Jeffrey Epstein‘s final days were lived out in terror and torment in his prison cell, the latest batch of files from the Department of Justice reveal.
The documents also spark fresh questions about the circumstances of his suicide.
At one point, following an initial unsuccessful suicide attempt, Epstein told a psychologist he was afraid to go back to his cell.
The documents also recorded that his brother Mark submitted a tip to the FBI that he had been murdered.
Detailed records were released in relation to Epstein’s first suicide attempt, which took place on July 23, 2019 at 1.27am in the Special Housing Unit at the Metropolitan Correction Center in New York.
‘He stated that approx 1am he’d gotten up to drink of water as he gets up every thirty minutes. He remembered walking back to his bunk and waking up with staff there in his cell,’ an assessment by a psychologist said.
Jeffrey Epstein is pictured after an apparent suicide attempt in July 2019
‘When interviewed he stated he still cannot remember what happened in the SHU that caused the marks on his neck. He stated that for the 5 days before that he had only slept about 30 minutes each night because of noise in SHU.’
The evaluator added: ‘He stated he is anxious about going back to SHU because he stated he is going back to a place where he had gotten marks on his neck and he does not know why it happened.’
Records showed Epstein was treated for a ‘circular line of erythema at the base of his neck, one section on the front with marks of friction and a small erythema in his left knee.’
Epstein’s cellmate at the time was Nicholas Tartaglione, who said he tried to revive Epstein.
Tartaglione was later cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident by prison authorities, and had been moved out of the cell by the time of Epstein’s death weeks later.
Epstein’s jail cell at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center after his death
The Metropolitan Correctional Center jail in New York where Epstein died
In 2024 Tartaglione, a former police officer, was sentenced to life for four murders committed in 2016.
The newly released Epstein files revealed that in February 2023 his brother Mark submitted a wild online tip to the FBI.
It was recorded in a document compiled by a Threat Intake Examiner at the FBI National Threat Operations Center Unit.
The tip was that ‘Jeffrey Epstein was murdered in his jail cell’ and that there was ‘reason to believe he was killed because he was about to name names. I believe President Trump authorized his murder.’
There was no further detail and Trump has never been formally accused of wrongdoing related to Epstein’s death.
In response to Mark Epstein’s FBI tip being revealed in the latest Epstein files release, the White House referred the Daily Mail to a statement issued by the Department of Justice on Tuesday.
The statement read: ‘Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.
‘Nevertheless, out of our commitment to the law and transparency, the DOJ is releasing these documents with the legally required protections for Epstein’s victims.’
In psychiatric notes from two weeks before his death, Epstein appeared miserable and compared himself to Dustin Hoffman’s autistic character ‘Rain Man’ from the Hollywood movie.
‘He said his right arm still feels somewhat numb and he said he cannot make a fist with that hand,’ a report aid. ‘He also said he has numbness on his neck.
Quadruple murderer Nicholas Tartaglione was briefly held in a cell with Epstein but was cleared of any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein’s first suicide attempt
Video from inside the prison where Epstein committed suicide
‘He stated last night when he flushed the toilet it kept flushing for 45 minutes. He stated he found it so aversive and upsetting that he said he sat in the comer and held his ears. He said because of this he was agitated for hours and was not able to sleep. He stated the feeling he got with the noise of the toilet was similar to when he was in SHU (the Special Housing Unit).’
The report went on: ‘He said he may have something on the Autism spectrum. He said in the movie “Rain Man,” the person with Autism had an aversion to noise. He stated he is also really good with numbers.’
Epstein was found dead in his cell, having committed suicide, early on August 10, 2109.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has been under huge pressure to release the Epstein files
Mark Epstein submitted an online tip to the FBI about his brother’s death
The documents revealed frantic email exchanges between officials later that day, raising further questions about the circumstances of the death.
One official wrote: ‘As you might imagine, we are getting increasingly frantic calls from defense counsel who continue to be seeing
information in the press that we -the U.S. Attorney’s Office – haven’t yet received. We need to know as soon as possible the very basic facts, such as time and cause of death at the absolute minimum.’
Amid discussion of releasing the body, another official said: ‘His defense counsel is extremely concerned about whether that has been enough time for a full autopsy and any other investigative steps.’
