Officers at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre (MCC) had not been checking up on Jeffrey Epstein in his cell for "several hours" before his death despite a requirement to visit him every 30 minutes, Fox News reported citing an anonymous source.
One day before his apparent suicide, Epstein's cellmate was transferred for unknown reasons, the media reported. No one was put in his cell to replace the cellmate, which should have been the case, Fox News added.
In a separate report, the Daly Mail said that Epstein's alleged associate in a sex trafficking scheme and now the main person of interest for investigators after his demise, Ghislaine Maxwell has expressed readiness to cooperate with US authorities. The media didn't specify the source of information. Sputnik was unable to verify these reports.
According to the recently unsealed testimonies of one of Epstein's alleged victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Ghislaine Maxwell was helping the late financier find and recruit new underage girls for his sex trafficking scheme, his own sexual needs and basically serving as a "madame" for his enterprise.
The apparent suicide of the 66-year-old financier, accused of sex trafficking, spurred a variety of conspiracy theories that his death was organised in one way or another by wealthy and powerful friends, that Epstein could have supplied with underage girls. Among those, suspected of having ties with the accused were Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and the Clintons, though no solid evidence confirming it was found or revealed thus far.
Several US politicians have already demanded that a thorough investigation of the financier's death be conducted. Epstein had been placed on suicide watch after being found unconscious with markings on his neck in July. According to a report by The New York Times, citing an anonymous source, Epstein was taken off suicide watch on 29 July.