The FBI is examining two broken cameras that were outside the prison cell where disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and abuse charges.
A law enforcement source told Reuters that officials are reviewing the malfunctioning cameras from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. The cameras were sent to Quantico, Va., the site of a major FBI crime lab that analyzes forensic evidence.
{mosads}The news comes after a report that at least one camera outside Epstein’s cell had footage that was deemed unusable.
The chief medical examiner of New York City determined earlier this month that Epstein died from suicide, but his death has been the focus of conspiracy theories that one of his many high-profile associates had him killed to prevent any damaging information from coming out.
Epstein’s lawyers told U.S. Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan on Tuesday they had doubts about the New York City chief medical examiner’s conclusion.
Questions have arisen over why Epstein, who was found with marks on his neck in July, was not more closely monitored, though the Justice Department says the financier was cleared from suicide watch by a psychologist.
Reports have also surfaced regarding abnormalities in how he was observed, including one report claiming that guards in Epstein’s unit fell asleep and did not check on him during the time when he is believed to have hanged himself.
Attorney General William Barr has said he was “appalled” and “angry” over the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death. He directed the FBI and the Justice Department inspector general to investigate the suicide. He later announced the removal of the acting director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and ordered the warden at the Metropolitan Correctional Center to be temporarily reassigned pending the federal investigations.
Epstein was awaiting trial after being accused of sexually trafficking and abusing several underage girls from 2002 to 2005.