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Figure 5.6
Photograph of Epstein's Cell After His Death
The Day Watch SHU Officer in Charge told the OIG that in August 2019, each inmate would have been authorized to have two sheets and one blanket. He said that in the winter, inmates are allowed to have an additional blanket. When interviewed by the OIG, the Day Watch SHU Officer in Charge reviewed a picture of Epstein's cell from August 10, 2019, after Epstein had been removed from the cell. The Day Watch SHU Officer in Charge said there appeared to be an excess number of linens and blankets in the cell, which he believed were for both Epstein and Inmate 3, and that there were possibly a couple of extra sheets as well. He noted that there were two mattresses in the cell and deduced that Inmate 3's assigned items had not yet been removed even though he had departed MCC New York earlier that day. According to the Day Watch SHU Officer in Charge, Inmate 3's items should have been removed as soon as the SHU staff knew Inmate 3 was not returning. He told the OIG that any extra linens or blankets should be removed when the inmates take showers and their cells are searched. He told the OIG that he believed the purpose of limiting the linens provided to the inmates was to ensure there was enough to go around and that it was more of an administrative matter rather than a security matter.
The Captain also reviewed the picture of Epstein's cell from August 10, 2019, when interviewed by the OIG. He said Epstein had too many linens, t-shirts, and blankets in his cell. The Captain said the SHU staff were responsible for removing those items because they did not want to hear the other inmates complain that they were not issued the same number of items. The Captain stated that it is also a security issue because it "gives the inmates the materials to be able to make homemade fashioned and improvised nooses" or "use it as escape paraphernalia," such as a rope that inmates had used to escape from another facility in Chicago.
Inmate 3 told the OIG that Epstein was allowed to sleep on the floor, which he said was unusual for the SHU where that was not normally allowed. Inmate 3 said Epstein also had two extra blankets, which no other inmate had, as well as two pens, which inmates were not allowed to have. Epstein would ask for things, and if the COs said no, Epstein would tell them he was writing down their name and providing the information to his lawyer. According to Inmate 3, the COs were on "eggshells" around Epstein. Inmate 3 said that when he left the SHU on August 9, 2019, there was an orange cloth twisted around the ladder, strings on the side of the ladder, and a string tied across the bed. Inmate 3 explained that the string tied across the bed served as a clothesline, and that the strings were part of a sheet they had ripped. According to Inmate 3, one night he woke up, saw Epstein fidgeting with the clothesline, and asked Epstein what he was doing. Epstein said he was trying to fix the clothesline, but Inmate 3 told him no and flushed the clothesline down the toilet. As discussed in Chapter 4, when Inmate 3 and Epstein first became cellmates upon Epstein's return to the SHU
Source: Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, City of New York