The U.S. government released previously unseen photos showing the body of Jeffrey Epstein lying on a stretcher and being attended to by medics immediately after his death.
Twenty images, many of which are too explicit to display, were released as part of a declassified report from the FBI regarding Epstein’s death while in custody, as well as the autopsy and internal prison documents.
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These images are among the millions of documents released on Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) in the latest part of the disclosure of the Epstein files.
Epstein was found dead in his cell on August 10, 2019. He was held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York before the trial against him for charges of sexual trafficking and conspiracy. The FBI report, titled “Investigation into the Death of Jeffrey Epstein”, appears to be an inquiry into his death conducted by the agency’s local office in New York. The 23-page report bears the annotation of “not classified” stamped on each page. The unedited documents, viewed by BBC Verify, show close-ups of Epstein’s neck and visible signs of injuries. They also contain details of the autopsy and a psychological report on their mental health in the days leading up to their suicide. Several photos show Epstein lying on a stretcher while medics attempt to resuscitate him. They are dated August 10, 2019, and are 06:49 local time, about 16 minutes after he was found unconscious in his cell. The location of the photos is unknown, but Epstein was taken to a nearby hospital at 06:39, where he was declared dead, suggesting they were taken there. Three other photos have notes indicating they were taken in a hospital. They show a close-up of his head and a visible injury on his neck. Epstein’s name appears in each photograph, but his first name is misspelled as “Jeffery” instead of Jeffrey in some of the images. BBC Verify performed reverse image searches of the newly released photos of Epstein’s body and could not find earlier versions published online before January 30. We also found other material that corroborates the information disclosed in the files, including an 89-page report of Epstein’s autopsy presented by the Department of Justice and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in New York, and emails from the local FBI office in New York containing the same censored images. Parts of Epstein’s post-mortem report by the OCME also appear in the report, including images of two fractures in Epstein’s thyroid cartilage in the neck. The FBI report includes a six-page timeline of Epstein’s detention at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York from his arrest on federal sex trafficking charges on July 6, 2019, until his death. Reveals that Epstein was placed under suicide watch after he attempted to take his own life on July 23, 2019. Epstein accused his cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer facing murder charges, of trying to kill him at that time. In a meeting with a psychologist the next day, Epstein stated that he had “no interest in committing suicide” and that it “would be crazy” to take his own life, according to the document. On July 25th, he declared: “I am very involved with the case to fight it, I have a life and I want to live my life again,” according to the psychologist’s report. Other documents released by the DoJ show that the prison director advised that Epstein not be housed alone and emphasized the need to conduct “reviews every 30 minutes” of his cell and “random rounds.” Epstein’s cellmate was released the day before his death. On the night of August 9, the prison guards also did not carry out the scheduled checks for 3:00 and 5:00, as stated in the prison documents, and the unit’s camera system was also out of service. His body was discovered during a morning check carried out by staff. A second censored version of the same FBI report, of only 17 pages, was also published as part of the Epstein files. It does not include the psychologist’s report or the chronology of his detention, and the images in the file are censored. It is not clear why the censored and uncensored versions of the report were included in the files. The DoJ was contacted for statements. The FBI declined to comment.
