Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was found semi-conscious in his New York City jail cell sometime in the past two days, curled in a fetal position with marks on his neck, sources close to the investigation told NBC News on Wednesday night. Epstein, 66, is on suicide watch, and NBC's sources offered differing opinions about the injuries. Two sources said Epstein may have tried to hang himself, a third suggested the injuries were minor and Epstein may have faked an attack or injuries to get transferred to another facility, and a fourth source said he may have actually been attacked by a jailed former cop, Nicholas Tartaglione.
A lawyer for Tartaglione, jailed for killing four men in a cocaine smuggling ring, denied that his client had attacked Epstein, and said the two men got along well. NBC News tried and failed to get comments from Epstein's lawyers, the Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the U.S. attorney's office. Epstein is incarcerated in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan while he awaits trial for charges including sex trafficking of underage girls.
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