Update, Aug. 19: The New York City Chief Medical Examiner’s Office on Aug. 16 publicly reported that, after a “careful review of all investigative information, including complete autopsy findings,” the determined cause of death for Epstein was “hanging” and the manner of death was “suicide.”
Update, Aug. 30: More than two weeks after Epstein’s death and this story’s publication date, news outlets, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, reported that two cameras outside of Epstein’s cell malfunctioned and were being analyzed by FBI experts. The Washington Post reported that footage from “at least one camera in the hallway outside [Epstein’s] cell” was “unusable,” but “other, clearer footage was captured in the area.” These reports have not been publicly confirmed by federal officials.
Update, Dec. 2: Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Nov. 19 announced an indictment against two correctional officers working at the MCC on the night of Epstein’s death – charging them with falsifying records because they did not conduct mandatory checks on inmates. The indictment revealed that there was video footage captured in the Special Housing Unit, located on the prison’s ninth floor, where Epstein’s cell was located.
Specifically, the indictment said that “aside from those two officers, as confirmed by video surveillance, no one else entered the SHU, no one conducted any counts or rounds throughout the night, and no one entered the tier in which Epstein was housed.” Epstein was “assigned to the cell closest to the correctional officers’ desk in the common area of the SHU, which was approximately fifteen feet from the cell.”
So, at least some cameras in the prison properly recorded footage the night of Epstein’s death — showing, for example, that no one entered the tier where Epstein’s cell was located. The indictment does not shed light on other cameras in the prison or reports of a “camera malfunction.” We’ll update this story again if more information becomes available.