Mysterious ‘orange shape' spotted in Jeffrey Epstein's last prison video sparks foul play suspicion

Federal investigators claimed the suspicious orange blob climbing the stairs toward Epstein’s cell was simply a corrections officer lugging linens
PUBLISHED JUL 31, 2025
The mystery surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s death just got murkier (Getty Images, CBS News)
The mystery surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s death just got murkier (Getty Images, CBS News)

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The mystery surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s death just got murkier. A ghostly orange figure caught on camera the night he died has experts casting doubts on the feds’ version of events.

A new CBS report appears to be riling up conspiracy theorists like it’s 2019 all over again.

The mysterious 'orange' figure near Epstein cell

Federal investigators claimed the suspicious orange blob spotted climbing the stairs toward Epstein’s cell was simply a corrections officer lugging linens.

But Conor McCourt, a retired NYPD sergeant and forensic video expert, told CBS News he’s not buying that conclusion from the DOJ’s Office of Inspector General.

“It’s more likely it’s a person in an [orange] uniform,” McCourt said—specifically, an inmate’s orange jumpsuit. CBS also reported that other forensic experts were just as “skeptical” of the official linen-hauling theory.

This is important because that blurry orange figure reportedly made its way up the stairs to Epstein’s cell block at 10:40 pm on August 9, 2019, and was the last known movement in that direction before Epstein turned up dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center the next morning.

It seems a second camera reportedly holds footage that could blow this wide open, but investigators haven't released it.

Vanishing checks, blind spots and busted protocols

The camera footage isn’t the only thing raising eyebrows. CBS reported that the stairs leading to Epstein’s cell weren’t fully covered by surveillance. That means someone could’ve tiptoed their way to his door without being seen, totally contradicting claims that cameras had eyes everywhere.

Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino had insisted there was no way someone could slip by unrecorded. But forensic video expert Jim Stafford told CBS that’s just not true.

“To say that there’s no way that someone could get to that, the stairs up to his room, without being seen, is false,” Stafford said. Four other video experts reportedly backed him up.

There were supposed to be 30-minute check-ins that should’ve happened while Epstein was on suicide watch. According to CBS, the corrections officers just didn’t do them.

Jeffrey Epstein’s prison cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, where he was found dead by suicide. (U.S. Department of Justice)
Jeffrey Epstein’s prison cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, where he was found dead by suicide. (Department of Justice)

The Office of the Inspector General politely brushed off CBS’ report.

“The OIG appreciates the careful review of our report. Our comprehensive assessment of the circumstances over the weeks, days, and hours before Epstein’s death included the effects of the longstanding, chronic staffing crisis in the [Bureau of Prisons] and the BOP’s failure to provide and maintain quality camera coverage within its facilities. As CBS notes, nothing in its analysis changed or modified the OIG’s conclusions or recommendations," it said in a statement.

Trump's past ties to Epstein

Officials under both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden have echoed the same line that Epstein died by suicide, case closed. But many observers—including Mark Epstein, the deceased’s brother—aren’t so sure.

Trump’s past ties to Epstein only pour gasoline on the fire. According to the Wall Street Journal, the president allegedly sent Epstein a handwritten note and cheeky doodle for his 50th birthday in 2003. In a 2017 interview captured on tape and obtained by the Daily Beast, Epstein even called Trump his “closest friend.”

Portrait of American financier Jeffrey Epstein (left) and real estate developer Donald Trump as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, 1997. (Photo by Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)
Portrait of American financier Jeffrey Epstein (left) and real estate developer Donald Trump as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, 1997 (Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)

They were also snapped attending parties together in the ‘90s and early 2000s, but Trump insists he never sent the birthday card. He even sued the newspaper for a staggering $10 billion alleging major reputational damage.

Still, Trump has been telling America to move on from its Epstein obsession, probably hoping the controversy dies down. But as conspiracy theorists keep poking the hornet’s nest, the Epstein saga just won’t go away.

Screen-recorded 'raw' footage and that missing minute

What really raised eyebrows was CBS’s claim that the “raw footage” wasn’t actually raw at all. Eagle-eyed experts spotted a computer cursor and an onscreen menu on the video, suggesting it was just a screen recording and not the original file.

That’s not the only technical glitch causing a stir. Just before the stroke of midnight when the world’s most high-profile inmate conveniently died, the camera nearest to Epstein’s cell stopped recording for one minute.

Attorney General Pam Bondi tried to explain it away as a harmless “nightly reset” of an outdated security system. But CBS cited a high-level source who claimed the feds have “unedited copies of the video, and those copies do not have a missing minute.”

Public obsession with Epstein came back to life on July 7, when a newly released DOJ and FBI memo reiterated that Epstein died by suicide and that no “Epstein list” of elite clients exists. This directly contradicted AG Pam Bondi, who just a few months ago told folks she had such a list “on her desk.”

The memo split MAGA-land down the middle and reignited calls for a real investigation into how Epstein really died, and who might have wanted him silenced.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online

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