Cyril Wecht on Epstein death: “You can’t help but be suspicious”
Forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril H. Wecht — a nationally recognized medical- legal consultant, author and expert on many of the highestprofile deaths in the past half- century — is quite familiar with two things: autopsies and conspiracies.
For the past few days, he has been making himself familiar with the case of Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein, 66, a financier facing sex- trafficking charges involving underage girls, died Saturday morning in the New York jail where he was awaiting trial.
His death has been ruled a suicide, but it has ignited flames of internet controversy, and U. S. Attorney General William Barr said Monday that there were “serious irregularities” at the short- staffed Metropolitan Correctional Center, a unit known for holding notorious prisoners under tight security.
Epstein had been placed on suicide watch after he was found in his cell a little over two weeks ago with bruises on his neck, an unidentified person told The Associated Press. But he had been taken off the watch at the end of July, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to discuss jail operations publicly.
On the morning of Epstein’s apparent suicide, guards were working overtime shifts due to staffing shortages, the source said. One was working a fifth straight day of overtime and another was working mandatory overtime.
“It is outrageous, it’s inexplicable,” Dr. Wecht, a former Allegheny County coroner and county commissioner, said Monday. “For them not to have a close, meaningful suicide watch is absolutely unacceptable.
“If that particular prison was undermanned or incapable of having an effective suicide watch, then it behooved them to move him to another facility. We’re not talking about East Podunkville in some small state; we’re talking about New York City.”
Dr. Wecht said it is not easy to die by suicide in a jail cell under proper watch.
“If you take care of certain things with regard to clothing, bedding, make sure that nothing can be used as a makeshift ligature to be affixed to some part of the bunk bed or the steel bars of the jail, such people are limited to how they can commit suicide,” he said.
“The usual way — to hang or suffocate yourself — is not so easily done because while you and your conscious mind want to kill yourself, your subconscious level says ‘ no.’ The body will defend itself. ...
“Keep in mind, the number of prisoners on suicide watch is less than 1%. But when you consider how many millions of Americans are locked up as prisoners, you have a significant number of people that are likely to commit suicide.”
Dr. Wecht said he is familiar with the “very competent” staff in the New York City medical examiner’s office and is confident the office will do a thorough investigation. The important thing, he said, is for the office to determine it can rule out foul play. Then make the conclusions public.
“A victim can be suffocated or strangled, then posed for a hanging,” he said. “I’ve had a few cases like that over the years. But they’re smart and they know all that in New York City, and I’m sure that they’re doing it, investigating thoroughly the people in charge, not only the ones assigned to do the watch but the warden on down. Who was responsible for the schedule?
“But you’ll always have conspiracy theories. I know. I’m called a conspiracy theorist. I’ve been dealing with that appellation in a derogatory fashion for more than 50 years because of the JFK assassination. But I’ve been saying, ‘ Do everything the right way and present it and you don’t cover up.’ That’s the way you deal with conspiracy theories. Don’t sit back. Get that information out. Get it all out there.
“But with who he is, what he is in jail for, and the people who have been named ... this is a highly suspicious case, highly problematic because of all the people involved. Had he lived, we would have seen, when he came to trial, what was disclosed. ... Now, with him gone ... you can’t help but be suspicious.”