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According to a memorandum attached to the Form 583 from the Correctional Systems Officer dated August 10, 2019, after Noel called the medical emergency, the Correctional Systems Officer received a call from staff in the SHU instructing her to call 911 for an ambulance. The Correctional Systems Officer notified the New York Police Department (NYPD) via the MCC New York institutional NYPD telephone. The Correctional Systems Officer then informed NYPD that MCC New York needed an ambulance and medical assistance for one of the inmates. The New York City Fire Department and EMS arrived at MCC New York at 6:43 a.m. and were escorted to the second-floor medical area. EMS departed MCC New York with Epstein and a BOP escort via ambulance and chase car to the local hospital at 7:10 a.m.
The Morning Watch Operations Lieutenant told the OIG that she was relieved as the Operations Lieutenant prior to 6 a.m. on August 10, 2019, but was still working on things like the Daily Activity Reports and Lieutenant Logs that she did not get to finish during her shift. At some point, the Morning Watch Operations Lieutenant heard that there was a medical emergency in SHU, so she went to assist because she knew that inmates would need to be given food and other things would need to be done. The Morning Watch Operations Lieutenant estimated that she went to the SHU around 7 a.m. to help with the inmate meals, and believed the Electronics Technician was also helping out. Noel was there, but she was not helping with delivering food to the inmates. The Morning Watch Operations Lieutenant said that after the meals were delivered, she finished up and went home.
All MCC New York staff members who were interviewed by the OIG said they did not know of any information suggesting that Epstein's cause of death was something other than suicide. Additionally, no inmate provided the OIG with information suggesting that anyone assisted Epstein with taking his own life or had any credible information suggesting that Epstein's cause of death was something other than suicide. Some MCC New York staff told the OIG that Epstein's death could have been prevented if, among other things, Epstein had been assigned a new cellmate after Inmate 3's departure and rounds and counts had been conducted in the SHU as required. Some witnesses also faulted MCC New York staffing shortages, which resulted in excessive overtime and meant that MCC New York staff members were often overtired during their shifts. Other MCC New York staff members told the OIG that even if inmate safety and accountability measures had been properly executed, an inmate who wanted to take his life would have found a way to do so.
B. Items Found in Epstein's Cell on August 10 Following His Death
Following Epstein's death, the BOP and FBI collected many of the items found inside Epstein's cell. The FBI inspected the cell and retrieved what it believed to be relevant to its investigation into the cause of Epstein's death, which included one torn sheet, miscellaneous papers, and an MP3 player. The FBI did not recover any weapons inside the cell. After the FBI's inspection, the BOP recycled the linens from Epstein's cell and collected the remaining items, which included various over-the-counter medications, books (including religious books), BOP pamphlets, toiletries, batteries, headphones, glasses, mail and envelopes, a brown paper bag, an orange homemade rope, AED pads, and a medical device.