Epstein death ‘perfect storm of screw-ups’, says attorney general
THE death of Jeffrey Epstein in prison was the result of “a perfect storm of screw-ups”, the US attorney general has said.
William Barr claimed a “series” of mistakes contributed to the paedophile being given the opportunity to take his own life at the New York jail while he was awaiting trial.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Mr Barr said he had personally reviewed security CCTV footage that showed no one entered the area where Epstein was held on the night he died.
“I can understand people who immediately … whose minds went to sort of the worst-case scenario because it was a perfect storm of screw-ups,” Mr Barr said.
He added that his concerns were prompted by the numerous irregularities at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, where Epstein was held on charges of sexually abusing girls.
Mr Barr’s comments came as lawyers for Epstein’s victims renewed calls for the Duke of York, a former friend of Epstein, to speak to US investigators.
Epstein was placed on suicide watch after he was found on his cell floor with bruises on his neck on July 23 this year. The alert was dropped around a week before his death, but he was kept on a heightened watch and required to have a cellmate.
However, his cellmate was transferred to another jail on Aug 9, a day before Epstein was found hanged.
“I think it was important to have a roommate in there with him and we’re looking into why that wasn’t done, and I think every indication is that was a screw-up,” Mr Barr said. “The systems to assure that was done were not followed.”
Earlier this week, two guards whose duty was to watch over Epstein’s jail unit were charged with sleeping and browsing the internet during their shift on the night the prisoner died.
The FBI and the justice department’s inspector general are investigating the death. Conspiracy theories were fuelled by the possibility his trial would see prominent figures give evidence.