Jeffrey Epstein was removed from suicide watch at the Manhattan jail where he was held without bail for reasons which are shrouded in secrecy at present. Suicide watch protocol mandates that inmate companions on five hour shifts accompany the inmate at all times and that the inmate be housed in a suicide proof room. These precautions were implemented after Epstein’s suicide attempt July 24 and then dropped after six days, for reasons which have yet to be explained. Daily Beast:

The regulations add in bold, “THE DECISION TO USE INMATE OBSERVERS MUST BE PREDICATED ON THE FACT THAT IT TAKES ONLY THREE TO FOUR MINUTES FOR MANY SUICIDE DEATHS TO OCCUR.”

But on July 29—six days after the incident that led to his placement on suicide watch and seems in hindsight to have more likely been an actual attempt to take his own life rather than a stunt resulting only in minor bruises around the neck—Epstein was deemed to be “no longer at imminent risk for suicide.” Regulations mandated a final evaluation by the Program Coordinator.

The Program Coordinator is obligated to perform a face-to-face evaluation of the prisoner and issue a report, which details risk factors assessed and changes to risk factors plus facts proving up the resolution of the crisis and reasons for removal from the watch. Apparently Epstein was on suicide watch from July 25, the day after he attempted to take his own life, and terminated July 30. At this time, there is no explanation, satisfactory or otherwise, for such a move.

Epstein was returned from the suicide prevention room to the Special Housing Unit, where he had been found lying prone on the floor of his cell last month. The SHU doubles as a discipline unit and as a refuge for inmates who fear for their safety in the general population, as Epstein reportedly did.

One difference for Epstein upon his return was the absence of a cellmate such as Nicholas Tartaglione, a ex-cop turned accused quadruple murderer. Tartaglione claims to have saved Epstein during the earlier possible attempt.

And there were no more inmate companions keeping watch.

Epstein was with just Epstein in a cell whose architectural priority was more security than suicide prevention.

A man who had acted in the outside world as if the rules did not apply to him was now left without the protection of prison rules that had been promulgated over the years to prevent incidents such as the suicide of mobster Louis Turra in 1980. Turra embarrassed everybody by hanging himself at lunchtime in the MCC’s psychiatric unit.

Like Turra, there was an overwhelming amount of evidence against him. Epstein surely knew that he would be spending the rest of his life in prison, and that is what motivated his suicide attempt July 24. The key question here, is what persuaded the suicide watch program coordinator to discontinue the watch. This is where we get into speculation. Why was suicide watch terminated after only a few days? Why was Epstein left to himself? Most importantly, what is in the report which indicates that such a move was prudent? Epstein’s circumstances most certainly did not materially change after six days. In fact, Epstein killed himself the day after a report was released naming more prominent men in Epstein’s sex trafficking ring.  Why it was decided on these facts that Epstein was no longer a suicide risk is an answer that we must have — and perhaps will when the dust settles. The FBI is investigating Epstein’s death and that is the most likely venue from which explanation will come.

In the meantime, conspiracy theory rages about Epstein’s death and is promulgated by none other than Donald Trump. If you didn’t see it, a vacationing Trump re-tweeted conspiracy theory about Bill Clinton being responsible for Epstein’s death, to which a Clinton spokesperson replied, “Ridiculous and of course not true — and Donald Trump knows it. Has he triggered the 25th Amendment yet?”

Spreading CT is Trump’s stock in trade. He did it with Obama and the birther lie, followed by the Muslims celebrating 9/11 lie, and my personal favorite, Trump’s line about Ted Cruz’ father being responsible for JFK’s death. No Donald, Elvis killed JFK and Ted Cruz’ father and Bigfoot killed Elvis. Put that in your phone and tweet it.

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1 COMMENT

  1. By yesterday evening I was troubled by what was NOT being discussed, which you have now raised. My own thoughts went a step further into the issue of Protective Custody which is why Special Housing Units exist in prisons (both state and federal) in the first place. I even started looking online for protocols for monitoring of prisoners in such units.

    Most people know pedophiles are targets for violence (from other inmates) in prison so it’s quite common for them to get Protective Custody of some sort and often wind up in a Special Housing Unit with extra monitoring. There are other reasons an inmate might wind up in such a unit, including reasonable concerns by either the inmate or authorities (or both) that the individual has enemies who have powerful motives to want to keep that inmate from ever being in a courtroom and/or to slow down or stop investigations/proceedings because of what authorities might uncover. Such people sometimes have not only the will but the means to accomplish the goal of silencing such an inmate awaiting trial including either murder or convincing them to take their own lives.

    With Epstein we had someone with a double whammy when it came to the need for Protective Custody – both a Pedophile and being someone who in the course of a very public investigation of him would cause a lot of unwanted attention if not criminal charges to a great many very rich & powerful people. It’s why the first incident was still under investigation. Although it had the appearance of an attempted (if halfhearted) attempt at suicide there were real questions about whether another inmate in the MCC Special Housing Unit attacked him. His cellmate who is a former police officer was a suspect although that individual claims to have saved Epstein. But prior to the announcement of Epstein’s death it was still an open question as to whether he’d tried to commit suicide or was attacked and if the latter by whom.

    IOW yesterday evening and this morning my thoughts were working on the outlines of an article of my own suggesting that while questions about suicide watch were appropriate, especially since (I think) most people assumed Epstein was still on suicide watch & questioned his being taken off it a larger and just as relevant question was being ignored. Which is why wasn’t the issue of Protective Custody being raised since Epstein was in a Special Housing Unit precisely because he needed protection from other inmates at that facility? I want to emphasize the MCC is no run of the mill place as it has housed many high profile detainees related to cases that have been national and even international in scope. People with lots of enemies and/or former associates who, knowing that person has little (if any) chance in court worries about them spilling the beans to cut a deal of some sort.

    I learned after reading a Federal Bureau of Prisons PDF file there is a list of people that someone who has been taken off suicide watch in a SHU sees daily to ensure they aren’t regressing and in need of suicide protection protocols. What I never found but learned late this morning is that yes, in an SHU guards are required to make periodic and frequent checks on the inmates in the units. In Epstein’s case it was every 30 minutes and the protocol wasn’t followed.

    Once again I note that even for a high profile inmate Epstein required extra protocols to ensure he’d make it to trial. As far as I’m concerned even 30 minute checks weren’t sufficient, especially since he was suspected of having attempted suicide so recently. I once worked in a children’s home, mostly overnights. Yes, the cottage only housed ten boys but there was considerable work for me to do during the night and I was seldom bored. I was also required to, no matter what else I was doing check each room every fifteen minutes (each room had a door) to ensure each kid was in his room & okay. I also have been inside a high security federal prison albeit a long time ago. It was the facility in Marion, IL not far from where I grew up. Marion replaced Alcatraz as the federal pen that housed our most dangerous prisoners. There have been even more secure places developed since but I can assure you security/monitoring at Marion was impressive even forty years ago with the technology back then. Surveillance has advanced remarkably since, as has experience on special needs & circumstances and how to address them.

    In the end there is Protective Custody in general, and special conditions for certain individuals that require extra levels of protection/monitoring. ALL of that had to have failed (or “fail”) for Epstein to have been able to commit suicide yesterday. If the system itself did fail it a remarkable event cascade and with each failure in the chain the odds of it being a coincidence increase. Perhaps even exponentially. Possible? Yes. But not probable, at least without some tacit assistance and/or strategic “oops” type omissions as things unfolded.

    Regardless, Epstein is dead. No, the larger case is not closed but it won’t proceed at the same pace which has a LOT of people breathing easier today. Why do I say that? It was because of the Trump connection even if Trump was a client of Epstein’s (to provide him underage victims) they were once pals and had plenty of mutual acquaintances in high places. Various related cases can and will proceed even if Barr does all he can to slow the pace of them down. However, without the glare of the spotlight Epstein himself would have brought I fear it will be easier for attorneys defending the indefensible to help their clients worm out of things. With the ruckus next year’s election will bring to the news not to mention the effects that will impact the world at-large & other goings on deals can and I believe will be quietly cut. Blame will be shifted from those who deserve it to underlings and so on. Keep in mind even political and/or news junkies can’t keep up with the stream of goings on here and abroad which means next year we’ll all be swarming around like Dorothy in the tornado only Dorothy will have on tunnel vision glasses and be dosed with meth. That’s what we are in for, and with Epstein dead and the spotlight on his Trump connection dimmed if not turned off I think Alex Acosta is going to make a fortune consulting with defense teams here and around the world.

    • Right now there are more unanswered questions than answered, and that category is growing. Now, the results of the autopsy have been stalled and the footage of the security cameras has not been released either.

  2. Special housing units absolutely do not exist for protective custody in a jail they are for segregation of inmates who cannot follow rules and regulations put in place to govern the safety and security of federal and state prisons.

    They serve a secondary purpose for protective custody segregation, an inmate being removed from suicide watch after 6 days is incredibly common in fact 6 days is a rather lengthy amount of time to be on suicide watch.

    Further more the article I read stating claims from a former MCC inmate that it would be impossible for an inmate to commit suicide in a SHU is one of the dumbest things I have ever read. If a board certified psychologist cleared an inmate from suicide watch then it would not be the responsibility of the CO to do anything in regards to his previous suicide attempt but to inform psychology if the inmate verbalized more thoughts of suicide.

    Inmates live in a SHU cell by themselves all the time, and the claim that those sheets are like paper and would never support a grown man is crap, considering the sheets get ripped every day and can be doubled or tripled up to increase the strength of the amount of weight in can support. Long story short if an inmate is determined to commit suicide they will.

    There is no camera footage inside individual cells so releasing camera footage is an idiot request. But I bet all of you that are commenting have worked in federal prisons for years and years so you definitely know what you’re talking about.

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