Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Patrick McMullan
Topics: Crime, Jeffrey Epstein, Police, True crime, US News, New York
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Crime, Jeffrey Epstein, Police, True crime, US News, New York
Two of the FBI's top leaders have spoken about plans to release footage which doesn't 'show the actual act' but still 'proves' Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide.
Convicted pedophile Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, New York City in August 2019.
The financier had been arrested earlier in the year and died aged 66 while awaiting trial for charges related to sex trafficking - charges to which he pleaded not guilty.
Epstein's death was ruled as a suicide by a medical examiner however, his lawyers challenged the conclusion and opened their own investigation.
Advert
FBI director Kash Patel recently doubled down on the medical examiner's ruling but Epstein’s younger brother, Mark Epstein, has also spoken out sharing doubts.
On May 29, Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino told Fox News' Fox & Friends that a surveillance video doesn't show the 'actual act' but does seemingly disprove any conspiracy theories that anyone came into Epstein's cell to kill him.
Bongino alleges the video shows 'clear as day' Epstein is 'the only person in there and the only person coming out'.
"You can see it," he said, as quoted by the LA Times. "When you look at the video - and we will release it [...] you’re going to see there’s no one there but him. There’s just nobody there."
Bongino questioned the public to try and find any evidence which proves otherwise, noting he'd be 'happy to see it,' but argued there's 'no DNA, there’s no audio, there’s no fingerprints, there’s no suspects, there’s no accomplices, there’s no tips, there is nothing' to say Epstein's death wasn't a suicide.
But why are there so many conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein's cause of death?
Epstein was reportedly found unresponsive in his cell by guards on August 10, 2019.
CPR is said to have been performed and he was transported to hospital before being pronounced dead at 6:39pm.
A New York City medical examiner and Justice Department Inspector General ruled his death as a suicide by hanging.
However, pathologist Michael Baden was hired by Epstein's lawyers and the FBI and the Department of Justice's Inspector General conducted investigations into Epstein's death too.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was accused of negligence and its director was removed by Attorney General William Barr.
As a result of Epstein's claims to have information on high-profile figures, jail procedures not being followed on the night of his death and two cameras malfunctioning outside his cell, conspiracy theories have circulated about Epstein's cause of death.
And the doubt was recently been echoed by Epstein's brother.
Earlier this month, Epstein's younger brother Mark addressed the comments made by FBI director Kash Patel.
He told the MailOnline: "[Patel] wasn’t there, he didn’t see the body, he didn’t see the autopsy. [He has] no idea what the f**k he’s talking about."
Mark also took aim at the then-Attorney General Bill Barr and called his explanation of his brother’s death ‘asinine and ludicrous’
"So, Bill Barr came out and said he personally viewed the video and nobody went in or out of the tier [where Epstein was housed]. When I heard that I said this is cover up," he continued. "There are six levels of security in that prison before you get to that tier. But there were 11 or 12 inmates on the tier. They would not have to go in or out of the tier to kill somebody in their cell. Supposedly cell doors were left locked."
Mark theorized 'somebody could've got in to Jeff's cell and killed him'.
And the FBI's promise of surveillance footage isn't the only thing it's recently said about Epstein's death, with director Patel having dismissed conspiracy theories in an interview with Fox News earlier this month.
Commenting on people not believing that Epstein committed suicide, Patel said: "Well, I mean, listen - they have a right to their opinion, but as someone who has worked as a public defender, as a prosecutor who's been in that prison system, who's been in the metropolitan detention center, who's been in segregated housing.
"You know a suicide when you see one, and that's what that was. He killed himself."
Bongino echoed: "He killed himself. I’ve seen the whole file. He killed himself."
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.