Jeffrey Epstein’s former cellmate was cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident that left Epstein semiconscious in his cell three weeks before his death, according to the cellmate’s lawyer and a source familiar with the matter.
The disclosure amounts to the strongest indication to date that Epstein tried to take his own life on July 23 — and deepens the mystery over why he was removed from suicide watch in the days before his death.
Epstein, the disgraced financier who was facing federal sex-trafficking charges, was placed under suicide watch after he was found in a fetal position with marks around his neck inside the cell he was sharing with Nicholas Tartaglione, a former upstate New York police officer facing quadruple murder charges.
The incident at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) was being investigated as a possible suicide attempt, assault or ruse by Epstein to get himself transferred to a different facility after he was denied bail on the sex-trafficking charges, officials said at the time.
But Tartaglione’s lawyer Bruce Barket told NBC News that the day before Epstein’s death, officials at the MCC informed him in an email that the internal investigation had concluded and his client would face no charges or internal discipline.
“We’ve always maintained Nick did nothing wrong and that’s clearly been borne out here by the jail itself,” Barket said. – read more