> Exactly. So, Reyes notices things. This is. something that was pretty common it with. inmates of the MCC is that they would. fashion clotheslines out of bits of. bedsheets. And Reyes has these lines that he's made. himself by, you know, tying strips of. bedsheet together.

And he notices that Epstein is looking. at and kind of fidgeting with this line. that he's got strung up in the cell. And he kind of puts two and two together. and confronts him. He says, "Bro, we not. doing this." And he takes the line from. him and he flushes it down the toilet in. the cell. And Epstein says something very. interesting to him. He says, "Don't. worry, I'm never going to cause you. trouble.". >> Mhm. He doesn't say, "Don't worry, I'm. never going to try to do that.". >> Exactly. And you know, Reyes, another time, he.

tries to convince Epstein that you can. survive in jail. He says, "You can live. in jail.". But Epstein is very pessimistic. He. tells him that, you know, because the. government is still mad about this plea. agreement that he made in his, you know, last prosecution, that they're not going. to let him out again. >> Mhm. >> He says, "I know I'm never going to see. the street again.". And he says that life in prison is no. way to live. >> Wow. >> [music]. >> So, it's now early August.

Epstein has been in jail about a month. >> Mhm. >> And on August 9th, Reyes is moved to. another facility. And he's worried enough about Epstein by. this point that he tells the jail. officials on his way out the door, "Get him a good bunky. He's not good to. be alone.". >> Don't leave Jeffrey Epstein alone if I'm. not here with him. >> But that's exactly what's about to. happen. Jeffrey Epstein is going to be left. alone in the cell for the last night of. his life. >> [music].

>> We'll be right back. Charlie, tell us about Jeffrey Epstein's. last day in this jail. You just said. that he's suddenly alone despite his. last cellmate saying that would be a. very bad idea. Why? >> In our reporting, we found it's genuinely unclear why he. didn't get another cellmate. A number of. people flagged this issue.

But for whatever reason, by the end of. the day, he still doesn't have a. cellmate. He returns to his cell and. he's all alone. The only people watching. him at this point are the guards. >> And how many guards are watching. Epstein? What's the. setup? >> So, this is a jail that has for a very. long time had just a ton of chronic. problems. And one of them is real issues. of staffing. It's understaffed. It's. overcrowded with inmates. And the staff who's working, because. it's understaffed, tend to be working. very long hours, which has this sort of.

cascading effect. They're often very, very tired, sometimes calling in sick cuz they need. to catch up on sleep. People are being. subbed in at all sorts of jobs they. don't regularly do. It's just kind of a recipe for disaster. So much so that 6 months before all this. happened, a union official representing. the corrections officers at this jail. warned in a letter to the Bureau of. Prisons, quote, "Quite frankly, at this. point, we are one incident away from a. staff or inmate fatality." So, there are.

two guards on duty in the SHU at this. time. And they sit at this desk that you can. actually see from Epstein's cell. And when Reyes was still in the cell, they would watch these guards at night. and kind of note their behaviors and you. know, the fact that they were often. sleeping on the job, things like that. So, Epstein actually knew a good bit, we. think, about the guards' behaviors and. their inattention at times. >> Given all these problems at this jail, what have you and our colleagues learned.

about what these guards on duty this. night did or didn't do? >> So, there was one guard in particular. who was on duty through this entire. period of time leading up to Epstein's. death, a woman named Tova Noel. And Noel had already been working. basically the whole day when she was. forced to take another overtime shift. beginning at midnight. And the result of this is that she's. sort of the one guard who's there. throughout this whole period of time. when Epstein dies.

And at the beginning of that time. period, she's working with another guard. who's sort of unaccounted for, might be. sleeping, it's a little unclear. And she's doing what the guards are. supposed to do, which is these regular. rounds of all the cells in the SHU, just. checking to make sure everything's okay. And then, she comes by Epstein's cell. He asks her to plug in his CPAP machine. that he has because he has sleep apnea. and he needs this to sleep. She plugs in the machine, continues on. her way. This is the last time anyone. acknowledges seeing Epstein alive.

>> Hm. It's a little after 10:00 at this. point. The night goes on. Noel and the other guard are supposed to. make these rounds regularly. There's. actually a sign on the desk that says. specifically they need to be checking. every half hour on Epstein. This is the. one thing they're absolutely supposed to. be doing. >> Hm. Somebody has said to them whatever. else you do, check on Epstein. >> Right. And this is the thing that they. do not do the rest of the night. We know this from the video camera. footage of this part of the jail.

They are sitting at the desk. It seems possible they're sleeping, although both guards have denied it. But nobody is checking on the cells. overnight. >> Mhm. >> So because of that, what we came to. learn in our reporting was that the only. people who were really alert to what was. happening in Epstein's cell were the. other inmates on the hall with him. >> Hm. And what do they observe? >> So, we found an inmate who was at the. time housed in the cell right next to. Epstein's cell.

>> Hm. >> And he told a very interesting story. One thing about these cells is you can. actually hear a fair amount between the. cells. And late that night, he hears this. ripping sound coming from Epstein's. cell. >> Ripping sound. >> It sounds like someone's ripping sheets. in there. And he kind of connects the dots here. and you know, has clearly has some sense. of what's happening. And so he tries to. kind of distract Epstein. He calls out. and he asks him if he has any stamps. Stamps are kind of a common currency in. in jail. And Epstein tells him, "I didn't order.

any stamps.". >> Basically buzz off. >> Basically buzz off. And. that's the end of their interaction. This inmate says he keeps hearing this. ripping sound for a while and then it. goes quiet. >> And then what happens? >> So from this point on, things are very. quiet on the shoe for the next 6 hours. or so. >> [music]. >> And then at 6:30, the other guard on. duty, a man by the name of Michael. Thomas is delivering breakfast. And he rolls the cart into the corridor.

where Epstein's cell is. And he sees Epstein, part of Epstein's. body motionless through this narrow. window in the cell. >> [music]. >> And he calls out for him. There's no movement in the cell. He opens the door. And he sees Epstein. hanging by a noose. >> Mhm. >> [music]. >> So, Michael Thomas, this guard calls out. for the other guard, this woman Tova. Noel. And Noel activates an alarm. Meanwhile, Thomas rips Epstein down from where he's.

hanging. He lays him out on the floor. and starts administering chest. compressions. And he shouts, "Breathe, Epstein, breathe.". >> Mhm. >> And then she hears him say, "We are. going to be in so much trouble.". And about an hour later, Epstein's been. taken to the hospital and declared dead.

>> Charlie, at the beginning of this. conversation, you said that all this. reporting was pointing to one. conclusion. And in listening to you talk. about what you all found, that. conclusion would seem to be not all that. ambiguously suicide. >> That's right. In all of our reporting, it was clear that the overwhelming. preponderance of circumstantial evidence. pointed to suicide. Epstein had been. talking about actively attempting.

writing references to killing himself. for days before this happened. It's. reflected in the notes that he wrote in. jail. People who spent the most time. with him, his cellmates, perceived this. And this was sort of the starting point. for the first people who investigated. this death after it happened. You know, I think that pretty much immediately. after his body was found, there's these. questions about how did this happen? >> Mhm. And a lot of them seem to kind of. operate on this assumption that that it. was unthinkable that somebody as. significant as Epstein would have been. allowed to kill themselves in this jail.

But the people who actually knew this. facility well, the inmates, and. certainly the federal prosecutors who. spent a lot of time dealing with people. being held there, had a better sense of what kind of jail. this was, and that it was a place where. lapses on the part of the guards were. very common, >> Mhm. >> where a lot of things went wrong. And it wasn't necessarily as. counterintuitive to them that somebody. would have been able to get away with. this there. >> Interesting. >> But as much as all of the evidence. points in this direction, there are some. very important gaps, which we should.

talk about. >> Okay, let's talk about them. >> The first is the autopsy of Jeffrey. Epstein. You know, the day after his body was. found, the city medical examiner did a. full autopsy. >> Mhm. >> And she concluded that he had died by. self-hanging. But there are a set of. credible questions about the marks on. his body, and whether they were. exclusively consistent with suicide, or. whether they could have been consistent. with homicide also. We put this to a. number of pathologists, and actually got. a lot of different opinions uh when they. were looking at these photos. But what.

nearly all of them say is it's really. not possible to determine a manner of. death conclusively from looking at the. body alone. You would need this whole. other suite of information about the. circumstances the body was found, the. death scene, and that's the information. that we simply don't have because a lot. of it wasn't gathered at the time of his. death. >> And why wasn't it gathered at the time. of his death? >> Well, that brings us to the second gap, which is these really pretty big holes. in the initial handling of the death. scene and some aspects of the first. investigations into the scene.

>> [snorts]. >> So, remember, Epstein is found in the. morning around 6:30 by one of these. guards. >> Right, bringing breakfast. >> Bringing him breakfast. And that guard. didn't actually tell investigators, or. really anybody I think except for maybe. his supervisors, what he saw until much, much later. Two years later, actually, is when he gives a real interview about. this to investigators. [clears throat]. And in that interview, he didn't really. have a lot of detail. He had some detail. about how the body was found when he got. there, but not very much. And by the. time anybody else makes it into the.

cell, he's pulled down Epstein and he's. put him on the floor, and pretty soon. you have other guards, you have EMTs, you have all sorts of people trampling. over this death scene to the point where. it's really been very badly contaminated. by the time the FBI shows up. >> Mhm. >> And for that reason, according to their. own records of this, the FBI agents did. not take DNA evidence from anything in. the scene. >> Wow. >> Um this is a little unusual. You know, normal procedure would be to take DNA. evidence, but they didn't do that. >> I mean, from everything you're saying,

what you'd expect to be a fairly. pristine investigatory scene. because it is occurring in a federally. controlled facility staffed by law. enforcement. turns. into, instead, a bit of a fiasco. >> I would say it's not super unusual. You. know, a lot of people are operating. under the assumption that he might not. actually be dead at this moment, and. their first priority is to resuscitate. him if that's possible. So, it's not. crazy that the guards and the paramedics.

are sort of trampling all over this. place. But that is what happened, and it. led to them making some real errors in. terms of cataloging the evidence in the. scene. >> The most notable is probably that they. grabbed the wrong noose from his cell. >> Huh. >> So, there were a number of of different, you know, nooses or things that looked. like nooses that Epstein had around him. in the cell. The cell was really a mess. There were all these piles of linens, and there were a number of these strips. of fabric kind of scattered around the. cell. The one that they grabbed was tied. in the shape of a noose, but.

investigators later concluded was not. the one that he actually used. >> Wow. >> But the fact that they grabbed it, and. this was the one that was sort of seen. in the evidence, created a lot of. suspicions around this. Cuz if you look. at the pictures of his body, they really. clearly didn't match this noose that. we'd seen a picture of at the time. >> This is just remarkable because at this. point, it's just one mistake on top of. another. >> That's right. And on top of all that, there's this huge problem, which is the. security camera system of the jail. There were security cameras spread.

throughout this unit where Epstein was. being held. But, a number of days before his death, there was a hardware failure, which led. to half of the cameras in this unit not. recording anything. They could be. monitored in real time, but they were not recording any video. And this meant that there were only. really two cameras recording. in the area outside of Epstein's. corridor that captured any of the events. that night. >> In other words, there are things we will. never know because we will never look at.

the cameras. >> Right. And that's raised this question. of whether somebody could have gotten in. in this blank spot in the tape and made. their way to Epstein's cell and killed. him. >> Right. >> And you know, one piece of evidence that. people marshaled to show that that would. have been possible is this little. enigmatic fragment of video from one of. the two cameras that was actually. recording that night. One of the two cameras, the one that. we've spent the most time looking at, was trained on the common area of the. SHU, including the desk where the guards.

were sitting. And it catches a little. sliver of the staircase leading up to. Epstein's cell. Around 10:40 that night, after Tova Noel. did her one round, we see this orange shape in the corner. of the frame that appears to be moving. up the staircase. to the door to Epstein's hallway of the. SHU. >> Mhm. >> And it's there for a few seconds, and. it's gone. And yeah, this has fueled a lot of. speculation that maybe this is somebody. sneaking into the hallway to get to his.

cell. So, we spent a lot of time with our. colleagues from Visual Investigations. looking at all the evidence here. You. know, would it be theoretically possible. for somebody to sneak into Epstein's. cell. unnoticed, uncaptured by cameras that. night. And what we found is that there was a. pathway by which somebody could have. gotten up to the cell that would not. have been caught on camera. >> Mhm. >> Or, you know, would have accounted for. this, you know, tiny sliver of movement. Anybody getting into the shoe that night.

though would have had to get through. several locked doors. One of them was. controlled remotely by a control center. of the jail. People who'd be watching. this door on camera. The other is there were three doors that. this person would have had to get. through, all of which were opened only. with a physical key. That's a pretty. Herculean. task. >> So, how getting there in the first. place, let alone getting there without. being detected by a camera? >> Right. We're talking about, you know, Mission Impossible levels of of. difficulty here. You know, this would. have had to involve a plot involving two.

whole separate, you know, areas of the. jail. A very detailed knowledge of the. security cameras and which cameras were. working and which cameras were not. working, who was monitoring which cameras, who. had the keys, how to get those keys. while not being on camera. We're talking. about an extremely elaborate. choreography, and we found nothing in. our reporting to suggest that anything. of this nature actually happened. >> Mhm. >> I mean, so in the end, the simplest. explanation of what happened here,

which everyone struggled to accept for. quite some time, that this powerful man who did terrible. things and got away with it for so long. enters prison and confinement and is. horrified by it. and decides he can't handle it and takes. his own life. That seems to be. not just the simplest explanation, but. the very likeliest. >> Right. We came away thinking, you know, was it theoretically possible there was. an alternate explanation? Maybe, but. there's simply no evidence that anything. else happened. Whereas, you have to.

weigh that against, you know, this. mountain of evidence showing that he was. clearly intent on killing himself at the. time. >> Mhm. Have you accepted the explanation. that he died by suicide? >> [gasps]. >> I have. I think that, you know, at this. point it is the rational way to look at. what we know about this case and what we. are likely to know about this case. I think there are a lot of unknowns that. are going to remain unknowns, but the. bottom line is that whatever reason. there is to think that other things. could have happened, there's simply not the evidence.

necessary to stand up a convincing. alternate explanation of how he died. >> You know, it strikes me that when it. comes to Epstein's death, people have been suspicious. about the government maybe for the wrong. reasons. And just stick with me for a. minute. The theory all along was that. somebody killed Epstein in that jail, and the government wanted to hide it, wanted to cover it up. Your reporting doesn't support that. conclusion. But what your reporting does support is.

the conclusion that the government's. incompetence in running this jail at. lots of levels, from staffing to failing. to pick up all kinds of clues that. Epstein left left and right, that he was. suicidal, to the number of contraband sheets in. his cell the night he dies, that that. allowed Epstein to kill himself, quite. likely. And that's the reason people. should be mad at the government because. its conduct in this jail, which it runs,

let Jeffrey Epstein kill himself and. evade justice. And the government had a. pretty simple job here, which was to. keep Jeffrey Epstein alive so that he. could go to trial and so that there. could be justice. And it completely. failed to do that. >> I think that's right. I mean, the. government can do different things to. breed suspicion. It doesn't have to just. act. nefariously. It can act indifferently. And I think in this case, just the. inattention to the management of this.

jail. breeds anger and breeds suspicion. And I think in the case of Epstein, what's remarkable about his death is. that you can point to. all these different factors that enabled. him to kill himself ultimately. And it's really hard to find any of. those that weren't an issue at this jail. long before Epstein even walked in the. door. >> The indifference preceded him, and he. was not exempt from it, despite the fact. that he's arguably the most famous and.

important prisoner in the system. >> That's right. And one of the kind of. remarkable things about this whole case. is that in a weird way, Epstein's death. sort of shone a light on all these. really chronic failures of this. institution. You know, things that. people much less famous than Epstein had. been enduring for years before this in. some cases. >> [music]. >> And in a perverse way, I mean, something. that Epstein's death did was really kind. of highlight some of these really. chronic issues in this jail that a less.

high-profile inmate would not have. called nearly so much media attention. to. And this jail actually was closed down. not long after this, in part because of. all these, you know, [music] chronic. problems there. I mean, the. >> MCC's no longer operational. >> MCC's no longer operational. And there. was documented concern from the Bureau. of Prisons that people who were working. and staying in this jail were actually. at risk. kind of its crumbling infrastructure. Just like very basic issues with [music]. this jail. And one thing those issues have done now.

in retrospect is really robbed us of. closure in this very important case. [music]. And really ensured that questions about. this are going to persist, [music] no. matter how much we do to try to come up. with an answer what actually happened. >> [music]. [music]. [music]. >> Well, Charlie,

thank you very much. We appreciate it. >> Thanks for having me. >> [music]. >> We'll be right back. >> Here's what else you need to know. [music] today. On Wednesday, US officials released the. specific terms of the agreement signed.

by the US and Iran, >> [music]. >> which would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, would lift restrictions on Iran's export. of oil, and outlines plans for a $300. billion fund for Iran's post-war [music]. reconstruction. US officials, sensitive to criticism. that the deal overly rewards [music]. Iran, stressed that the reconstruction fund. would not involve US funds. >> So, the one thing I didn't want to see. is I didn't want to see.

economic [music] catastrophe. If you. kept this going, that could have. happened. >> In remarks from Europe, where he's. [music] attending the G7 summit, Trump. made clear that he was motivated to. reach the agreement in large part. because of the economic [music] fallout. from the war. >> But all I know is every time we talked. about the possibility of peace, [music]. the stock market shot up like a rocket. ship. It never went down. They didn't. like it, the people.

>> [music]. >> Today's episode was produced by Austa. Chaturvedi, Jack Disseldorp, and Shannon. Lin. It was [music] edited by Mark George, contains music by Alicia Eubanks and. Sophia Landman. Our theme music [music] is by Wonderly. This episode was engineered by Chris. Wood. Special [music] thanks to Jan Ransom, Steve Eder,

Michael Rothfeld, and Jessica [music]. Lustig. >> [music]. >> That's it for The Daily. I'm Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.