Jeffrey Epstein’s injuries point to murder, not suicide, says pathologist Michael Baden

Expert hired by disgraced financier’s brother says neck fractures suggest strangulation, contradicting official verdict on cause of death

Epstein was found dead in New York’s high-security Metropolitan Correctional Centre on August 10 as he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges

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A March 2017 photo of Jeffrey Epstein. Photo: New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP

Published: 1:13am, 31 Oct 2019Updated: 9:17pm, 31 Oct 2019

A forensic pathologist hired by Jeffrey Epstein’s brother said on Wednesday that evidence suggested the disgraced financier had not died by suicide in his jail cell but had been murdered.

Michael Baden contradicted the official verdict of suicide by hanging given by officials in August, saying that Epstein’s injuries were “more indicative of homicidal strangulation”.

“I think that the evidence points toward homicide rather than suicide,” Baden, a former New York City medical examiner who was present at the autopsy, told Fox News.

He said multiple fractures found in Epstein’s neck – specifically the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage – were “very unusual for suicide”.

Pathologist Michael Baden speaking at a news conference in Missouri in August 2014. Photo: AP

Epstein was found dead in New York’s high-security Metropolitan Correctional Centre on August 10 as he awaited trial on allegations that he trafficked girls as young as 14 for sex.