Jeffrey Epstein’s death was suicide by hanging, medical examiner rules
- Authorities continue to investigate how accused sex offender managed to kill himself in high-security prison
- Ruling comes as two more women sue billionaire’s estate, saying he sexually abused them
Jeffrey Epstein’s prison death has been ruled a suicide by hanging, the medical examiner’s office said on Friday.
Epstein, 66, was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in New York on August 10, touching off outrage and disbelief over how such a high-profile prisoner, known for socialising with powerful people including US presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, could have gone unwatched.
The Bureau of Prisons said Epstein had apparently killed himself, but that did not squelch conspiracy theories about his death.
Epstein, who was charged with sexually abusing numerous underage girls over several years, had been placed on suicide watch last month after he was found on his cell floor on July 23 with bruising on his neck.
But multiple people familiar with operations at the jail say he was taken off the watch after about a week and put back in a high-security housing unit where he was less closely monitored, but still supposed to be checked on every 30 minutes.