Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / The OIG Report Into Jeffrey Epstein's Death: The Custody And Care Of Epstein (Chapter 4 Part 3)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
- 0:05In this episode, we're going to pick up where we
- 0:07left off with the OIG report. In the last episode,
- 0:11we ended on part four talking about events of July
- 0:16twenty third and the placement of Epstein on suicide Watch
- 0:19and psychological observation from July twenty third to July thirtieth.
- 0:24In this episode, we're going to be looking at parts five, six,
- 0:27and seven. So let's start off with Part five. The
- 0:32psychology departments post July twenty third determination that Epstein needed
- 0:37to have an appropriate cellmate. Following the events of July
- 0:41twenty third, the mcc new York Psychology Department determined that
- 0:46Epstein needed to be housed with an appropriate cellmate. To
- 0:49ensure Epstein's cellmate requirement was disseminated to mcc new York staff.
- 0:55On July thirtieth, twenty nineteen, at twelve thirty pm, the
- 0:59staff psychologists sent an email to over seventy mcc new
- 1:05York staff members which read, inmate Epstein number seven six
- 1:10three one eight dash zero five to four is being
- 1:13taken off psych observation and needs to be housed with
- 1:17an appropriate cellmate. A review of the email recipient showed
- 1:21that the email was sent to, among others, the warden,
- 1:25Associate Warden two, the Captain, the Shoe Lieutenant, the Sis Lieutenant,
- 1:31the day Watch Operations Lieutenant, the Evening Watch Operations Lieutenant,
- 1:35the Morning Watch Operations Lieutenant, the day Watch Activities Lieutenant,
- 1:40and CO Number one. The staff psychologists also completed a
- 1:45post watch report which stated that the Shoe Lieutenant informed
- 1:49inmate Epstein needs to be housed with an appropriate cellmate.
- 1:54The warden told the OIG that the chief psychologist had
- 1:58advised them that Epstein was not suicidal and was ready
- 2:02to return to the Shoe. According to the warden, when
- 2:06he spoke to the chief psychologist regarding Epstein, she told
- 2:10them to assign Epstein a cellmate. He added that mcc
- 2:13new York would typically house an inmate who was previously
- 2:17on suicide watch with a cell mate. The warden stated
- 2:21that there was no BOP policy mandating that an inmate
- 2:25coming off suicide watch have a cell mate, but they
- 2:28usually house such inmates with the cell mate. During their
- 2:32interviews with the OIG, Associate Warden I, the Captain, and
- 2:36the Shoe Lieutenant each said they had verbally informed the
- 2:40shoe staff of Epstein's cellmate requirement and were confident that
- 2:44all shoes staff members knew of Epstein's cellmate requirement. Additionally,
- 2:49the captain said he visited the shoe on multiple occasions
- 2:53and directed his staff to be alert and attentive about
- 2:57Epstein's special needs. According to Associate warden One, the captain
- 3:02was in charge of correctional services, including the shoe. Associate
- 3:07warden One said the captain should have told the shoe
- 3:09lieutenant and that the shoe lieutenant should have told the
- 3:13shoe staff about the cell mate requirement. Associate warden One
- 3:18further told the oi G that the shoe lieutenant was
- 3:21responsible for ensuring that everything within the shoe was in compliance.
- 3:26Associate warden One told the OIG that the shoe staff
- 3:30knew that Epstein was required to have a cell mate
- 3:33and said she personally heard it being discussed on more
- 3:36than one occasion when she would visit the shoe while
- 3:40performing rounds. The captain, who supervised all of the lieutenants
- 3:44NCO's working in the mcc New York, said that after
- 3:48the cellmate requirement was issued for Epstein, he spoke with
- 3:52the Shoe lieutenant and directed him to ensure that Epstein
- 3:56had a cell mate similar to the warden. The Shoe
- 3:59lieutenant told them that while there is no BOP policy
- 4:03addressing the necessity of assigning cell mates two individuals coming
- 4:07off of suicide Watch, it was common practice in the
- 4:10BOP for prisoners coming off of suicide Watch to be
- 4:14assigned the cell mate. The Shoe lieutenant confirmed that a
- 4:18BOP psychologist told them that Epstein had to be housed
- 4:22with the cell mate when Epstein returned to the Shoe,
- 4:25and said that he passed the directive down to the
- 4:27Shoe staff. Additionally, the daywatch Shoe officer in charge on
- 4:32August ninth, twenty nineteen, said he and all other Shoe
- 4:36staff were aware of Epstein's cellmate requirement. Mcc new York
- 4:41Psychology Department personnel told the OIG that mcc new York
- 4:45staff members knew of Epstein's cellmate requirement because it was
- 4:50discussed during staff meetings, department head meetings, Shoe meetings, morning meetings,
- 4:56and during required staff training. Forensics psycho pologist I told
- 5:01the OIG that on August ninth, twenty nineteen, she was
- 5:05present during the meeting in which one of Epstein's attorneys
- 5:08opposed Epstein having a cell mate. Forensic psychologist one said
- 5:13she explained to the attorney that Epstein needed to have
- 5:15a cell mate because he was housed in the shoe
- 5:18and he was a sex offender. Part six. Selection of
- 5:24Epstein's cellmate after psychological observation. The Captain told the OIG
- 5:30that he compiled a list of possible cell mates for Epstein,
- 5:34vetted those inmates, and provided the list of names to
- 5:37the mcc new York Warden. The warden told the OIG
- 5:41that he identified two potential cell mates and tentatively decided
- 5:46on inmate number three. The warden said he passed this
- 5:49information onto the BP director as chief of staff, and
- 5:53later received word that he should assign in May three
- 5:56to Epstein's cellmate. The warden told the THEIG that no
- 6:01inmates were pre vetted to replace in May three if
- 6:04he left mcc New York. The Warden and the Captain
- 6:08told the OIG that if Inmate three had been moved
- 6:11as Epstein's cellmate, they would have had to review a
- 6:15new list of potential cellmate candidates to ensure that Epstein
- 6:19was housed with an appropriate inmate. According to the warden
- 6:23and the captain, if Inmate three was no longer detained
- 6:26at mcc New York, Shoe, staff should have informed a
- 6:30lieutenant on duty, who should have informed the Captain, who
- 6:33would have ensured that the process of selecting a new
- 6:36cellmate for Epstein would begin. Part seven Epstein's cell assignment
- 6:42from July thirtieth to August tenth, as a result of
- 6:46Epstein's cellmate requirement. On July thirtieth, twenty nineteen, following his
- 6:51release from psychological observation, Epstein was initially assigned to sell
- 6:57Z zero four Dash two zero six within May three
- 7:01in the J tier of the shoe. A BOP medical
- 7:05record note reflected that on this same date Epstein was
- 7:09provided with his personally owned medical device. BOP witnesses told
- 7:13the OIG that on the same date, Epstein and inmate
- 7:17three were moved to sell Z zero six Dash two
- 7:21twenty in the L tier of the shoe to accommodate
- 7:23the electrical needs of Epstein's medical device. Of all the
- 7:27cells in the shoe, sell Z zero six Dash twenty
- 7:32was the closest cell with a direct line of sight
- 7:34to the shoe. Officer station in the common area of
- 7:38the shoe, which was approximately fifteen feet away. In May
- 7:42three told the OIG when he and Epstein were first
- 7:45assigned to cellmates in sell Z zero six Dash two
- 7:50twenty in the l tier, the day Watch operations lieutenant
- 7:54told in May three that he had a cool bunkie
- 7:56for him, an old guy who would not bother in
- 8:00number three. Inmate number three said he told the day
- 8:03Watch operations lieutenant that he slept on the bottom bunk,
- 8:06and the day Watch Operations lieutenant said that would not
- 8:09be a problem because his new cell mate slept on
- 8:12the floor. In May three said he was surprised by
- 8:15his response because he understood that sleeping on the floor
- 8:18was not allowed, and he had previously been disciplined for
- 8:22doing so. When Epstein arrived in the cell inmate number three,
- 8:26he recognized him and said he in May three told
- 8:29the day Watch operations lieutenant that the day Watch operations
- 8:33lieutenant had jammed up in May three. In May three
- 8:37said he knew Epstein had tried to hang himself and
- 8:40had just come from suicide watch. According to in May three,
- 8:44the day Watch operations lieutenant told in May three not
- 8:48to worry that Epstein was okay, and that in May
- 8:51three should keep an eye on him. In May three
- 8:54asked the day Watch operations lieutenant if he was supposed
- 8:57to serve as a suicide prevention advocate, that is, an
- 9:00inmate who was assigned to the suicide watch area. In
- 9:04May three said the day Watch operations lieutenant laughed and
- 9:07brushed off in May three's comment. According to in May
- 9:11three CEOs brought two mattresses to the cell for Epstein
- 9:15and placed them on the floor. Epstein put the mattresses
- 9:18on the right side of the cell, which is only
- 9:21partially visible through the cell door window when the cell
- 9:24door is closed. In May three noted that Epstein also
- 9:28had two extra blankets, which in May three said was
- 9:31unusual because none of the inmates had extra blankets. In
- 9:36May three said he asked Epstein to please not kill
- 9:38himself or hang himself while in May three was his
- 9:42cell mate, because in May three had a chance to
- 9:44go home soon. Epstein told in May three not to
- 9:48worry and that he was not going to cause in
- 9:51May three any trouble. All Right, folks, We're gonna wrap
- 9:54this one up right here, because the rest of this
- 9:56chapter starting with Part eight is pretty massive, so we'll
- 10:01pick up with the conclusion of Chapter four in the
- 10:05next episode and keep it rolling. All of the information
- 10:09that goes with the episode can be found in the
- 10:12description box.