Jeffrey Epstein denied being suicidal in the weeks before he killed himself, according to newly-released prison records.
Epstein was awaiting trial on child sex-trafficking charges when died in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Facility in New York in August 2019.
His death was ruled as suicide by hanging by the New York medical examiner.
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According to The New York Post, new details have emerged about his final days from the 2,000+ pages of Federal Bureau of Prisons records - which the outlet said it obtained in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
The documents show that Epstein avoided being put on suicide watch on at least two occasions after prison psychologists assessing him found he should remain under 'psychological observation' instead.
One of the psychologists wrote in her notes from a suicide risk evaluation on 9 July: "Epstein adamantly denied any suicidal ideation, intention or plan."
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She said Epstein told her that 'being alive is fun' describing himself as a banker with 'big business'.
The psychologist then added: "He was future-oriented."
The New York Post explains that in another note dated 11 July, after Epstein's request to be moved to a single cell was denied, a psychologist said he "was smirking and said, 'Why would you ever think I would be suicidal? I am not suicidal and I would never be'."
The documents show that Epstein continued to deny having suicidal thoughts, even following an attempt to kill himself on 23 July - after which he told psychologists he was Jewish, and that suicide was against his religion.
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Epstein then underwent another suicide evaluation on 31 July, when a psychologist wrote: "He lives for and plans to finish this case and to go back to his normal life."
He was placed on suicide watch just once after that initial attempt, but ended up being removed after 31 hours to be placed back under psychological observation - which The New York Post reports involves 'his fellow inmates monitoring him in shifts and taking notes every 15 minutes about his behavior'.
In one note, which was written up by an inmate on 29 July after Epstein's hearing - when he was denied bail - it said: "Epstein is sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in the palm of his hands."
Investigations into Epstein go back more than 15 years. In 2005, police in Palm Beach, Florida, began looking into the billionaire after the concerned parents of one 14-year-old girl accused him of sexually abusing her.
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Three years later, Epstein pleaded guilty to procuring an underage girl for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute.
He served just over a year in prison.
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