FBI studies two broken cameras outside cell where Epstein died: source

[apnu]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Two cameras that malfunctioned outside the jail cell where financier Jeffrey Epstein died as he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges have been sent to an FBI crime lab for examination, a law enforcement source told Reuters.

Epstein’s lawyers Reid Weingarten and Martin Weinberg told U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan on Tuesday they had doubts about the New York City chief medical examiner’s conclusion that their client killed himself.

The two cameras were within view of the Manhattan jail cell where he was found dead on Aug. 10. A source earlier told Reuters two jail guards failed to follow a procedure overnight to make separate checks on all prisoners every 30 minutes.

He had been taken off suicide watch prior to his death.

The cameras were sent to Quantico, Virginia, site of a major FBI crime lab where agents and forensic scientists analyze evidence.

The Washington Post reported on Monday that at least one camera in the hallway outside Epstein’s cell had footage that was unusable. The newspaper said there was other usable footage captured in the area.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-jeffrey-epstein-cameras-idUSKCN1VI2LC

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So we have broken cameras, guards failing to follow policy and routines, unusable footage in areas of working cameras, and a removal of suicide watch and a suspicious medical examiner report.

Looks like we're finding tape on the doors all over the place. (that's a Watergate reference)

[not fooled]

1. They will do a thorough investigation

now that the horse has left the barn and is 6 feet under.

[cstanleytech]

2. If he was murdered to keep him from rolling then it has to be someone pretty powerful to

arrange it.

[Lonestarblue]

7. Just speculating here, but powerful figures have mob ties.

Among those powerful figures is Donald Trump, who is reputed to have ties with the Russian magia in New York and possibly the traditional NY mafia.

[RainCaster]

3. I'm not sure they will be able to identify those cameras

I have no faith in our intelligence agencies any longer. They seem to be working for Putin, just like the White House is.

[crazytown]

6. "They seem to be working for Putin"?

No so. The Agencies take care of their own.

[crazytown]

4. The spy brought in, put cold.

[BlueIdaho]

5. Did they find Bill Barr's fingerprints on them? nt.

[C_U_L8R]

9. Bill Barr's FBI sees nothing, knows nothing

Move along.

[azureblue]

8. Footage? who still uses tape to record to?

who still uses tape to record to? I'm betting that like everybody else, the video is recorded onto a hard drive. And there is no way that a portion of a hard drive stored video "goes bad" and the rest of it is viewable. Can someone verify how the video feed from the cameras is stored?

[apnu]

11. I believe they are video 'files' on some digital format

I say this because each time I read about the footage, the word "files" is consistently used and not "film" So I believe they are in some digital format.

I am in IT for a living so I have some general thoughts and educated guesses.

They could be on traditional HDDs or SSDs or some newer flash storage, depends on the system. Given we're talking about prisons that change very slowly and tend to prefer strong tried and true technologies, I'm willing to bet the data is stored on HDDs, the old magnetic disk and mechanical read arm.

If HDD, yes there are conditions where disks can have bad sectors or physical problems with the platter. I've seen it. Its very rare, but I've seen it.

As for "tape" they probably mean backup data tape. That medium is still very much alive and in use for long term storage. its probable the prison has a disk to tape policy that's defined by the storage restraints of whatever recording system they have. Older systems are purely tape (often seen in security cameras in gas stations in the 90s), but newer disk systems may have tape backup or for long term storage because the HDD can't hold that much data before over writing.

But again, physical failurs of HDDs and tape are rare, if the systems are working properly. I presume they are working in this case because news reports are careful to note the corrupted 'files' are from the time range in question and not whole disk corruption. Whole disk corruption or tape corruption means the recording system is failing as a whole. But news reports suggest it was not failing as a whole.

So the fact that just the files around the area of the jail cell, on the weekend this happend are corrupted strongly suggests someone was tampering with the system. Either during recording or after.

[Duppers]

10. "Coincidence takes a lot of planning." - Malcolm Nance

So true in this case.

[lagomorph777]

12. How long before the cameras magically disappear?

...or end up in the Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse?