Jeffrey Epstein’s death was officially ruled a suicide Friday evening, as the New York City medical examiner’s office said the jet-setting financier and accused child sex trafficker hanged himself in his jail cell. The autopsy was completed on Sunday.
Dr. Barbara Sampson said that “after careful review of all investigative information, including complete autopsy findings, the determination on the death of Jeffrey Epstein” was that its “cause” was “hanging” and its “manner” was “suicide,” according to a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner.
The medical examiner’s office said Epstein appeared to have tied a bedsheet to the top of a bunk bed and then moved toward the floor with enough force to break bones in his neck, according to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Epstein’s attorneys — Martin Weinberg, Reid Weingartern, and Michael Miller — released a statement condemning the prison for letting Epstein die and making it clear that they were “not satisfied with the conclusions of the medical examiner.”
“The defense team fully intends to conduct its own independent and complete investigation into the circumstances and cause of Mr. Epstein’s death, including, if necessary, legal action to view the pivotal videos — if they exist as they should — of the area proximate to Mr. Epstein’s cell during the time period leading to his death,” the lawyers said.
Sampson previously released a statement Sunday evening saying a final determination was “pending further information.” On Saturday morning, a representative for the medical examiner’s office told the Washington Examiner that “there is no official cause of death yet” because “the medical examiner has to do their job.”
In response to media reports that Epstein’s hyoid bone had been broken, which some suggested indicated a homicidal strangulation rather than a suicide, Samspson pushed back on Thursday.
“In all forensic investigations, all information must be synthesized to determine the cause and manner of death,” Sampson said. “Everything must be consistent; no single finding can be evaluated in a vacuum.”
The Bureau of Prisons said on Saturday that Epstein was found “unresponsive in his cell” in the special housing unit that morning around 6:30 a.m. following “an apparent suicide.” Attorney General William Barr also said Epstein died by “apparent suicide,” and he ordered the FBI and the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate both the incident in July and Saturday’s death.
The Daily Beast reported Epstein’s body was collected from the medical examiner’s office on Wednesday by Epstein’s brother, Mark, who notably offered up his own home as collateral when Epstein was fighting to be allowed out of jail on house arrest back in July.
Many questions remain about why Epstein was reportedly taken off suicide watch despite allegedly being found nearly unconscious on his cell floor with marks on his neck back on July 23. An internal investigation was completed regarding the July 23 incident, and the ongoing investigations by the FBI and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz into the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death will also cover it. There are also numerous questions about why such a high-profile prisoner wasn’t being closely monitored.
There were numerous alleged failures at the prison that have emerged in the last few days, including: Epstein not having a cellmate; corrections officers violating protocol by not checking on Epstein every thirty minutes despite him previously being on suicide watch; one guard assigned to watch Epstein not normally working as a corrections officer; prison guards working mandatory overtime shifts multiple days in a row and 60 or 70-hour work weeks; guards not being trained properly; guards falling asleep on the job; and the records about how often Epstein was being checked on being falsified.
Barr said he was “appalled” Monday to learn of Epstein’s apparent suicide and revealed the DOJ was “learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation.” Barr also said there will be accountability for those who did not do their jobs properly.
The DOJ said Tuesday that the warden for the prison had been “temporarily reassigned” to a northeast regional office “pending the outcome” of investigations currently underway. Two other prison staffers were placed on administrative leave. Barr said Monday that he was “learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation.”
Epstein, the already convicted sex offender and financier, allegedly sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girl at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, among other locations, between 2002 and 2005, and perhaps beyond. Prosecutors claimed Epstein enticed and recruited minor girls to engage in sex acts with him and built a “vast network of underage victims.”
