Convicted Sex Offender Jeffrey Epstein Died in Prison — Did He Have a Funeral?

People want to know if convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had a funeral after he died inside a Manhattan jail cell back in 2019. The millionaire was found deceased in his jail cell two days after signing his will, according to The New York Post. His will was filed in the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein reportedly owned two islands known as "Pedophile Island" because he took underage girls there for sex.

Epstein was arrested for sex trafficking underage girls in New York as well as Florida. He was also arrested in Palm Beach back in 2006 for soliciting a prostitute, and he pleaded guilty to the federal charge in 2008. He received an 18-month sentence, which he served in the Palm Beach County Jail. He had his own private wing, per The Palm Beach Post. When he died, he was awaiting trial for federal charges. Epstein died just after changing his will. Did he have a funeral?

It's unclear if Epstein had a funeral service. The late millionaire was Jewish, and traditionally, after a person of the Jewish faith dies, their body is prayed over after being cleaned with water and wrapped in a plain shroud, per Forward. They are then buried within three days. However, Epstein had two autopsies. According to The Palm Beach Post, he was then cremated. His brother, Mark, picked up Epstein's remains and put his ashes inside an unmarked crypt next to his parents in Palm Beach.

The Jewish custom of washing the body prepares the soul for judgment before God, according to David Zinner, the executive director of Kavod v’Nichum and the Gamliel Institute.

“The prayers associated with the tahara ask God to have mercy on the person,” he said. "Does Jeffrey Epstein deserve mercy? I’m not so sure about that."

"There’s a question of, would some tahara teams decline doing a tahara for someone who is not of upstanding moral character, let’s put it that way. Although it’s a lot worse than that," he added.

The late millionaire was reportedly worth $18 million, and his will was changed two days before he was found dead inside his jail cell. His assets were put in a trust known as a "pour-over will" before he was born.

“It’s pretty boiler-plate," said a source to The New York Post. "It’s what we call a ‘pour-over will,’ which means everything pours over to a trust."

“What is more unusual is the date, the fact that all of this was done just days before he died," the source added. "He could have thought, ‘I need to get my ducks in a row.'"

President Donald Trump was reportedly good friends with the convicted sex offender, and a note he sent to Epstein for his 50th birthday album contained a drawing of a nude woman, per PBS News. The note included a message about a "secret."

"A pal is a wonderful thing," wrote Trump. "Happy Birthday- and my every day be another wonderful secret."

Trump denied that he sent the note for Epstein's birthday album and claimed it was not his signature. "These are not my words, not the way I talk," he claimed.