The circumstances under which financier Jeffrey Epstein died raised more than a few eyebrows, and now a forensic pathologist hired by his family has lent credence to everyone’s suspicions.
From the New York Times:
A forensic pathologist hired by Jeffrey Epstein’s brother disputed the official finding in the autopsy of his death, claiming on Wednesday that the evidence suggested that he did not take his own life but may have been strangled.
The New York City medical examiner’s office concluded in August that Mr. Epstein had hanged himself in his jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
During an interview Wednesday on Fox & Friends, Dr. Michael Baden noted that the injuries Epstein incurred—among them three fractures of the hyoid bone in his neck—were “extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more commonly in homicidal strangulation.”
Citing his experience as a former New York City medical examiner, he added, “I think that the evidence points to homicide rather than suicide. I’ve not seen in 50 years where that occurred in a suicidal hanging case.”
However, once Dr. Barbara Sampson, the city’s chief medical examiner, caught wind of Baden’s presumption, she pushed back and stood by her ruling that Epstein’s death on Aug. 10 was a suicide.
“I stand firmly behind our determination of the cause and manner of death in this case,” Dr. Sampson said on Wednesday. “In general, fractures of the hyoid bone and the cartilage can be seen in suicides and homicides.”
Additionally, she noted that her office had completed a thorough investigation and made its determination after speaking with law enforcement officials.
“No one finding can be taken in isolation,” she said.
Prior to his death, Epstein was a financier and political donor with ties to Donald Trump and Bill and Hillary Clinton. In 2008, thanks to his deep pockets and powerful connections, he was sentenced to only 13 months in jail after numerous teenage girls provided sworn statements to police alleging that Epstein had sexually abused them at his Palm Beach, Fla., mansion. The stipulations of his plea deal allowed Epstein to leave jail for 12 hours a day, six days a week.
In July, he was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and charged with sex trafficking. Numerous underage girls allege that he had lured them to homes he owned in New York City and Florida before coercing them to perform sexual acts with him in exchange for money.
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