Millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who is currently behind bars on federal sex trafficking charges, was found semi-unconscious in his cell the Metropolitan Correctional Center late Wednesday night, according to NBC News. Epstein was reportedly in the fetal position with “marks on his neck.”
The 66-year-old is now on suicide watch.
As to what led to Epstein’s injury, there seem to be varying beliefs. Some believe that Epstein may have been attempting to hang himself, others believe he may have been attacked, and others believe he may have staged the attack in order to be transferred from the facility.
In fact, one source to NBC New York that an inmate, former police officer Nicholas Tartaglione, was questioned.
A fourth source said an assault has not been ruled out, and that another inmate was questioned. The inmate who investigators have talked to in Lower Manhattan facility has been identified as Nicholas Tartaglione, according to two sources. Tartaglione is a former police officer in Westchester County who was arrested in December 2016 and accused of killing four men in an alleged cocaine distribution conspiracy, then burying their bodies in his yard in Otisville in Orange County, according to court records.
Tartaglione denied any involvement and told investigators that he did not see anything that happened.
Epstein has been behind bars since his arrest on July 6. Authorities were waiting for Epstein to return to New Jersey from Paris and arrested him upon his arrival. The charges against Epstein claim that “dozens” of victims between 2002 to 2005 were are involved in the case which included Epstein allegedly paying minors for sex acts after grooming them. Some of the victims were as young as 14 years old.
If Epstein is charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors. If convicted of the charges, Epstein faces up to 45 years in prison.
The financier is a registered sex offender in Florida.
