On August 10, 2019, while having breakfast at a Norfolk, Virginia hotel, Mark Epstein caught a breaking CNN news segment reporting that his older brother, Jeffrey, had allegedly died by suicide while detained at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC), awaiting trial.
Mark, a retired businessman and former real estate investor, recalls being on amicable terms with Jeffrey before his arrest in July 2019, speaking by phone but not having seen him in person for about seven years. He admits not closely following the details of Jeffrey’s legal troubles.
Upon hearing of Jeffrey’s death, Mark immediately flew to New York and was responsible for identifying his brother’s body.
In a November 11 X-space discussion with LiveOne.TV, Mark stated that initially, he accepted the idea that Jeffrey had taken his own life, as asserted by the FBI and other official sources.
“I had no reason to doubt it [the suicide claim]. He was facing a long time in jail,” Mark explained. “The life of a convicted pedophile is not very pleasant and Jeffrey was used to living life the way he wanted, with people around who catered to him and took care of him….He had no kids, our parents are gone; he didn’t have anyone to worry about. I thought he took the decision not to go through a trial and potential prison sentence, and decided to take himself out.”
However, after enlisting the famous forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, Mark expected confirmation of the suicide conclusion but was instead told that the evidence appeared more consistent with homicide.
Dr. Baden, in an interview with 60 Minutes, highlighted fractures beneath Jeffrey’s neck and jaw found during autopsy that he claimed were inconsistent with suicide by hanging. He stated: “Going over a thousand jail hangings, suicides in the New York City state prisons over the past 40-50 years, no one had three fractures [as Epstein did].”[1]
Dr. Michael Baden [Source: standard.co.uk]
Similarly, Dr. Kristin Roman—the New York City pathologist responsible for the autopsy—also expressed that Jeffrey’s death appeared more like a homicide than a suicide.
The death certificate initially listed the cause as “pending further study.”
Mark pointed out that the June 2023 Department of Justice (DOJ) report omitted the findings of Dr. Baden and Dr. Roman.
The DOJ version relied on New York’s Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Barbara Sampson, who, according to Mark, neither attended the autopsy nor personally examined Jeffrey’s body, yet declared the death a suicide by hanging.[source]
Mark added that Dr. Baden’s involvement was apparently absent from the DOJ report and criticized statements from then U.S. Attorney General William Barr as misleading.
Most notably, Barr claimed to have viewed surveillance footage from outside Jeffrey’s tier and, seeing no one entering or leaving, concluded the death was suicide.
Mark described this assertion as evidence of a cover-up, emphasizing that about a dozen other inmates were housed in that tier and could have been responsible for Jeffrey’s death.
Reports emerged that cell doors on Epstein’s tier were left unlocked the night of his death.
William Barr [Source: syracuse.com]
Additionally, Barr’s referenced camera angles did not include the actual door to the tier, meaning access could have gone unnoticed.
A CBS News analysis challenged Barr’s claim, indicating that footage just before 10:40 p.m. showed an orange figure ascending stairs toward Epstein’s area.
This image from the video—zoomed in and highlighted by CBS News—shows a partial view of something orange on the stairs leading to Jeffrey Epstein’s cell tier. [Source: cbsnews.com]
A 2023 Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report identified this figure as a prison guard distributing bedding.
Contrarily, forensic experts consulted by CBS suggested the figure could be a prisoner in orange attire heading to Epstein’s unit.
Mark finds it suspicious that the Attorney General would personally watch this footage and yet misrepresent what was shown.
He believes the perpetrator—either previously housed on Epstein’s tier or the orange figure captured on video—was quietly moved out to another prison shortly after the killing, subsequently disappearing or being released.
Mark also revealed that over the past year, multiple pathologists reviewing Epstein’s autopsy and related images concluded that the death could not have resulted from suicide, with these findings expected to become public in the future.
Jeffrey Epstein was found hanging in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan in August 2019. The prison shut down that year. [Source: nypost.com]
Another key factor for Mark’s conviction that his brother was murdered is the upcoming bail hearing that Jeffrey had scheduled based on an appeal from a previous decision.
Jeffrey and his legal team intended to request what would have been the highest bail ever recorded in the U.S.
Mark explained, “I could see that Jeffrey might have committed suicide if he had lost the bond hearing and didn’t want to sit in prison for a year while waiting for his trial. But it would have made no sense for him to have killed himself before the hearing.”
He elaborated: “If the judge granted him bond, he would have been able to live in his house with an ankle monitor and guards manning the place and cameras. This wouldn’t have been that terrible, especially since his house is real nice. So why would he take himself out if he had a chance to spend a year in his house awaiting trial.”
Jeffrey Epstein’s house. Who would kill themselves if they could live there? [Source: thetimes.com]
A “Perfect Storm of Screw-ups” and Evidence Tampering
Bill Barr described Epstein’s death as arising from “a perfect storm of screw-ups,” a phrase that fuels suspicions of a broader conspiracy.
The most glaring failure involved the two guards monitoring Epstein’s cell, Michael Thomas and Tova Noel, who were found to have fallen asleep and neglected their twice-hourly inmate checks.[source]
Subsequently, Thomas and Noel faced charges for falsifying records, claiming that they made the required checks throughout the night.
Michael Thomas departing a court hearing in New York City on November 25, 2019. [Source: nypost.com]
Tova Noel, the second guard, leaving federal court on November 25, 2019. [Source: nypost.com]
Moreover, surveillance cameras on Epstein’s floor reportedly malfunctioned, the building’s fire alarm was suspiciously disabled on the morning of his death, and extra bedding was found in his cell without explanation.
Epstein’s cell with extra linens. [Source: nypost.com]
A 60 Minutes investigation revealed that photographs of two nooses found in Epstein’s cell each displayed hems on both ends, not cuts as would be expected. This is noteworthy because guards who reportedly found Epstein claimed to have cut the noose with scissors while trying to rescue him.
Uncut noose found in Epstein’s cell taken into evidence that Epstein supposedly used to hang himself. The guards who found Epstein, however, reportedly cut the noose. The implication is that the crime scene was staged and evidence was planted. [Source: cbsnews.com]
There are also signs of video footage tampering from Epstein’s tier. The FBI confiscated and later reissued the recordings, during which a cursor appeared onscreen, and a Wired report alleged that nearly three minutes of footage were removed.[2]
Crime Scene Cover-up
Epstein’s cell was swiftly cleaned and sanitized right after his death—before the FBI could collect crucial evidence—indicating a likely cover-up.
Many standard investigative procedures were ignored: prison staff moved Epstein’s body, no photographs captured his position at death, and no poison or DNA tests were conducted in his cell.
Witness statements were delayed for months and conducted with legal counsel present. Furthermore, computer servers in Epstein’s wing were unsecured and had their hard drives removed and replaced the same night.
The last known photograph of Jeffrey Epstein as he was transported into New York Downtown Hospital, taken by New York Post photographer William Farrington. [Source: nypost.com]
Official Suicide Ruling Is Unfounded
Experts differentiate suicides from homicides in hangings by examining the knot’s placement and the presence of drool on the ground—evidence absent here due to the scene’s immediate cleanup.
This undermines the DOJ and FBI’s conclusion that Epstein’s death was a suicide.
Ali Clark Investigation
Ali Clark, a seasoned investigator with intelligence agency tracking experience, assists Mark Epstein in researching the case.
In a report prepared for congressional leaders, Clark emphasized that proper forensic protocols—preserving, analyzing, and validating evidence with the possibility of criminal intent—were neglected. Instead, the government relied on unverified assumptions, omissions, and procedural breaches that compromised the investigation’s integrity.
She indicated that the OIG report openly admitted it did not probe the cause of Epstein’s death, focusing only on jail policy lapses.
Clark also identified irregularities in inmate movement logs from the night of Epstein’s death, suggesting records may have been tampered with.
She concluded the investigation was “biased from the start—designed to close [the case], not uncover truth,” and that the cumulative inconsistencies appear orchestrated to support a predetermined suicide narrative.
More Missing Video Footage and a Ghost Prisoner
Mark was informed of a handheld video recorded inside the prison infirmary and hospital during Epstein’s last hours, but this footage remains suppressed.
Clark discovered, buried among guard reassignments and management cancellations, an advanced medical escort assignment nine hours before Epstein’s death.
She suspects that an unregistered or ‘off-the-books’ prisoner was temporarily placed on Epstein’s tier for an operational purpose and then removed entirely—whether transferred, quietly released, or otherwise disposed of.
Paperwork discrepancies support the existence of a “ghost inmate,” where headcounts on records match but no actual prisoner is present.
Another anomaly involves a guard who worked overtime the day of Epstein’s death but whose overtime hours were unlogged. Furthermore, this guard did not scan his badge between August 6 and late August 10 despite being on duty.
Pattern of History
The cover-up surrounding Epstein’s death fits a troubling pattern in U.S. history, where politically motivated killings have been disguised as suicides.
White House Special Counsel Vince Foster’s July 1993 demise was similarly portrayed as a suicide despite evidence of interference at the death scene, with suspicions he was killed by the same dark forces possibly behind Epstein’s death.[source]
Foster, once a partner with Hillary Clinton at the Rose Law Firm, was privy to the Clintons’ illegal money laundering and illicit operations connected to the CIA’s Contra war in the 1980s.[3]
[Source: allthatsinteresting.com]
Similarly obscured as suicide was journalist Danny Casolaro, who exposed CIA software thefts fueling surveillance and money laundering within banks.[source]
Danny Casolaro [Source: toptenz.net]
Mark’s pursuit to reveal the truth parallels Henry Forrestal’s efforts when he doubted the official claim that his brother James, the post-World War II Defense Secretary, died by suicide after falling from Bethesda Naval Hospital’s 16th floor in 1949.[4]
Soviet propaganda depiction of Forrestal’s suspicious death in Pravda in July 1949. [Source: mythdetector.ge]
Before James’s death, Henry recalled that his brother was optimistic about a forthcoming release from the hospital and was preparing to publish diaries exposing government corruption, including the deception regarding the Pearl Harbor attack.[source]
Henry insisted James “was the last person who would have committed suicide, had absolutely no reason for taking his life,” and described the entire affair as smelling “to high heaven.”
A similarity exists with the Epstein case.
Officially, Forrestal was said to have first attempted suicide by hanging with a bathroom cord attached to a radiator—though no evidence supports this—and was found strangled with his robe belt, then thrown from the window.[5]
A military probe declassified in 2004 revealed that shards of broken glass were discovered on Forrestal’s bed, suggesting a struggle.
No suicide note was ever found, paralleling Epstein’s case despite Forrestal’s prolific writing. His room was also cleaned, erasing potential crime scene evidence.
From the photo exhibit of the Willcutts Report: Rug in Forrestal’s room showing broken glass that was later removed. [Source: dcdave.com]
Authorities, including the hospital commandant, a Navy psychiatrist, and the county coroner, all publicly declared Forrestal’s death a suicide—contradicting basic investigative practice which mandates treating all violent deaths as homicides until proven otherwise.
This same investigative failure occurred in Jeffrey Epstein’s death.
Media Complicity in the Cover-up
Across these cases, not only have law enforcement investigations been compromised, but media outlets have largely promoted official versions, often discrediting independent investigators and whistleblowers.
Such critics have frequently been labeled as “conspiracy theorists,” a term weaponized by the CIA in the 1960s to discredit dissenters to the Warren Commission Report, which sought to establish Lee Harvey Oswald as JFK’s lone assassin.[source]
In Epstein’s case, some liberal media have attempted to link critical viewpoints to “conspiracy-oriented right-wing” outlets like Fox News and the New York Post, which have been more skeptical of the official narrative.[6]
This tactic may aim to rally liberal support behind the status quo and shield police and intelligence agencies implicated in Epstein’s death.
Intelligence Agency Involvement?
The crucial question remains: if Epstein was indeed killed—as mounting evidence suggests—who was responsible?
The complexity of the cover-up and extensive involvement by law enforcement point toward intelligence agency participation.
This aligns with Epstein’s suspected role in a covert honey-trap operation that his trial risked exposing, including ties to other secretive activities now gradually emerging.[source]
The goal of this honey-trap scheme appears to have been to compile compromising videos of politicians, oligarchs, and celebrities to facilitate blackmail and control, a known tactic of Western intelligence agencies.
The FBI reportedly seized tens of thousands of hours of incriminating video evidence showing prominent figures engaged in sexual acts with minors to which Epstein had access.[source]
Epstein’s operation is thought to have roots with his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell’s father, Robert Maxwell—connected to British and Israeli intelligence and whose funeral was attended by Mossad heads—in the 1980s.
Robert Maxwell, with Ghislaine on his right and wife Betty on his left, at the Cannes Film Festival in 1987. [Source: theguardian.com]
Ari Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli intelligence operative, claimed to have met Jeffrey Epstein at Robert Maxwell’s office in the early 1980s, introduced by Ghislaine who was linked to Israeli intelligence.[source]
At that time, Epstein allegedly funded a software project related to Israeli military intelligence, marketed for U.S. and international electronic infrastructure.[source]
Ben-Menashe told former CBS News executive producer Zev Shalev, “these guys [Epstein and Maxwell] were seen as agents…They found a niche for themselves—blackmailing Americans and other political figures….He was taking photos of politicians fucking fourteen-year-old girls—if you want to get it straight. They would just blackmail people like this.”
Ghislaine and Jeffrey some time in the 1990s. [Source: nypost.com]
After Epstein escaped harsh sentencing on sex crime charges in Palm Beach, Florida in 2005 with a lenient plea deal, U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta admitted he had been “told to back off” because Epstein was “above his pay grade and belonged to intelligence.” Acosta later became Secretary of Labor under Donald Trump, a friend of Epstein’s.
Epstein’s link to intelligence networks may have begun while he was teaching mathematics at the Dalton School in Manhattan, whose headmaster, Donald Barr, was William Barr’s father.
Donald Barr worked for the OSS, the precursor to the CIA, and authored a novel addressing child sex slavery. William Barr himself worked on the CIA’s China desk and later served as a CIA lawyer.[7]
Donald Barr [Source: heavy.com]
Barr’s apparent role in facilitating the cover-up circles back to CIA involvement, which aligns with what is known about Epstein’s life and associations.
- An HBO documentary series featuring Baden highlighted that he had conducted over 20,000 autopsies in his 45-year career, including high-profile cases like John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nicole Brown Simpson. Michael Franzese, Epstein’s former MCC cellmate and ex-Colombo crime family capo, stated the architecture of Epstein’s cell made suicide impossible due to the lack of suitable fixtures for hanging. “There’s just no way you are able to commit suicide, no way. There’s no way to hang yourself, there’s nothing from the ceiling, there’s nothing from the bed. You’d have to be a midget and work really hard to hang yourself and I don’t think you could accomplish it,” he noted, underscoring that the beds were very low and no ceiling fixtures existed. ↑
- A government source familiar with the investigation told CBS News that Attorney General Pam Bondi was mistaken in claiming the security system experienced a nightly reset causing a lost minute each night.
- See David Martin, The Murder of Vince Foster: America’s Would-Be Dreyfus Affair (Chantilly, VA: DCD Publishers, 2020); Jeremy Kuzmarov, “With the Clinton Brand Now Discredited, Its High Time to Reopen the Investigation into the Death of Vince Foster,” CovertAction Magazine, January 5, 2022.
- See David Martin, The Assassination of James Forrestal (Hyattsville, MD: McCabe Publishing, 2019); Jeremy Kuzmarov, “Was the 1949 ‘Suicide’ of Defense Secretary James Forrestal the First Major Domestic Political Assassination of the Emerging U.S. Deep State After WWII?” CovertAction Magazine, October 27, 2021.
- This aligns with the CIA’s assassination manual from the early 1950s which stated: “the most efficient accident, in simple assassination, is a fall of 75 feet or more onto a hard surface.”
- Polls reveal only 16% of Americans accept the suicide verdict for Epstein; 45% believe he was murdered, with the remainder unsure. Another suspicious death tied to Epstein’s network is that of Jean-Luc Brunel, a French modeling agency head found hanging in his Paris jail cell in February 2022 while awaiting trial for minor rape charges. Reports suggest 22 associates of Epstein have died suspiciously, reminiscent of the numerous deaths connected to the JFK assassination. One such case involves Epstein’s final cellmate, Efrain “Stone” Reyes, who was moved from his cell just one day before Epstein’s demise. ↑
- See Jeremy Kuzmarov, “While Guilty for Sex Trafficking, Ghislaine Maxwell Takes Fall for Alleged Sexual Blackmail Operation Run by Western Intelligence Agencies,” CovertAction Magazine, July 14, 2022. This article summarizes publicly available information on Epstein’s intelligence links and cites sources for researchers. Evidence of William Barr’s CIA background and his role supporting the Clinton machine in Arkansas via a deal involving covert Contra operations in Nicaragua is detailed in Terry Reed and John Cummings, Compromised: Clinton, Bush and the CIA (New York: S.P.I. Books, 1994).
Original article: CovertAction Magazine
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