Shouts, shrieks heard from sex offender Epstein's jail cell before he was found dead
Four days after billionaire investor and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was found dead from an apparent suicide in his jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York, details of the moments the guards found his body are still being revealed.
According to CBS News, which spoke to a source familiar to the situation, said sounds of shouting and shrieking were heard from his jail cell as corrections officers attempted to revive, saying, "breathe, Epstein, breathe." However, they failed to revive him and he was eventually rushed to a New York hospital where he was declared dead.
Epstein's estranged brother Mark was called by the authorities to identify the disgraced financier's body. Although an autopsy has been completed, the medical examiner is holding off from revealing an official cause of death, demanding "further information" about the deceased.
Adding to the earlier criticism of the correctional center where Epstein was being held - of how he was taken off suicide watch despite marks being discovered on his neck and prison guards not checking up on him for hours before his death - a latest report said that one of Epstein's guards working at the MCC on the night he died was allegedly not a regular corrections officer.
Meanwhile, Attorney General William Barr expressed his frustration on August 12 at the federal prison's inability to prevent the incident. "We will get to the bottom of what happened and there will be accountability," Barr said. "I was appalled and frankly angry to learn of the MCC's failure to adequately secure this prisoner."
Although it was unclear as to how Epstein a was treated during his brief stay at the MCC, a former Florida corrections worker told CBS12 that the billionaire was "treated like a celebrity" in a county jail after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution and spent 13 months in prison.
“He was treated like he was a celebrity,” Teresa Cook, who worked for Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for nine years and was a Corrections Support Personnel worker said. “I saw Lieutenants speak to him eye to eye when they would cuss other inmates out.”
She claimed that the prison employees were told to keep his cell unlocked at all times and Epstein was free to roam through the dormitory area without repercussions, often without clothes. He also enjoyed privileges like access to a TV set and a cooler.