Surveillance video from the first suicide attempt by convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein on July 23 was "permanently deleted" because the Metropolitan Correctional Center jailers "inadvertently preserved video from the wrong tier within the MCC."

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maurene Comey and Jason Swergold filed a letter stating, “The requested video no longer exists on the backup system and has not since at least August 2019 as a result of technical errors.”

Epstein died by suicide on Aug. 10, 2019, but suspicion of his death has lingered in the months since he was found unresponsive in his cell. Sky Roberts, the father of Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Guiffre, believes "somebody from above" is responsible for killing Epstein and former New York medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden has claimed Epstein was murdered.

"The forensic evidence released so far, including the autopsy, point much more to murder and strangulation than the suicide and suicidal hanging," said Baden in a 60 Minutes interview.

Epstein was connected to powerful politicians, royalty, and celebrities including, President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and actor Kevin Spacey.

Bruce Barket, attorney for murderer Nick Tartaglione, who shared a cell with Epstein during his first suicide attempt on July 23, asked authorities to archive the video.

“It is stunning that a video which we asked to be preserved and which the jail should have saved without a request was destroyed. More troubling are the various and inconsistent accounts of what happened to the video. We believe that the video would have strongly corroborated our client’s assertion that he acted appropriately that evening and are deeply disturbed it has disappeared,” Barket told the New York Daily News.