The Unrelenting March Of 'Coincidences' In Jeffrey Epstein's Mysterious Death

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Add unusable blurry images from at least one of the video surveillance cameras in the hallway outside of politically-connected sex trafficker and financier Jeffrey Epstein's prison cell to the march of "coincidences" surrounding his mysterious suicide. 

That footage is too flawed for investigators from the Justice Department and FBI to use although other, clearer footage was captured by other cameras in the area, according to The Washington Post. 

The revelation is yet another "coincidence" that magnifies the many troubling questions swirling around Epstein and his coterie of rich, famous and powerful friends, and suggest that really important people wanted him dead because of the tales he might tell about them.    

Among the other "coincidences" flowing from Epstein's August 10 death -- or more likely an assisted suicide of a sort -- at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan are that:

He had been taken off a suicide watch despite a July 23 hanging attempt and returned to the prison's segregated housing unit. 

At least eight Bureau of Prisons officials knew there was an order that he was not be left alone in his cell and ignored it.  

He was indeed left alone after his cellmate was moved elsewhere on August 9. 

His guards slept while he apparently hanged himself with a bedsheet tied to a bunk bed early the following morning. 

His guards reportedly failed to make the required 30-minute check-ins on him. 

Prison logs were doctored to cover up the required checks. 

The big question, of course, is who conspired to pull the strings necessary to facilitate the 66-year-old Epstein taking his life. 

At this relatively early stage two and a half weeks after Epstein's death, we know of only some of the strings in the form of those "coincidences," but are likely to learn more because the conspiracy surrounding his death involves not a small handful of people who might keep the deepest of secrets, but a relatively large number of people inside and out of the prison.  

Epstein had been held without bail since his rearrest on July 6 and was awaiting what was going to be the latest trial of the century on sex trafficking charges that could have led to a prison sentence of as much as 45 years, as well as possibly implicate others in his serial schemes to lure women as young as 14 into sexual servitude. 

Meanwhile, some of Epstein's victims appeared before U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan on Tuesday to describe how they were coerced and abused -- and in the end were denied justice because of his death. 

Chauntae Davies was among the 16 women who testified, six of them anonymously as "Jane Does." 

Davies, who says she was recruited to be a masseuse for Epstein, graphically described being raped by him over a period of several years, and how, in his death, she felt a sense of loss. 

"It took me a long time to come forward," Davies said.  "Every public humiliation that I endured, I have suffered and he has won." 

But Davies later said she refused to let that sentiment linger. 

"I have found my voice now," she said.  "I will not stop fighting." 

The sex-trafficking charges are expected to be dropped by Berman at the request of prosecutors.  But instead of issuing a simple written order to that effect, in a somewhat unusual move the judge had asked prosecutors and defense lawyers to appear in court, saying that they and those who say Epstein abused them can "be heard, if they wish to be." 

Beyond the victims' moment of catharsis, charges still could be filed against Epstein's helpmates, notably British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who is widely considered to have been his procuress and was called out by several victims at the hearing.  Complicating matters is that the will Epstein signed just two days before his death puts more than $577 million in assets into a trust fund that could make it more difficult for his victims to collect damages.

In another development, The New York Times reported that in 1996, Marie Farmer, then 25, had contacted the New York Police Department and FBI to report that Epstein had had offered to help her painting career after she moved to New York, but that came to an abrupt end when she said Epstein and Maxwell began violently groping her. 

Marie Farmer described for Times' reporter Mike Baker Epstein's odd lifestyle, which she said included girls and young women coming through his Manhattan mansion for modeling auditions for Victoria’s Secret.   

Epstein is said to have long exerted a Svengali-like influence over Les Wexner, CEO of Victoria's Secret.  Wexner has belatedly accused him of misappropriating "vast sums of money" from he and his family.  

"The house at times bustled in anticipation of potential visits from Bill Clinton, although she never actually saw him there," wrote Baker.  "She said she met Donald J. Trump one day in Mr. Epstein's office, recalling Mr. Trump eyeing her before Mr. Epstein informed him that 'she’s not for you.' " 

Marie Farmer said she learned later that her 16-year-old sister, Annie Farmer, had been subjected to a troubling topless massage at Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico, where he is said to have wanted to seed the human race with his DNA by impregnating women in an unrealized scheme. 

Although the bureau has never acknowledged Marie Farmer's complaint, she said the FBI must have had a record of it because agents came back to her -- years later -- with questions.  She said also went to leaders in the New York art world that Epstein and Maxwell frequented, and the sisters tried to tell their story to a national magazine.   

In each case, their reports went nowhere.