Jeffrey Epstein's Final 35 Days: Inside The Untold Story Behind His Death

Late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's final days began with a dramatic arrest at a New Jersey airport and ended 35 days later in a Manhattan jail cell.

On 6 July 2019, FBI agents arrested Epstein when his private jet landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. He had just returned from Paris and did not expect to be arrested. Federal prosecutors had secretly charged him with sex trafficking of minors.

Five weeks later, on 10 August 2019, he was found dead in his jail cell in New York. The official ruling was suicide.

About a dozen FBI agents and NYPD officers were waiting inside the airport terminal, out of sight. They already had a signed arrest warrant, according to the NY Times.

According to accounts of the arrest, Epstein was making plans on his phone while flying back to the US. He was reportedly discussing a trip to his private Caribbean island and a documentary interview with Steve Bannon, a former advisor to Donald Trump.

After the plane landed, customs officers boarded the aircraft for what appeared to be a routine passport check. Epstein was then escorted into the terminal, where FBI agents informed him that he was under arrest. The financier appeared stunned, but he, somehow, managed to send a brief message to Bannon saying, "All cancelled." Bannon quickly replied, asking if he was still coming in, but received no response.

During the drive to Manhattan, Epstein reportedly asked investigators two direct questions: "Is this sex trafficking?" and "Is this about underage?" The answer to both was yes.

Federal prosecutors had secretly reopened an investigation into Epstein months earlier, focusing on alleged victims who had not been interviewed during his earlier Florida sex-crimes case.

Epstein had already been prosecuted once in Florida in 2008. In that earlier case, he received a controversial plea deal and served about 13 months in custody. If convicted in the New York case, he faced up to 45 years in prison.

Later that night, he was taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan. A jail employee, Elba Torres, who saw him shortly after his arrival, described him as "distraught, sad and a little confused". 

When she asked him if he was doing okay, he agreed. "But I am not convinced because he seems dazed and withdrawn. So just to be on the safe side and prevent any suicidal thoughts, can someone from Psychology come and talk with him," she wrote.

In the early hours of August 10, 2019, a prison guard found Epstein unresponsive in his cell. He had hanged himself using a jail-issued fabric, according to official accounts. The New York City medical examiner ruled his death a suicide. However, even seven years later, many people believe he may have been murdered because he had connections to powerful and wealthy individuals. Some suspect that someone may have wanted to stop him from revealing information about them.