WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - Attorney General William Barr said in an interview published Friday (Nov 22) that the death of Jeffrey Epstein, the financier accused of sex trafficking, in a secure federal prison resulted from "a perfect storm of screw-ups," rather than any nefarious act.

Even after New York City's chief medical examiner ruled the death a suicide by hanging, conspiracy theories continued to percolate on the internet after lawyers for Epstein challenged that finding.

Then Epstein's family hired a forensic pathologist, who claimed the broken bones and cartilage in Epstein's neck "points to homicide."

Barr said he, too, was initially suspicious. How could someone who had been on suicide watch kill himself in one of the most secure jails in the US?

But investigations by the FBI and the Justice Department's inspector general have put to rest those suspicions, proving Epstein's death was a suicide, Barr said.

Barr said Epstein was able to kill himself after a series of errors by prison officials and guards.

The Justice Department was still investigating several aspects of Epstein's death, he said, including why he did not have a cellmate the night he hanged himself, even though he had recently been on a suicide watch. Typically people at risk of suicide are not housed alone.

On Tuesday, prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging two jail employees, Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, who were responsible for guarding Epstein when he died.

Federal prosecutors accused the guards of shopping online, browsing the internet and sleeping while they should have been conducting regular checks of Epstein's cell. They were charged with conspiracy and falsifying records to make it look as if they had performed their duties.

The evening Epstein died, from 10:30pm to 6:30am, security cameras showed that nobody entered the wing where Epstein killed himself, alone in his cell, the government indictment said. He was discovered when the guards entered to bring him breakfast.

Both Thomas and Noel have pleaded not guilty.

Montell Figgins, a lawyer for Thomas, said his client was being scapegoated for severe staff shortages and mismanagement at the jail.

The inspector general released a report Monday citing multiple problems in the federal prison system, including faulty security camera systems, poor inmate monitoring and insufficient staffing. Suicide rates nearly doubled between the 2016 fiscal year and the 2018 fiscal year, it noted.