Epstein was 'bullied by black guys' throughout his youth, was scared he'd be attacked in prison, reveals confidante
A suicide confidante who spoke with Jeffrey Epstein just days before his death has now revealed that the disgraced billionaire financier was so scared of life in prison that he considered having an African American inmate for his protection.
Bil Mersey told Daily Mail that he acted as an 'inmate companion' to Epstein when he was on suicide watch during his time in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center.
The 69-year-old insider said that another inmate who was held next door to Epstein told him he heard the sound of 'ripping sheets' from Epstein’s cell on the night he committed suicide on August 10. But Mersey claimed Epstein never discussed his crimes against the dozens of alleged underage victims who later came forward to report being abused by him.
The confidante, who spent a year at MCC for federal tax evasion, said he had a one-on-one with Epstein for almost two dozen hours as part of the suicide watch program. According to him, Epstein was a major topic among inmates and guards even before his conversation with the former hedge-fund honcho.
“He was on the news. There are four televisions in each unit and another in this little gym area,” said Mersey. “The inmates saw that he was a billionaire and it was like, 'Wow, how can I extort this guy?' MCC has some gang bangers, there were very few white collar offenders.”
Epstein was looking at up to 45 years in prison if found guilty of sex trafficking dozens of underage girls, some as young as 14, between 2002 and 2005. He was thought to have attempted suicide on July 23, just days after being denied bail by a federal judge. At the time, he was placed in 9 South, a special housing unit also called 'SHU' or the 'hole', and was found semi-conscious with marks on his neck.
Following the suicide attempt, Epstein was transferred to a small suicide watch unit of four cells, where he would be monitored 24x7 by other inmates in 4-hour shifts.
“(In the suicide unit) we are all locked into that area on the second floor. You’re alone with the suicide inmates and the other companions,” Mersey said. “When (guards) do checks, they would open the door to the unit and ask how everyone was doing.”
According to Mersey, he was able to connect with Epstein after revealing to him that he had made some money catering to escort services.
“He lit up immediately and we talked for two hours on escort services in New York,” Mersey said. “He didn’t ask about underage girls, nothing like that. I had no discussions with him about pedophilia or his predilection for girls under 18.”
Mersey also noted how Epstein's biggest concern was how he would deal with life in prison. “He was always asking about how to handle fellow inmates,” Mersey said. “He felt threatened. He wondered, 'Do I need a shvar?’ (an offensive Yiddish word meaning black person). He told me that when he grew up in Coney Island, he'd been bullied by black guys throughout his youth and he was just really scared of prison.”
Mersey claimed Epstein wasn't scared of prison so much for his alleged sex crimes, but for the fact that he was a rich man. Mersey said he did try to reassure him that prison wasn't so bad.
“He was afraid for his physical safety, he thought he was going to get his ass kicked,” Mersey said.
On August 10, just one week after Epstein was taken off suicide watch, he was found unresponsive in his 9 South cell before being pronounced dead in a hospital. His death was ruled as suicide by hanging.
“I have this theory that the SHU killed him because it can be a maddening place," Mersey said. "The SHU can get really noisy, it’s like a zoo. You’re caged in. You can really spiral down emotionally. You can’t make phone calls, you can't buy commissary. You only shower three times a week. The cells at MCC are crawling with roaches, water bugs, and families of mice.”
"I am 99.999 percent (sure) that he committed suicide,” he added. “I wasn’t there to see it so I can't be 100 percent (sure) but I wouldn't bet 2 cents against $1 million that somebody did him. He did himself," Mersey said.