WASHINGTON: A prominent forensic expert who observed the autopsy of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has renewed calls for a fresh investigation into his 2019 death, arguing that available evidence points to the possibility of homicide rather than suicide.
Trump, Netanyahu Agree to Target Iran’s Oil Exports to China Amid Nuclear Talks
Dr Michael Baden, a former New York City chief medical examiner, said newly released documents have strengthened his long-standing concerns regarding the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death while he was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019, with authorities officially ruling the case a suicide by hanging. However, Baden said the autopsy findings were “much more consistent with a crushing injury caused by homicidal strangulation than caused by hanging by suicide.”
The pathologist attended the autopsy as an observer at the request of Epstein’s brother and claimed that initial findings were considered inconclusive, pending further information. He said the medical examiner’s office later ruled the death a suicide within five days — a decision he described as unexpected.
Baden highlighted three fractures in Epstein’s neck, noting that such injuries are uncommon in suicide by hanging and typically warrant deeper investigation. He also questioned whether the injuries matched the reported bedsheet noose, suggesting the markings indicated the possible use of different material.
Despite the renewed scrutiny, former chief medical examiner Barbara Sampson has repeatedly defended the official conclusion, maintaining there was no evidence of strangulation and that Epstein’s death was correctly classified as suicide.
Baden said that, given the information now available, authorities should reopen the case to fully determine the cause and manner of death.
