Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Shows ‘Orange Shape’ Near Cell Block Night Before He Was Found Dead

A new investigation from CBS News raises questions regarding a mysterious "orange shape" seen heading in the direction of Jeffrey Epstein's prison cell on the last night he was alive.

The disgraced New York financier and child sex offender died in his prison cell at the age of 66 in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges. While his death was ruled a suicide by hanging by the medical examiner, theories about his death have lingered, which prompted the FBI and DOJ to share a review earlier this month that reiterated he died by suicide and had no long-rumored list of famous "clients." A CBS News investigation into the surveillance video released by the FBI earlier this month shows an "orange shape" moving up the stairs to Epstein's cell.

Former Attorney General William Barr concluded in August 2019 that the surveillance footage from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan showed no one entered the area where Epstein's prison cell was on the night he died. Federal investigators previously claimed the figure appeared to be a corrections officer holding "linen or inmate clothing."

Video forensics expert Jim Stafford said that the inspector general's report, which noted that no one could get to the area where Epstein's cell was located without being seen, appears to be contradicted by the surveillance video. "To say that there's no way that someone could get to that—the stair up to his room—without being seen is false," said Stafford, whose thoughts were echoed by four other video forensics specialists.

Conor McCourt, who was previously an NYPD sergeant and forensic video expert, added, "Based on the limited video, it's more likely it's a person in an [orange] uniform." The figure traveled up the stairs at approximately 10:40 p.m. on August 9, the date that Epstein was ruled to have died by suicide. Staff at the facility were supposed to conduct 30-minute check-ins on Epstein, who was on suicide watch, but they only discovered him the next morning.

A second camera's surveillance footage, which could provide further clarity on the series of events the night that Epstein died, is currently being withheld by investigators. The majority of the stairs are out of view in the currently released surveillance footage. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has since issued a statement responding to the investigation, which does not change the conclusion of the OIG report but does question some comments from authorities, including Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino.

“The OIG appreciates the careful review of our report,” reads the statement. "Our comprehensive assessment of the circumstances over the weeks, days, and hours before Epstein’s death included the effects of the longstanding, chronic staffing crisis in the [Bureau of Prisons] and the BOP’s failure to provide and maintain quality camera coverage within its facilities. As CBS notes, nothing in its analysis changed or modified the OIG’s conclusions or recommendations."