Epstein death a suicide, medical examiner reports
NEW YORK – Jeffrey Epstein’s prison death has been confirmed a suicide by hanging, New York City’s medical examiner said Friday.
The medical examiner’s office said in a statement Friday that an autopsy and other evidence confirms the 66-yearold financier hanged himself in his cell at a federal jail.
Epstein was found dead at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City on Aug. 10, touching off outrage and disbelief over how such a high-profile prisoner, known for socializing with powerful people including presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, could have gone unwatched.
The Bureau of Prisons had said Epstein apparently killed himself, but that didn’t squelch conspiracy theories about his death.
The Washington Post and The New York Times reported Thursday that the autopsy revealed that several bones in Epstein’s neck had been broken, leading to speculation that his death was a homicide.
Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson issued a statement Thursday in response to those articles, saying: “In all forensic investigations, all information must be synthesized to determine the cause and manner of death. Everything must be consistent; no single finding can be evaluated in a vacuum.”
The medical examiner’s ruling came a day after two more women sued Epstein’s estate.
The federal action, filed in New York, says the women were working as hostesses at a popular Manhattan restaurant in 2004 when they were recruited to give Epstein massages.
One was 18 at the time. The other was 20.
The unidentified female recruiter offered the hostesses hundreds of dollars to provide massages to Epstein, saying he “liked young, pretty girls to massage him,” and wouldn’t engage in any unwanted touching.
The women say Epstein groped them anyway.
Dr. Michael Baden, the pathologist hired by Epstein’s representatives to observe the autopsy, and Epstein’s attorneys could not be reached for comment.
Epstein, who was charged with sexually abusing numerous underage girls over several years, had been placed on suicide watch last month after he was found on his cell floor on July 23 with bruises on his neck.
But people familiar with operations at the jail say he was taken off the watch after about a week and put back in a high-security housing unit where he was less closely monitored, but still supposed to be checked on every 30 minutes.
Attorney General William Barr said officials have uncovered “serious irregularities” at the jail.
The FBI and the Justice Department’s inspector general are both investigating Epstein’s death.
Jail guards on duty the night of Epstein’s death are suspected of falsifying log entries to show they were checking on inmates every half-hour as required, according to several people familiar with the matter.
A guard in Epstein’s unit was working a fifth straight day of overtime and another guard was working mandatory overtime, the people said.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the lacked authorization to publicly discuss the investigation.
Epstein was a hedge fund manager who hobnobbed with the rich, famous and influential, including presidents and a prince.
He owned a private island in the Caribbean, homes in Paris and New York City, a New Mexico ranch, and a fleet of high-priced cars.
His friends had once included Britain’s Prince Andrew, Clinton and Trump.
Michael Balsamo, Larry Neumeister and Michael R. Sisak