'Jeffrey Epstein Was Murdered': Ex-Inmate Claims Sick Pedo 'Did Not Kill Himself' Behind Bars as He Shares Disturbing Details About 'Hellhole' NYC Jail
Another former inmate is convinced Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself in jail.
Feb. 5 2026, Updated 1:37 p.m. ET
A former inmate who was jailed just steps away from Jeffrey Epstein's jail cell has said there was "no way" the s-- creep could have killed himself, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Epstein was found dead in his cell in the early hours of August 10, 2019, while waiting for trial on s-- trafficking charges.
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Epstein's Death Cover-Up
Epstein's body was found hanging in his jail cell in 2019.
Epstein, 66, was housed in New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center after his initial arrest. The jail has been the temporary home to many infamous inmates, including Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, rapper R. Kelly, and mob boss John Gotti.
It was also home to former businessman Mark Shapiro, who was serving time for defrauding more than 250 people in a $23 million real estate scam before President Trump pardoned him in 2020.
While he and Epstein never crossed paths in the correctional center, Shapiro shared on the Elev8 podcast he's convinced Epstein met a nefarious fate.
"Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself. He was murdered," Shapiro shared defiantly. "There’s no way he could have killed himself."
The fraudster explained he was on the same floor as Epstein, seven cells away, in lockdown – an area away from the general population with much greater restrictions.
"To take a shower, you had to have your handcuffs. To get out of your cell, you had to have your handcuffs," he said. "You were in your cell for 23 hours a day. You were in a little pen for 1 hour a day for your recreation."
Fellow Inmates Agree Epstein was Murdered
A noose was fashioned out of some of his prison clothes.
That description is similar to another former Epstein neighbor. Former Colombo crime family mobster Michael Franzese told NewsNation’s Banfield he spent several months in Epstein's exact same cell.
"There’s just no way," he said repeatedly. "There’s just no way to hang yourself. There’s nothing from the ceiling, there’s nothing from the – you'd have to be a (little person) and work really hard to try to hang yourself, and I don’t think you’re gonna accomplish it at that point."
Missing Video Footage
Missing video footage was a problem over the summer.
Questions over just how Epstein was able to commit suicide have haunted jail officials for years, and conspiracy theorists hit overdrive when three minutes of video footage of Epstein’s cell door the morning he was discovered dead went missing.
A skeptical Franzese revealed: "I did eight years in prison, and I haven’t experienced cameras being broken, and a perfect storm of correctional officers not walking those cells. They walk in and they look in on you all the time."
"As a matter of fact, you know, sometimes it’s embarrassing to go to the toilet because they’re walking past you and looking in the cell constantly."
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'Too Many Loose Ends'
Several insiders are convinced Epstein was murdered.
So if he didn't hang himself, how did Epstein die? Biographer Andrew Lownie, who has dug up dirt on the royal family, the former Prince Andrew, and others, claims Epstein was murdered by a "fellow convict who was brought in to do this" by the FBI.
While the murder was "staged to look like a suicide," Lownie said there are too many loose ends.
"You've got lawyers saying Epstein was not in a 'suicidal mood'; you've got other prisoners saying it's very difficult to commit suicide in prison; you’ve got clearly the guards falling asleep at the right time; you've got the cameras not working," he said. "So there are a lot of unanswered questions around the death, which a lot of people have long suspected was not suicide."
