Freshly disclosed documents have painted a harrowing picture of Jeffrey Epstein's final days, revealing the convicted sex offender was terrified of returning to his jail cell in the period between an initial suicide attempt and his eventual death.
Living in Fear Before Death
The files, released by the US Department of Justice, include a psychologist's assessment stating that Epstein was "anxious about going back" to the Special Housing Unit (SHU) at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City. This fear stemmed from an incident weeks earlier where he was found with unexplained marks on his neck.
According to the records, Epstein told the psychologist he could not remember what happened in the SHU on July 23, 2019, that caused the injuries. He claimed that for the five days preceding that event, he had managed to sleep only about 30 minutes each night due to excessive noise in the unit.
The Initial Incident and Medical Treatment
The documents confirm that Epstein was discovered in his cell after an apparent suicide attempt on that date in July. He stated he had gotten up for water and remembered walking back to his bunk, only to wake up with staff present. Medical records noted treatment for a "circular line of erythema at the base of his neck" with friction marks, as well as a minor injury on his left knee.
In a bizarre comparison made just two weeks before his death, the financier reportedly told a psychiatrist he appeared miserable and likened himself to Dustin Hoffman's autistic character, Rain Man.
Brother's Murder Claim and Document Release
The latest trove of files also reveals that Epstein's brother, Mark, submitted a tip to the FBI in February 2023 alleging he had been murdered. However, authorities have not provided any evidence to support this claim.
These chilling details emerged as part of the largest single release of documents related to the Epstein investigation so far. The files published are believed to constitute roughly 1% of the 300 Gigabytes of case material held by the FBI and DOJ. The release came after criticism that not all documents were made public by the December 19 deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Epstein's cellmate at the time of the July incident, Nicholas Tartaglione, stated he tried to revive him and was later cleared of any wrongdoing by prison authorities. Tartaglione had been moved out of the shared cell before Epstein was found dead on August 10, 2019.
