(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
A pathologist with decades of experience observing Of Jeffrey Epstein The autopsy said that the disgraced financier’s injuries in death were “more consistent” with “homicidal strangulation” than hanging and claimed that requests for further investigation at the time were “superseded” to push the official decision that he killed himself.
Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The chief medical examiner of New York at the time, Dr. Barbara Sampsonruled that the death was suicide by hanging.
dr. Michael Badenwho attended the autopsy as an observer on behalf of Epstein’s estate, he said The Telegraph on Friday that the case “warrants” further scrutiny following the release of new documents by the Department of Justice.
He said, “My opinion is that his death was probably caused by strangulation pressure rather than hanging.”
“Given all the information now available, further investigation into the cause and manner of death is required,” he said.
Dr. Baden did not perform the post-mortem but said he and the medical examiner initially agreed that “more information was needed to determine the cause and manner of death.” He noted that his findings at the time were “inconclusive.”
A redacted version of the report, released later by the Department of Justice, listed the “manner of death” as “pending”, with boxes for suicide and homicide left blank.
The official findings recorded three fractures in Epstein’s neck. Dr. Baden said he had never seen such injuries in a suicide by hanging during five decades of reviewing inmate deaths.
“Even one violation, we must investigate the possibility of homicide. Two definitely warrant a full investigation,” he told the newspaper. “The findings in the books never see those violations, and neither do I.”
He added, “That was my opinion at the time, and I still stand by it. The autopsy findings are much more consistent with a crush wound caused by homicidal strangulation than caused by a suicidal hanging.”
According to the official report, it was later determined a noose made from an orange sheet collected at the scene was not one used in Epstein’s death. Lawyer Baden said that he had noticed this during the post mortem and at that time he was concerned that “the noose does not agree with the [injury]”.
“It was not smooth like the sheet, the marks [on Epstein’s neck] it would have required a different type of material,” he said.
Dr Baden also criticized the handling of the crime scene, saying critical evidence was lost due to mistakes made in handling Epstein’s body.
“[They] they moved the body, the guards refused to say how the body was found, and it was moved to the infirmary,” he said, adding that it was a “very unusual” move.
Most importantly, Dr. Baden says, the time of Epstein’s death was “lost” – evidence, he said, that could have definitely helped to rule out whether his death was a murder.
Federal authorities have claimed that there is no evidence that Epstein was killed.
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