OAN's Elizabeth Bolbelding
3:18pm – Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Mark Epstein, the brother of disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has criticized in an interview the investigation into his brother's alleged 2019 prison death, which authorities ruled a suicide.
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On Tuesday, Mark was asked in an interview about calls for further investigation into Jeffrey's death, claiming the initial investigation was inadequate and questionable.
Mark is seeking additional information and access to police data to learn more about what happened on the night a notorious sex trafficker died.
“Well, first of all, you say “that investigation.” It seems like not much research was done. That's the real question,” Mark said. “Because no one has ever questioned anything like a hospital EMT or a medical worker. And they find it strange because they are questioned all the time, especially in high-profile cases. I realized something.”
August 10thIn 2019, 66-year-old Jeffrey, who was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, was found dead in his cell at the Manhattan Correctional Center. He was found dead just after 6:30 a.m., and it is alleged that “orange bed sheets tied to his bunk in his cell” were used to hang him.
Within a week of Jeffrey's death, police ruled his death a suicide. But Mark Epstein, 69, still has questions about the circumstances surrounding his brother's death.
The coroner declared the death a suicide and no further investigation was necessary. The Department of Justice then 128 page report It blamed Jeffrey's death on “long-standing operational issues” but concluded that the error was made by prison staff.
However, many people persistently dispute the police report of events, including Mark, who has called for more information to be released, including video footage of Jeffrey's cell.
“I just want to see the facts, but given the facts that are available, more questions arise,” Mark told reporters. “It seems like there was no investigation after it was ruled a suicide, and I couldn't see any reason to look deeper. It seems like a cover-up. Why couldn't we find his pre-hospital treatment report and why didn't he call 911?” Can’t you?”
Mark also attacked former Attorney General Bill Barr, claiming that he claimed his brother's death was a suicide after a pathologist said Jeffrey's death showed signs of homicide rather than suicide.
“Probably then, [the initial death certificate] Mark said it would take weeks to make a decision “pending further investigation,” but Attorney General Barr said days later that this was a suicide and that he was not really in a position to do that. ” he said.
In the months that followed, Barr acknowledged that he had initial doubts about Jeffrey's death, but ultimately concluded that it was a “complete failure,” including multiple instances of misconduct at the facility where Jeffrey was held. He blamed it on a “storm of failures.”
The misconduct includes violent riots at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, long-term staffing shortages, and alleged negligence by two police officers tasked with monitoring Jeffrey.
“It was a perfect storm of failure, so I can easily understand why people had some kind of worst-case scenario in their heads,” Barr told reporters in November 2019.
Mark claims he was not included in his brother's will, has nothing to gain from his death, and has been paying maintenance fees for his family since 2019.
“They had a hearing to appeal the bail restriction days after his death, so why did Jeffrey commit suicide just days before that hearing? Because if he was released on bail… Because he will be released from prison and await trial at home with an ankle monitor,” Mark told investigative journalists. “Then why would you kill yourself? I would understand if you were denied bail again. Believe me, it would have been easier that way. [the pathologists] If I had just come out and said, “This feels like suicide,'' I could have forgotten all about this. ”
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