Jeffrey Epstein (Reuters, file photo)

NEW YORK: Financier Jeffrey Epstein had been taken off suicide watch before he took his own life while behind bars at a federal lockup in New York City , a person familiar with the matter has said.

The person wasn't authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. It wasn’t immediately clear when Epstein was taken off suicide watch. Epstein had previously been injured with bruises to the neck while in custody, though it wasn’t clear if those were self-inflicted or the result of an assault.

