Authorities at the Metropolitan Correction Center in New York are reporting that Jeffrey Epstein was found semi-conscious in his cell with marks on his neck earlier tonight.
NBC 4 New York has the details:
Accused pedophile and wealthy Manhattan financier Jeffrey Epstein was found injured and in a fetal position inside his cell at a New York City jail, according to sources close to the investigation.
Epstein, who is being held in Metropolitan Correctional Center during his trial for conspiracy and sex trafficking, was found semi-conscious with marks on his neck, two sources told News 4. Investigators are trying to piece together exactly what happened.
Two sources tell News 4 that Epstein may have tried to hang himself, while a third source cautioned that the injuries were not serious and questioned if Epstein might be using it as a way to get a transfer.
A fourth source said an assault has not been ruled out, and that another inmate was questioned. The inmate who investigators have talked to in Lower Manhattan facility has been identified as Nicholas Tartaglione, according to a source. Tartaglione is a former Orange County police officer who was arrested in December 2016 and accused of killing four men in an alleged cocaine distribution conspiracy, then burying their bodies in his yard in Otisville, according to court records.
Sources told News 4 investigators questioned Tartaglione, and the former cop claimed not to have seen anything and didn’t touch Epstein, sources said.
The attorney for Tartaglione denied all the claims that his client attacked the financier, saying his client and Epstein get along well. The attorney added Epstein was seen today and appears to be fine.
“They are in the same unit and doing well,”said Bruce Barket, an attorney for Tartaglione. He said any claim that Tartaglione might have assaulted Epstein “is absolutely not true.”
Epstein is now on suicide watch inside MCC, according to two sources. Attorneys for Epstein did not immediately return calls for comment.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons did not return calls and spokesmen for the U.S. Marshals and U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment.
rikyrah
????
Not surprised
Jerzy Russian
That other dude seems nice.
Mnemosyne
I think being on suicide watch is going to be a lot less fun than Epstein thinks it will, even though it means he’ll get to be the center of attention.
And, as dr. bloor was saying in the thread below, he’s a high suicide risk anyway. A 66-year-old narcissist facing a credible threat of prosecution is fairly likely to try and kill himself to escape justice.
Adam L Silverman
@Jerzy Russian: I had the exact same thought when I was reading the article and preparing the post.
rk
I’m usually not a conspiracy theorist, but maybe some powerful people want him dead. If blackmail was his game then it’s not too far fetched.
Frankensteinbeck
@Mnemosyne:
Yeah. To a narcissist, everything is about what he wants. If they see a future where that is completely closed off, they have no deeper reason to live.
Jerzy Russian
@Adam L Silverman: I wonder why that other dude is in a jail in New York instead of a jail in California, but my curiosity is not strong enough to click on the link and read what is there.
Mary G
I find it hard to care about Epstein’s wellbeing, but I want all the disgusting details out where we and his victims can see them. If he dies, it’s going to be swept under the rug and that’s not fair. Lurid imaginings of the president calling somebody named Tony and asking for the knockoff, and Tony knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guard in charge of Tartaglione also rise up. It would be irresponsible not to speculate, after all.
Peale
@Jerzy Russian: Orange County, NY. We have one out here, too. The Orange County in “Orange County Choppers” of American Chopper TV fame is actually OCNY.
Chetan Murthy
@Mary G:
And details on every God-forsaken co-conspirator, too. Every. Last. One.
Mary G
@Jerzy Russian: It’s Orange County New York, I think. Too lazy to link.
ETA: Peake beat me to it.
ETA2: Sorry, Peake not Peake.
ETA: Kindle AutoCorrect sucks balls. Sorry Peale.
Mnemosyne
@Jerzy Russian:
Even cold-blooded murderers think pedophiles are disgusting.
BeautifulPlumage
My first thought was that it’s a ruse to smuggle him out via medical concerns. Seems very well sourced for a story from a correctional facility. 4 different sources with that much detail so soon? Placed leaks for a cover story.
Adam L Silverman
@Jerzy Russian: He’s a retired Westchester County NY police officer. He committed his crimes in the town of Chester in Orange County, NY.
http://www.chroniclenewspaper.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20161220/NEWS01/161229998/Ex-police-officer-charged-in-quadruple-murders-at-Likquid-Lounge
The dude is huge too!
https://konniemoments.com/2019/03/21/bodybuilding-ex-nypd-officer-who-is-accused-of-a-quadruple-murder-in-cocaine-deal-gone-wrong-faces-the-death-penalty/
One of his coconspirators, who committed suicide, was another cop who competed in strongman competitions.
Jerzy Russian
@Peale: Ah, I see. I am almost curious to see if there is an Otisville, California, but as before, not curious enough to take action to find out.
CaseyL
Since Epstein is still alive, my $$ is on “faked it hoping to be taken to a lower-security place (hospital?) he could escape from.”
I wouldn’t cry a single tear if he offed himself, except that his death would likely close the case.
Jerzy Russian
@Adam L Silverman: Just reading the text of that second link, I must ask: has there ever been a cocaine deal gone right?
Jay
@Mnemosyne:
He’s an ex-cop, so despite not being very nice, he can’t be in Gen Pop.
And killing/assaulting Epstein isn’t going to improve the quality of his life, but being a cellie with Epstein probably will.
Adam L Silverman
@Jerzy Russian: The one that allowed Congressman Gaetz to prep for the hearings today?//
That dude was wired for sound!
PJ
Here’s my totally unbased-on-any-evidence errant speculation: if someone who wanted Epstein dead had enough pull to organize it so this ex-cop had access and enough time to manhandle Epstein, he would be dead now. But whoever would want this would also know that, whether or not Epstein was actually blackmailing his clientele, there is likely some kind of dead man’s switch in place, which would release their info whether Epstein died in jail or somewhere else. So if someone were so inclined, this would just be a warning in case Epstein feels like singing. (Also, it is not hard to imagine that an Italian ex-cop might be willing to send this warning in exchange for some protection in GenPop).
joel hanes
@Jerzy Russian:
I am almost curious to see if there is an Otisville, California
Google Maps does not seem to know of such a place.
John Revolta
If Epstein dies, what happens to all those DVDs with all those rich people having sex with underage girls?
I’ve been suspicious why they haven’t been more careful with this guy all along.
Jay
@Jerzy Russian:
There must have lots that went right. You don’t get to be the 1%ers #1 with a razor blade, or create such a glut that new subproducts to bleed down the inventory had to be created,
If none of the deals went right.
Brachiator
@BeautifulPlumage:
Good catch. Yeah, it is very interesting that so many people are willing to anonymously provide details about this guy. Hell, he may have more snitches around him than guards.
Adam L Silverman
@joel hanes: If I remember the documentary made by Richard Donner in the mid 70s, Otisville was supposed to be built on the new west coast after the nuke triggered the San Andreas fault and sank California.
Jay
@PJ:
He’s an ex-cop so he’s never going into GenPop ever, so he doesn’t need a deal for protection.
wetcasements
“maybe some powerful people want him dead”
He’s in for basically being a pedophile. In most US (and British) prisons that’s a “KOS” offense — Kill On Sight. And he’s famous too. Somebody with nothing less to lose would earn themselves a lot of clout and respect for beating the shit out of him, let alone murdering him.
(Not endorsing this by any means but when you build a for-profit criminal justice system with no interest in actual rehabilitation, this is what you get.)
Jay
@wetcasements:
He’s in protective custody, isolated from GenPop.
Brachiator
@PJ:
I think you make a great point here.
I wonder. Over the years there have been stories about high end escorts and Madam’s with client lists including the Uber rich and super famous clients. And even though a number of these escorts and madams have been arrested, convicted and imprisoned, I cannot recall that extensive details of client lists have never been made public. A few names are revealed, but these are usually people so powerful that they can shrug off any embarrassing revelations.
plato
The whole story stinks like bs that it is. Nothing happened to the pedophile.
Mike in DC
Well, he’ll be on suicide watch for the rest of his stay, at least up through trial. The problem for him is, even if he gave prosecutors 1000 names, he’s only going to knock some time off his sentence. Guaranteed he does at least ten years even with full cooperation, though maybe he could spend them at a relatively cushy medium security facility somewhere. But if he’s blackmailing a bunch of people, that’s probably not even an option.
opiejeanne
@BeautifulPlumage: My thoughts too. This sounds staged.
Brachiator
So, apparently the governor of Puerto Rico has resigned.
opiejeanne
@Brachiator: Decided not to wait for impeachment?
wetcasements
“He’s in protective custody, isolated from GenPop.”
That makes it harder to get him, but certainly not impossible. Bribe a guard for 5 minutes alone, for example. Get a cook to poison his lunch, or just ruin it to fuck with him.
At this point who knows — I’d also bet he faked a suicide attempt but I wouldn’t put too much faith in underpaid guards or the “rules” of any US prison.
Jay
@Brachiator:
@opiejeanne:
Just the first of many heads that will roll.
Jay
@wetcasements:
You need to bribe a lot more than one Guard, to get into the Protective Custody cell block and then, there are all the other prisoners in Protective Custody like the hulking exCop, who are probably unaware that you are there for Epstein and not them.
Epstein pulled this stunt to try to get better accomodations and sympathy. He’ll also lie his ass off about it claiming he was attacked from behind by a one armed man.
Jay
Sister Golden Bear
@joel hanes: Otisville, NY.
Jay
Omnes Omnibus
I know everyone seems to want there to be some kind of conspiracy here. Kill Epstein before he can talk, fake a suicide for better treatment, mole people getting their revenge, etc., but it is at least a reasonable for it to be a legitimate failed suicide attempt by a rich and spoiled narcissist who know that the rest of his life will be spent in the virtual isolation of protective custody.
James E Powell
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’m a superstitious man, and if some unlucky accident should befall Epstein – if he is to be shot in the head by a police officer, or be found hung dead in a jail cell… or if he should be struck by a bolt of lightning – then I’m going to blame the people who attended his parties.
BlueDWarrior
@Jay: this is what the dehumanization of non-white migrants is to achieve. We’ll drag targets kicking and screaming away and the usual 30% setup shrug thier shoulders and go ‘oh well’.
James E Powell
@Jay:
Jay, you know you surprise me. If anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone.
Jay
Ilsa, She Wolf of the Nazis, CPB Chief says she only joined the racist, rapist, hatefest on The Book of Faces to “monitor” hate posts.
Jay
@James E Powell:
Not Castro.
Omnes Omnibus
@BlueDWarrior: This may seem nitpicky, but I really think that we should avoid the term migrant in this discussion. The families that are being separated and sent to camps are asylum seekers or, if you prefer, refugees. That status places a number of obligations on our government that are not present for an ordinary immigrant. We shouldn’t let this administration muddle the issue.
Omnes Omnibus
@James E Powell: @Jay: No, you can kill anyone as long as you or your instrument is willing to die as well.
ETA: People often forget the last part.
Jay
Chetan Murthy
@Omnes Omnibus:
It’s not, and you’re right, OO. New Gingrich (spit) and Frank Luntz (hurl) both perfected this, right? The use of language offensive to the other side, as a weapon. IIRC Newt (or was it Frank?) had a list of “don’t say this; say this other thing instead”. Specifically in order to change the connotation in the minds of people hearing the words.
So even besides the fact (fact!) that these asylum-seekers are 100% legal, exercising rights guaranteed to them in international treaties to which our country is a signatory for many decades, …. even besides that, we should choose words based on their affect, their connotation, to describe these people. “Undocumented immigrant”, not “illegal alien”. Children, not “teenagers”. Etc.
Jay
@Omnes Omnibus:
Gubbin Hecktemar, Mullah Omar, al Baghdadi, there’s a long list.
US Prisons are pretty good at keeping certain criminals alive, despite threats to their lives. Strangely, money, class, connections and race all seem to play a significant role.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jay: Is this meant to refute my statement? If so, could I get you to show your work?
Jay
@Omnes Omnibus:
3 names that the entire US Military might has tried to kill for countless years, and didn’t.
Jay
BlueDWarrior
@Chetan Murthy: I cede the point there. The wider point is that the aforementioned 30% wants to bar all non-whites from the country, purge the existing non-white population, and then likely set up a process for screening liberal-minded Europeans from even visiting the US on vacation. They want the nation bleached white, and reconditioned for conservative-approved ‘right-think’.
Amir Khalid
@Jay:
??
Jay
@Amir Khalid:
Misspelled Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,
Omnes Omnibus
@Jay: You might note the second part of my original statement. You know, the part I said most people forget.
Captain C
@Mary G: And making the call on his very unsecure personal phone.
Ruckus
@Jerzy Russian:
Yes.
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
I agree. This is a guy who supposedly played very fast and loose with the law, money, and people, especially underaged people and has seemingly gotten away with it for a rather long time. That takes a rather shitty, disturbed mind. It may be sinking in to him that the game is over. And he seems to have been caught with enough evidence to convict Mother Teresa. In Rome.
Tony Jay
Now, I’m not saying that Epstein’s trafficking operation also catered to the specifications of certain Eastern European aristocrats who might not want their names and locations to be exposed to the sunlight of public attention…..
…but I seem to recall that Renfield spent the whole of his supporting character arc behind bars as well.
Chris Johnson
Granted, there are any number of possible explanations. That said…
If in fact Epstein and Trump both worked for the Russian mob building a massive kompromat library that ended up involving a surprisingly big chunk of Our Betters In The Donor Class, this would be a very specific and predictable event. It’s a little reminder, and not for Epstein, because it ceased to be all about him.
It’s like asking, if Trump got on the wrong side of the Russians, why is he not dead? Because he’s more useful the way he is: in fact he’s more useful going around with the appearance of a billionaire, when in fact he has nothing but what they give him.
Epstein was protected for many, many years to a level that is straight-up mind-boggling. Now he is seemingly not protected by the same people he’d been protected by, so the question becomes: is he going to have more to tell than ‘I’m a rich narcissist who rapes children, I blackmail people all on my own, and it’s all about me’? The kind of access he was able to provide and the amount of protection he operated under tells a story about power that is very useful to whoever was running him. He made them seem invincible.
By the same token, if that IS the story and it’s possibly coming out (again, I think he’s in that with Trump, but Trump gave access to the great deals that turned out to be compromised, and Epstein gave access to sex that turned out to be compromised) then the underlying purpose will show up: it’s not just that he did terrible things and was protected by the powerful, it’s that the powerful can reach and hurt him no matter where he goes. I think this is characteristic of the Russian mob, who have tended to whack people outside the USA but stand to benefit from the appearance that they can reach you no matter where you are. Federal Prison. Congress. The Moon. Anywhere.
It doesn’t have to be true, it has to seem true to those who have reason to be afraid of the Russian mob, because they’ve taken part in stuff that turned out to be compromised. Those people are probably legion (dating back to the 80s) and are very rich now, and running things (though not everything), and they will be sure about what happened, because it’s their own darkest fears. And they’re the ones who have to get the message, not so much the general public.
So the message from Russia to respective audiences is this: to the general public, it’s important to suggest that Epstein surely tried to fake a suicide attempt (because he had soooo much conscience and shame, right?) and that is being reported upon because? National Enquirer bait? Because we’re supposed to feel sorry, or point and laugh?
And to the numerous people who have been entrapped by Trump and Epstein (and to Trump, himself!) the message from Russia is: we can get you, no matter where you go. And it’s being reported upon… because we control that too, and we just wanted you to know. Draw your own conclusions from what you secretly know (and what we want you to believe) and have a _super_ day. xoxo
And it’s propaganda, because that’s how things are done in 2019. I will be very interested to see if the New York Times has lots and lots to say about Epstein’s ‘suicide attempt’, since I’ve been calling them out as a sockpuppet for the Russian mob. They do manage to pull off just exactly the right take to serve Russian purposes, without fail, so if they can manage this two-pronged take it’ll be interesting to see. Again: two purposes, get the hoi polloi to think the guy is a free agent having remorse or being manipulative, and get those compromised by him and Trump to absolutely panic and feel at risk of being randomly murdered, anytime, anywhere.
debbie
Les Wexner and L Brands put out a second statement yesterday, before this story came out. They must be getting nervous.
germy
HeartlandLiberal
Epstein should be under guard 24/7. In Trump’s America, just as in Russia, death is what happens to individuals who have the goods on the corrupt members of the one percent who pull the puppet strings of society. He will be killed, so as to end the threat of their exposure. Simple as that.
Barry
@Mnemosyne: @Mnemosyne: “And, as dr. bloor was saying in the thread below, he’s a high suicide risk anyway. A 66-year-old narcissist facing a credible threat of prosecution is fairly likely to try and kill himself to escape justice.”
He’s somebody facing spending the rest of his life in prison. That’s got to be a major risk factor.
Elizabelle
@Barry: Not to mention going through a mortifying public trial, which he pretty much missed last time.
I hope Epstein stays alive and healthy for many years, so that justice can arrive for him, and for his colleagues in crime.