One Line of Inquiry in Epstein Death Probe

Were the guards sleeping?
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 14, 2019 8:18 AM CDT
One Line of Inquiry in Epstein Death Probe
In this July 30, 2008 file photo, Jeffrey Epstein appears in court in West Palm Beach, Fla. Epstein has died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, says person briefed on the matter, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019.   (AP Photo/Palm Beach Post, Uma Sanghvi, File)

An "after action" team with the Bureau of Prisons is headed to the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Wednesday as part of the probe into Jeffrey Epstein's death on Saturday, NBC News reports. The New York Times reports they'll be looking at what protocols were followed prior to his death. One line of inquiry that investigators will be chasing down, per sources: whether the two staffers who were working the overnight shift were asleep during their shift. Indeed, a source tells the AP that it's thought the guards may have falsified their log entries to indicate they were checking on Epstein every 30 minutes as they should have been.

The source says surveillance footage confirms the guards failed to make some of the checks that were logged. The Times' sources get more specific, saying the guards did indeed fall asleep and that three hours passed without a check on Epstein. Those sources also say they then falsified their logs. The Times reports that, if true, the falsification could be a federal crime. Bureau of Prisons psychologists have also visited the jail; they're delving into the decision to take Epstein off suicide watch. (Thirty-eight minutes before news of Epstein's death broke, it was on 4Chan.)

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