An attorney who was in talks to represent convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein has said he does not believe Epstein took his own life, and has pointed a finger at other inmates at the Manhatttan Correctional Center where Epstein was found dead in August.
As the Daily Mail reports, defense attorney David Schoen spoke about Epstein’s death in a new Netlix documentary about the disgraced financier, “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich.”
Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell in August 2019 and pronounced dead soon after. Although a medical examiner ruled that Epstein died of suicide by hanging, questions have persisted about the circumstances of his death and possible irregularities at the jail.
In the documentary, Schoen reportedly said that he saw Epstein shortly before he died, and that Epstein was enthusiastic about fighting his sex trafficking case. The attorney said he believed he would be able to show that some of Epstein’s alleged victims “tricked him;” and said he doesn’t believe Epstein was in a frame of mind to take his own life.
The attorney claimed that Epstein was in a “dangerous situation” in the jail, and suggested that Epstein may have had reason to fear Nicholas Tartaglione, who was his cell mate at the time of Epstein’s first possible suicide attempt shortly before his death — an incident that is shrouded in mystery.
“The first incident that happened which the newspapers reported as a possible suicide attempt, Epstein didn’t want to discuss any further. He told the prison officers he couldn’t remember what happened, he didn’t want to answer any more questions,” Schoen said in the documentary.
“Look, he was in a dangerous situation. He’s a very wealthy guy accused of sex offences stuck in with a guy accused of four murders.”
Watch a clip of the interview here:
