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Video surveillance footage from the night before Jeffrey Epstein died shows a strange orange shape near his prison cell.
The footage was investigated and analysed by CBS News, with experts telling the outlet that the government’s explanation of the video does not concur with their findings.
Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, was found dead in his jail cell on August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.
- A CBS News analysis questions the government’s explanation of the strange orange figure near Epstein’s jail cell on the night he died.
- The video shows an orange shape climbing stairs near Epstein’s cell around 10:40 p.m., disputed by experts as possibly not a corrections officer.
- The footage includes a missing minute and an abrupt aspect ratio change, with claims the video may be edited or stitched together.
- The DOJ and FBI say they shared the raw footage, but experts note the presence of a cursor indicating a screen recording, not an original export.
Footage from the night Jeffrey Epstein died shows a strange orange shape near his prison cell
Image credits: Kypros/Getty Images
A recent FBI and DOJ memo concluded that Epstein killed himself by hanging and found that there was no client list detailing others involved in his criminal activities.
But questions regarding the circumstances of his death have continued.
CBS News reviewed surveillance footage of Epstein’s Manhattan jail cell, filmed between 10:40 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. on the night of his death.
The footage was released by the FBI and DOJ as part of their conclusion that Epstein died by suicide, but CBS noted some inconsistencies.
The video, recorded from a distant camera, shows that most of the staircase leading to Epstein’s floor is barely visible, and the entrance to his cell cannot be seen at all.
“To say that there’s no way that someone could get to that — the stair up to his room — without being seen is false,” video forensic expert Jim Stafford told the outlet.
It also challenges the government’s explanation of an orange shape spotted on the stairs the night Epstein died.
The footage shows an orange figure climbing the stairs toward Epstein’s cell around 10:40 p.m., just hours before he was found dead. The government said that this was a corrections officer carrying linen or inmate clothing.
But according to Conor McCourt, a retired NYPD sergeant and video expert, “it’s more likely a person in an [orange] uniform.”
Other strange details in the video have also been reported, including the camera skipping ahead one full minute just before midnight. After this, the video’s aspect ratio suddenly changes.
As I’ve said for weeks, the prison camera video released by DOJ did not show Epstein’s cell, OR even the stairway to his wing. (Great graphic by CBS News worth watching) https://t.co/P9SgNrppH4pic.twitter.com/3a3e91d9vj
— julie k. brown (@jkbjournalist) July 31, 2025
According to Wired, the video footage has most likely been “modified,” with two separate files stitched together.
When asked about the missing minute at a cabinet meeting, Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “There was a minute that was off the counter and what we learned from Bureau of Prisons was that every night they re-do that video – it’s old from like 1999 – so every night the video is reset and every night should have the same minute missing.”
“So we are looking for that video to release that as well, showing that a minute is missing every night,” she continued.
Experts have noted strange details such as a missing minute and a change in the video’s aspect ratio
Bondi’s statement was incorrect, according to a government source familiar with the investigation.
That source also told CBS that the Office of the Inspector General, the FBI and the Bureau of Prisons have in their possession copies of the video that do not contain a missing minute and have not been edited.
While the FBI and DOJ had attested they were sharing “raw footage,” the presence of a cursor on the screen indicates the video was likely a screen recording rather than an export, according to McCourt.
The OIG, which investigated Epstein’s death, responded to the claims, telling CBS: “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 BOP and the BOP’s failure to provide and maintain quality camera coverage within its facilities.”
The OIG noted that nothing in CBS’s analysis changed or modified the OIG’s conclusions.
Image credits: Joe Schildhorn/Getty Images
However, a former Bureau of Prisons chief of internal affairs and warden of the Supermax facility in Colorado, Robert Hood, told CBS that the summary investigative reports don’t provide adequate details concerning Epstein’s death.
“The BOP’s new director [William Marshall] should provide internal investigative reports concerning the MCC involving Epstein’s death and related historical data at the jail.”
Epstein was known to associate with many powerful people, including U.S. President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew.
The so-called Epstein files are a trove of documents detailing the criminal investigations into Epstein, which also include a list of the people associated with the sex trafficker.
Conspiracy theorists claim that Epstein was murdered to stop him from naming high-profile individuals involved in criminal activities.
Image credits: The White House/Flickr
Epstein’s family has also long challenged the idea that he died by suicide. A private pathologist hired by the family had argued that Epstein’s injuries, multiple broken bones in his neck, appeared to be from a homicide.
This finding was not accepted by the medical examiner.
Last week, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche questioned Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s close associate, who is currently serving 20 years in prison for her role in his crimes. Maxwell’s lawyer is seeking a pardon or sentence reduction.
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