Guards were reportedly working overtime and failed to follow monitoring procedure before Epstein death

Prison guards at the Metropolitan Correctional Center were reportedly working heavy overtime and did not follow the proper monitoring procedure ahead of billionaire and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s death.

According to the New York Times, guards at the Manhattan correctional facility charged with watching Epstein violated procedure the night of his death. A guard was reportedly supposed to “look into his cell” every 30 minutes, and he was supposed to have a cellmate. However, Epstein was housed alone, and the guard failed to follow the check-in procedure, according to a law enforcement source.

The Associated Press also reported on Sunday that the jail was so short staffed that guards had been working extreme overtime. One guard in particular was on his fifth day of overtime the night of Epstein’s death.

Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell on Saturday morning just one day after 2,000 pages of documents were filed, revealing several names of high-profile people involved in Epstein’s alleged crimes. Law enforcement officers called his death an “apparent suicide” by hanging; however, the NYC Medical Examiner has not yet ruled on an official cause of death.

Epstein had been put on suicide watch after he was found semiconscious in his cell last month, but he was reportedly no longer on suicide watch at the time of his death. His alleged suicide has been met with skepticism from many, and both the FBI and the Department of Justice’s inspector general are conducting investigations into the matter.

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