How Epstein lied and said he was calling his mother before killing himself hours later 

Jeffrey Epstein’s last hours were spent in part on a call to his girlfriend in Belarus, made under the ruse that the billionaire pedophile was calling his long-deceased mother. 

More than 2,000 pages of Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) records obtained by The New York Times just days before Epstein’s alleged co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell is set to start trial revealed Epstein was a con artist up until his last day. 

On the evening of August 10, Epstein was assisted by a unit manager at the Manhattan Detention Center in making a ‘social’ phone call. 

The call was not properly logged and the unit manager said that when he asked Epstein who he was calling, he said it was his mother.

Epstein’s mother has been dead since 2004. 

The call was actually to his Belarusian girlfriend Katyna Shuliak, 30, and lasted about 15 minutes.  

Epstein lied and claimed that the phone call was to his mother, who died back in 2004. He did not make any suggestion that he was going to take his own life

More than 2,000 pages of Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) records obtained by The New York Times revealed that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein (left) was a con artist up until his last day. He died by suicide in August of 2019. The documents were unclassified just days before Epstein’s alleged co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell (right in jail in 2019) is set to start trial for her role in the sex ring

Epstein helped put Shuliak through dental school. He gave no indication during the call that he was going to commit suicide.   

It fits with the remainder of the unclassified pages, which were uncovered after The Times filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, was a clinical intervention report, which was filed on July 11, 2019, and stated that Epstein ‘continues to deny any suicidal ideation, intention or plan’. 

‘I have no interest in killing myself,’ the disgraced financier told a prison psychologist, according to the BOP documents. He also said he was a ‘coward’ and did not like pain.

‘I would not do that to myself,’ he added.  

Jeffrey Epstein’s cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center was pictured after his suicide. Days earlier he told the prison’s psychologists that he was not suicidal and had a lot to live for

Police were pictured bringing Epstein’s body to Downtown Hospital after he hanged himself in his New York City jail cell

Epstein used his last days alive complaining about having to wear an orange jumpsuit and ‘being treated like a bad guy’ although he claimed he did not do anything wrong in prison, according to a clinical intervention report (pictured) filed by the prison’s chief psychologist

The disgraced financier told prison psychologists: ‘I have no interest in killing myself’ two weeks before doing just that while left alone in his cell after lying to officers and saying he wanted to call his long-deceased mother

During another psychological evaluation just days after arriving at the prison Epstein told a psychologist that ‘being alive is fun’.

He also reportedly requested to speak with his lawyer, brush his teeth and have a shower and the psychologist noted that Epstein was polite and even had a sense of humor.

The psychologist wrote: ‘He was future-oriented,’ and noted that he denied having ever sexually abused anyone and believed he would be released after his renewed bail hearing.

But less than a month later, on August 10, the financier hanged himself with a bedsheet, according to the medical examiner.

He was pronounced dead while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges and was facing 45 years in prison if convicted.

Epstein was tossed into the the federal jail in Lower Manhattan on July 6, 2019, after he was arrested aboard his private jet at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey following his return from Paris. 

Two years after Epstein’s suicide the embattled federal jail closed down. The BOP cited crumbling security measures and infrastructure at the facility, which was once considered one of the most secure detention centers in the country. 

The 233 inmates at the prison when it closed were transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Maxwell has also been staying.

An indictment stated that Epstein had recruited dozens of teenage girls throughout the 1990s and early 2000s to engage in sexual acts with him and his billionaire friends at his mansion in Manhattan, estate in Palm Beach and private island in St Thomas.

In exchange he would pay the young women hundreds of dollars in cash, according to the indictment.  

After the loss of his freedom, the 66-year-old spent a lot of time in conference rooms with lawyers to avoid his dirty cell and spent the days leading up to his death meeting with psychologists to discuss his mental health, The Times reported.  

Here, Epstein reminisced about his star-studded social circle and even offered psychologists and other inmates investment advice.

He also complained that he was ‘upset about wearing an orange jumpsuit and being treated like “a bad guy” when he did not do anything wrong in the prison’. 

He asked why he had to wear the brightly-colored jumpsuit ‘due to his being housed in SHU’ – also known as Special Housing Units and ‘the hole’ – which is where the Federal BOP segregates prisoners by disciplinary action.

Epstein ‘requested that he be placed in a brown uniform during his legal visits,’ and ‘was told his concerns would be addressed in the SHU meeting’. 

The report also revealed that Epstein complained about the running toilet in his cell, his difficulty sleeping, numbness in his right arm, ‘feeling cold in his cell (and) not having enough water in attorney conference’.

His stay at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan (pictured) began 36 days before his suicide. He was arrested and brought to the prison on July 6, 2019 following his arrest at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey following his return from Paris via private jet

According to The Times, the report failed to prove any conspiracy theories that Epstein’s death was not a suicide, or that he was assisted in killing himself, to be true. 

However, they detailed how Epstein consistently lied to correctional officers and reassured those who interacted with him during his 36 days of detention that he had much to live for.  

The court document noted that ‘he did not appear to be in any distress at this time’ and even said that he was living a ‘wonderful life’ despite being on suicide watch. 

The BOP, which The Times sued in order to access the documents, had created a task force reportedly committed to strengthening its suicide prevention program.  

One month later, Epstein was found unconscious after hanging himself in his jail cell, leading then-US Attorney General William Barr to blame his death on a ‘perfect storm of screw-ups,’ according to The Times. 

Barr said there were ‘serious irregularities’ at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, and although he failed to elaborate, a 15-page psychological report of the billionaire’s death compiled by bureau officials five weeks after Epstein died said that his identity ‘appeared to be based on his wealth, power and association with other high-profile individuals,’ according to The Times.

An intake screening also falsely described Epstein as a black male and noted that he had no prior sex offense convictions – yet he was a registered sex offender in Florida with two convictions  in 2008 for solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors to engage in prostitution, according to The Times.

He was sentenced to just 13 months following his guilty plea in 2008. 

It was also revealed that phone calls he made were also not recorded, logged or monitored, which was against the detention center’s policy. 

Epstein lied to jail officials up until the night he killed himself to get a moment alone, which was not allowed considering Epstein was monitored around the clock and was supposed to be assigned a cellmate. 

He said he wanted to call his mother, who had died in 2004 but instead phoned his 30-year-old girlfriend Karyna Shuliak, from Belarus.

Call logs showed that Epstein called Shuliak on July 30, too. She was one of the largest beneficiaries of several trusts that Epstein set up over the years, according to The Times.

Epstein reportedly helped put Shuliak through dental school and people aware of the phone conversation the night before Epstein’s suicide noted that he gave no indication that he had a plan to kill himself. 

The post-mortem report added that therefore, ‘likely factors contributing to Mr Epstein’s suicide’ included ‘the lack of significant interpersonal connections, a complete loss of his status in both the community and among associates, and the idea of potentially spending his life in prison’.   

The BOP declined to comment on Epstein’s time at the Metropolitan Correctional Center but wrote in a statement that ‘the safe, secure and humane housing of inmates is BOP’s highest priority,’ according to The Times.

The bureau had previously rejected The Time’s public-records requests on multiple occasions, which Judge Paul A Engelmayer of Federal District Court in Manhattan later called a ‘high-profile epic failure’.

‘It certainly does raise a concern’ Engelmayer said, adding that ‘the wagons are being circled’.

Thanks to the settlement between the BOP and The Times the agency handed over internal memos and emails, visitor logs, handwritten notes from inmates and the psychological reconstruction of Epstein’s death.

The Times reported that some documents were heavily redacted while others remained classified – including records associated with Epstein’s earlier suicide attempt. 

High-profile inmate

After being arrested at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport, Epstein was placed in general inmate population, where the jail’s security is the most lax.

According to one of the 2,000 released 

According to one of the 2,000 released documents, then-acting director of the BOP Hugh Hurwitz later sent an internal email attributing Epstein’s placement into general population as an oversight by the US Marshal Service (USMS).

‘Apparently USMS did not indicate that he was a high-profile inmate, and staff were unaware that he was coming so no plans had been established,’ he wrote, as reported by The Times.

A facilities assistant later noted that Epstein was in cell looking ‘distraught, sad and a little confused’ in an email sent to three jail officials. ‘He seems dazed and withdrawn,’ the assistant added.

She wrote: ‘Just to be on the safe side and prevent any suicidal thoughts, can someone from Psychology come and talk with him?’

But according to the records, no one did at first and a day after he was arrested, on July 7, 2019, the center’s warden Lamine N’Diaye finally identified Epstein as ‘high-profile’ and had him moved to SHU, which was located on floor nine of 12.

N’Diaye cited ‘concerns for his personal safety in general population’. The next morning at 9.30 was Epstein’s first psychological evaluation and he was scheduled to make his first court appearance that afternoon.

The psychologist anticipated Epstein’s bail denial and wrote, according to one of the unclassified documents: ‘Inmate Epstein will likely be receiving bad news in court today, and has multiple risk factors for suicidality as identified by BOP statistics.

‘Let’s be proactive.’

After his hearing Epstein was moved to the less-restrictive ‘psychological observation’ cell where fellow inmates were tasked with monitoring the disgraced financier in his cell and report his actions every 15 minutes.

On July 9, a psychologist confirmed that suicide watch was not necessary for Epstein and he should only be placed on psychological observation ‘out of an abundance of caution’.

According to The Times, Epstein asked for his own cell but was told he could not be alone ‘for safety and security reasons’.

On July 10 it was documented that Epstein smirked and asked a psychologist: ‘Why would you ever think I would be suicidal? I am not suicidal and I would never be.’

Inmates continued to observe Epstein instead and their notes were often lackluster and read: ‘Epstein is drinking water at the sink.’

On July 18 Judge Richard M Berman denied Epstein’s renewed bail request and nearly one week later, on July 23, Epstein made his first suicide attempt.

The post-mortem psychological reconstruction seemingly blamed the failed suicide attempt on the denial of bail as a ‘significant disappointment’ for Epstein, which ‘likely challenged his ability and willingness to adapt to incarceration’.

The report also noted that a ‘psychologist should have assessed Mr Epstein’s mental status upon his return to the institution,’ but they did not.

He was removed from suicide watch 31 hours after his attempt and placed back on psychological evaluation, according to The Times.

A July 29 entry said: ‘Epstein is sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in the palm of his hands.’

During this time he also consistently complained about the running toilet in his cell, which made him grow increasingly frustrated.

A psychologist noted that Epstein told them he would sit in the corner and hold his ears, speculating that he might have autism because of this aversion to noise.

Some inmates briefed conversations they had with the jailed social lite, and one said: ‘Esptein is talking about celebs he knows.’

The entry didn’t specifically name any A-listers.

Another inmate, whose name was redacted from the bombshell documents, detailed how the two talked about ‘prison life and etiquette’ for hours and into the early morning.

At 2.35am the inmate wrote: ‘Class is over’ and recorded that Epstein was asleep 10 minutes later.

Among the other documents obtained by The Times was an orange-colored sign that read: ‘MANDATORY ROUNDS MUST BE CONDUCTED EVERY 30 MINUTES ON EPSTEIN #76318-054 AS PER GOD!!!!’

The word ‘mandatory’ was misspelled and underlined in red pen with a question mark written after it. No records explained why the sign was included in the files and the BOP denied to answer questions about it.

It remains unclear when the sign was made, who made it or why.

Epstein was put back in SHU on July 30 with cellmate Efrain Reyes, who was serving time for assisting the government in a drug distribution conspiracy case.

Epstein had complained that Reyes’s talking kept him up at night – at least until August 9, when Reyes was transferred out of the Manhattan jail.

That day Epstein also met with lawyers as a federal appeals court released about 2,000 pages of previously classified documents to use in a defamation lawsuit against Maxwell, according to The Times.

At 6.30am the next day, Epstein would kill himself. He was pronounced dead an hour later and officials would later predict that the graphic details uncovered in those documents ‘further eroded’ his mental state.

Defense lawyer Bobbi Sternheim was pictured in a court sketch pointing towards Maxwell while standing beside Jeffrey Pagliuca during a pretrial hearing on November 23, 2021

Epstein’s long-time partner Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, is set to begin trial on November 29 over six counts, including sex trafficking of a minor, sex-trafficking conspiracy and also separate allegations of perjury that date back decades. She was pictured in a court sketch on November 17, 2021

Maxwell was seen hugging her attorney after she arrived for jury selection. Maxwell faces more than 80 years in jail if convicted on all charges

While Epstein never made it court, his former partner Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, is set to begin trial on November 29 on charges that include sex trafficking of a minor, sex-trafficking conspiracy and also separate allegations of perjury that date back decades. 

Maxwell faces more than 80 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

She has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since her arrest in July 2020 and has pleaded not guilty for her role in the sex ring. 

Prosecutors allege Maxwell would befriend the girls by taking them shopping and to the movies before she would introduce them to Epstein to be abused, often while in Maxwell’s presence.

Yet the social lite has vehemently denied the charges – most recently on November 1 when she stated bluntly: ‘I have not committed any crimes.’

Prosecutors said Maxwell groomed four victims between 1994 and 2004 when they were minors.

Maxwell’s lawyers are expected to argue that she is being punished by proxy for Epstein’s heinous crimes because ‘someone has to pay for what he did,’ a source has commented. 

At least four accusers are set to testify against Maxwell, with three of them being granted anonymity. 

Virginia Giuffre (pictured), 38, was one of Epstein’s most vocal accusers but will not be testifying at Maxwell’s trial 

However, Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most vocal accusers, will not be testifying at the trial despite naming names of those who took part in the billionaire’s alleged trafficking ring.

It is not yet clear why she is not being called to testify.

The now-38-year-old has described Maxwell as ‘pure evil,’ saying: ‘Epstein was a sick pedophile but Maxwell was the mastermind.’

Another alleged victim said: ‘We thought she [Maxwell] was Mary Poppins because she acted like she was our friend and had that lovely English accent.

‘But she turned out to be a monster in designer clothing. She lured us in. She knew exactly what she was doing. I hope she rots in hell.’

Giuffre has claimed in media interviews and various depositions that Epstein – together with Maxwell – trafficked her to powerful men.

They include Prince Andrew; Alan Dershowitz; former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson; former Democratic Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell; the late MIT computer scientist Marvin Minsky; and MC2 model agency cofounder Jean-Luc Brunel.

All of the men have consistently and strongly denied the allegations.