Jeffrey Epstein autopsy report shows broken neck

An autopsy of the financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in an apparent suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, found his neck had been broken in several places, according to two law enforcement sources.

Such injuries can occur to people who hang themselves or who are strangled.

Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in New York City on Saturday. The circumstances of the multi-millionaire’s death are under investigation, and it was unclear when a report of the autopsy would be made public.

One of the two law enforcement sources familiar with the Epstein case said there was no evidence or suggestion of foul play but cautioned the investigation was at an early stage.

“In all forensic investigations, all information must be synthesized to determine the cause and manner of death,” Barbara Sampson, New York City’s chief medical examiner, said in a statement on Thursday. “Everything must be consistent; no single finding can be evaluated in a vacuum.”

Epstein’s broken neck was reported earlier by the Washington Post.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which runs the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan where Epstein was jailed, said there had not been an inmate suicide there since 2006.

Zhongxue Hua, the Bergen County medical examiner in New Jersey, said a neck fracture was atypical in a suicide but warned not to jump to conclusions.

“It’s unusual to have a neck fracture,” Hua said. “But the first question to address is when did it occur.”