After the July 2019 incident inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center, Jeffrey Epstein told his attorneys that his cellmate, former police officer Nicholas Tartaglione, attacked him in his cell and choked him unconscious. According to multiple contemporaneous reports and law-enforcement notes, Epstein said that Tartaglione placed something around his neck and “tried to kill him,” leaving bruising and marks that were photographed by jail staff. Epstein’s legal team relayed those statements to the Bureau of Prisons, prompting an internal inquiry into whether the incident was an attempted murder rather than a suicide attempt. Epstein reportedly said he had no reason to harm himself and believed Tartaglione was dangerous.
Tartaglione, who at the time was awaiting trial on four murder charges related to a drug conspiracy, denied the allegation entirely and claimed Epstein had attempted to hang himself. His lawyer went to the media calling Epstein’s story “absolutely false.” MCC officials investigated but filed no charges against Tartaglione and moved him to a different cell. The official record — including the FBI’s subsequent review — confirmed that Epstein told his lawyers and prison staff that Tartaglione attacked him, and that this statement was documented before Epstein’s later death in August 2019.
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