Featured Image Credit: U.S. Bureau of Prisons
Topics: Jeffrey Epstein, Crime, US News, Conspiracy Theories
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Jeffrey Epstein, Crime, US News, Conspiracy Theories
Experts have done a deep dive into the recently released footage of Jeffrey Epstein's prison cell.
The FBI and Department of Justice released the highly sought-after footage in early July in a bid to appease Americans calling for more information on Epstein.
Epstein died on August 10, 2019, and his passing was later ruled as a suicide after the disgraced financier was reportedly found hung in his cell. But people have questioned if Epstein really did take his own life, with one 2019 poll finding that nearly half of Americans believed he was murdered, Business Insider reported.
While the DOJ is trying to be more transparent when it comes to Epstein and their investigation into him, the department found itself in hot water when it was pointed out that three minutes of footage was deleted. It was also found that the video was stitched together using two different clips.
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Away from if the video was edited or not, the DOJ stands by its ruling that Epstein died by suicide and he was the only person in his cell.
Speaking in May, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said: "There's video clear as day — he's the only person in there and the only person coming out."
However, critics have argued that the footage was not 'clear as day'. They've noted that not only was it poor quality and pixelated, the angle of the camera which recorded the surveillance footage doesn't show Epstein's cell in detail. Instead, you can only see just a glimpse of the staircase leading to and from the 66-year-old's cell.
Epstein was clad in a bright orange jumpsuit while he was behind bars and is seen been ferried to and from his cell by officers.
But there's a moment when Epstein is supposedly already in his cell, and a orange figure is seen moving around.
Experts have looked further at the footage and have put forward the theory that the orange shadow was potentially an inmate walking up the stairs, refuting an initial report that suggested the orange blur was someone carrying 'linen or inmate clothing up to the L Tier'.
Supposedly, this was 'the last time any [corrections officer] approached the only entrance to the SHU tier in which Epstein was housed'.
Weighing in on the new theory, Conor McCourt, a retired NYPD sergeant and forensic video expert, told CBS News: "Based on the limited video, it's more likely it's a person in an [orange] uniform."
Video forensic expert Jim Safford added: "To say that there’s no way that someone could get to that, the stairs up to his room, without being seen is false."
The Office of the Inspector General has responded to CBS' analysis.
"Our comprehensive assessment of the circumstances over the weeks, days, and hours before Epstein’s death included the effects of the longstanding, chronic staffing crisis in the [Bureau of Prisons] and the BOP’s failure to provide and maintain quality camera coverage within its facilities," the statement to the outlet read.
"As CBS notes, nothing in its analysis changed or modified the OIG’s conclusions or recommendations."