Authorities have sent two cameras that malfunctioned outside of Jeffrey Epstein‘s Manhattan jail cell — where he supposedly hanged himself — to an FBI crime lab for examination, according to law enforcement sources.
The cameras were positioned within view of the accused sex trafficker’s cell, but the footage that they captured was said to be unusable. People familiar with Epstein’s suicide investigation told the Washington Post it was unclear what caused them to malfunction.
Epstein was found unconscious inside his cell on Aug. 10. The medical examiner ruled the convicted pedophile’s death a suicide by hanging — a claim that his lawyers have questioned.
Sources told The Post on Wednesday that the two cameras outside Epstein’s cell were sent to the FBI’s major crime lab in Quantico, Virginia, to be analyzed by agents.
Investigators want to determine whether the recording flaws affect just a small portion of the jail equipment or if it’s a persistent problem at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where Epstein had been housed since his July 6 arrest.
The wealthy financier was accused of abusing dozens of underage girls between 2002 and 2005 — running a sex trafficking ring in the process, prosecutors said. He had pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail.
At the time of his death, Epstein was supposed to have a roommate in his cell. But the person was transferred just one day before his death.
Epstein had been placed on suicide watch — and was then taken off — following an incident late last month, in which he was found unconscious with marks on his neck. Authorities believed the 66-year-old had attempted suicide, but Epstein argued that he’d been attacked. His lawyers have said that they are “skeptical” of the suicide claims.
“We did not see a despairing, despondent, suicidal person,” said defense attorney Reid Weingarten in court Tuesday.
“There are conspiracy theories galore,” he added. “What if the tapes only broke down on the day he was killed or he died?”