Newly released Department of Justice (DOJ) documents revealed that investigators reviewing surveillance footage from the night of Jeffrey Epstein’s death observed an orange-colored shape moving up a staircase toward the tier where his cell was located. This happened at approximately 10.39 pm on August 9, 2019 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York.
The video observation log described the movement as “a flash of orange looks to be going up the L Tier stairs, could possibly be an inmate escorted up to that Tier.”
However, interpretations of the footage varied between the FBI and the DOJ’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). The FBI described the blurry figure as “possibly an inmate.” The DOJ OIG suggested it could have been a corrections officer carrying orange linen or bedding.
The inspector general’s final report stated, “At approximately 10.39 pm, an unidentified CO appeared to walk up the L Tier stairway, and then reappeared within view of the camera at 10.41 pm.”
Official reports say Epstein died by suicide around 6.30 am, when his body was found by a corrections officer. No official time of death was ever determined.
Who Could The Orange Figure Be?
Independent video analysts suggested the movement appeared more consistent with an inmate, or someone wearing an orange prison uniform, than a corrections officer, according to CBS News report. Prison employees told investigators that escorting an inmate at that hour would have been highly unusual.
The staircase was partially obscured, so it was not possible to confirm if someone could have entered Epstein’s tier without being clearly visible. The identity of the figure could have been crucial to understanding the events during Epstein’s estimated time of death.
What Do New Documents Reveal About Night?
The DOJ release includes thousands of pages detailing the hours between the evening Epstein was last seen on camera and the discovery of his body the next morning.
Inmates reported using drugs, including marijuana and K2, on the tier. Corrections officers Tova Noel and Ghitto Bonhomme were on duty, with Bonhomme reportedly sleeping between 10 pm and midnight.
Investigators also mentioned a discrepancy in inmate counts, dropping from 73 to 72, but the officers had no clear memory of the change.
The newly released documents also show that Michael Thomas, the officer who discovered Epstein, reported finding him shirtless and hanging. Thomas could not recall removing the noose. According to the OIG report, the noose recovered at the scene was later determined not to be the ligature used in Epstein’s death.
The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner reviewed the surveillance footage six days after Epstein’s death and concluded the video was too blurry to identify any individuals. Hours later, the office officially ruled Epstein’s death a suicide.
