Surveillance footage from outside Jeffrey Epstein’s cell during his suicide attempt was destroyed, prosecutors revealed Thursday.
The revelation in a letter filed by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maurene Comey and Jason Swergold is the latest head-spinning disclosure from the feds about the footage from the Metropolitan Correctional Center on July 22 and 23. Epstein attempted to hang himself that night while sharing a cell with accused quadruple murderer Nick Tartaglione, officials have said.
Swergold initially said last month in White Plains Federal Court that the video
had not been preserved. He reversed himself less than 24 hours later, saying it
had been archived.
Now, the feds say that due to a record-keeping error, MCC staff preserved footage from outside the wrong cell.
“The footage contained on the preserved video was for the correct date and time, but captured a different tier than the one where Cell-1 was located because the preserved video did not show corrections officers responding to any of the cells seen on the video. After speaking with MCC legal counsel, the Government was informed that the MCC computer system listed a different, incorrect cell for Tartaglione,” prosecutors wrote in a letter filed in Manhattan Federal Court.
Even worse, there was a backup system for the video footage, but that wasn’t working, either.