page_title: Death of Jeffrey Epstein
section_title: Autopsy
hierarchical_section_title: Death of Jeffrey Epstein / Autopsy and medical evidence / Autopsy
caption_attribution_description: English: The wound on Epstein's neck after his alleged suicide
context_page_description: On August 10, 2019, American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was found unresponsive in his Metropolitan Correctional Center jail cell, where he was awaiting trial on new sex trafficking charges. After prison guards performed CPR, he was transported in cardiac arrest to the New York Downtown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:39 a.m. The New York City medical examiner ruled Epstein's death a suicide by hanging. Epstein's lawyers challenged that conclusion and opened their own investigation. Pathologist Michael Baden, who was hired by Epstein's brother to oversee the autopsy, is the most vocal proponent of the theory of homicidal strangulation rather than suicidal hanging.
  After initially expressing suspicion, Attorney General William Barr described Epstein's death as "a perfect storm of screw-ups". Both the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice's Inspector General are conducting investigations into the circumstances of his death. The guards on duty were later charged with conspiracy and record falsification. Many public figures accused the Federal Bureau of Prisons of negligence and inefficiency.
context_section_description: A four-hour autopsy on Epstein's body was conducted on August 11 by New York City's Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson. Epstein's lawyers sent pathologist Michael Baden to observe the city's autopsy. Following the autopsy, the medical examiner's office reported that Epstein had hanged himself with a sheet from his bed. On August 14, unofficial sources reported that broken bones were found in Epstein's neck, although this can occur in the suicide of the elderly. They are said to be "more common in victims of homicide by strangulation", though multiple studies have found different percentages for both manners of death. The last death ruled a suicide at the MCC was in 1998. Epstein's lawyers released a joint statement after the medical examiner's report expressing that they were not satisfied, challenging its conclusions and saying that a more complete response was forthcoming. They also indicated that the defense team fully intended to continue its own investigation into the circumstances and cause of Epstein's death, including taking legal action, if necessary, to view the camera footage near his cell during the night of his death. They later said that the evidence concerning Epstein's death was "far more consistent" with murder than suicide.
caption: Marks on Epstein's neck
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