EFTA00098083.pdf

Visit of United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York October 10, 2019 MCC-Epstein Investigation will present on their investigation into the events at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 9-10, 2019, the night that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide. In the last two months, our Office, along with agents from the FBI and DOJ-OIG, have interviewed more than 40 witnesses, including 27 MCC employees and 16 inmates at MCC; reviewed records from the MCC as well as financial records for the relevant employees; conducted searches of the cellphones used by certain of the relevant prison guards, and reviewed dozens of hours of the limited videotape evidence the FBI has thus far been able to recover in the face of technical data recovery issues. The investigation has determined principally that the two prison officers responsible for the SHU area during the night of August 9 and early morning hours of August 10 — Michael Thomas and Tova Noel — did not conduct any of the required institutional "counts" at 12 a.m., 3 a.m., and 5 a.m., nor did they conduct most of the "rounds" they were required to conduct every 30 minutes. In particular, it appears that no prison official observed Epstein from approximately 9:30 pm on the evening of August 9 until his body was discovered at approximately 6:30 a.m. the next morning. Thomas and Noel also falsified numerous forms, indicating that they had performed the required rounds and counts overnight although they did not actually do so. Instead, Thomas and Noel were performing other tasks, using the computer, talking, or sleeping during their overnight shift. In addition, the investigation has determined that, contrary to MCC policy and a directive from the Chief Psychologist and then-Warden, Epstein was left without a cellmate from the morning of August 9 through his death on the morning of August 10. It is not clear that either Thomas or Noel was specifically made aware of the directive, although Thomas had been on duty in the SHU during Epstein's prior suicide attempt and they were both trained on MCC policy and had the ability to assign Epstein a new cellmate. The case is bein handled b the Office's Public Corruption Unit, led by Co-Chiefs EFTA00098083 EFTA00098084 EFTA00098085