The death of Jeffrey Epstein, disgraced financier and convicted sex offender with powerful political connections, was more consistent with a homicide than a suicide, according to an experienced medical examiner.
“Those three fractures are extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more commonly in homicidal strangulation,” Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, told Fox News, pointing out that Epstein had two fractures on the left and right sides of his larynx and one above his Adam’s apple that are indicative of murder.
“I’ve not seen in 50 years where that occurred in a suicidal hanging case,” Baden said.
Baden, who's examined more than 20,000 bodies and hosted HBO's "Autopsy," explained that if a person weighed 120 pounds and their head weighed 10 pounds, there would be 110 pounds of pressure on the neck at the jaw during a hanging. But, if someone put a hand around a person's neck and squeezed, that could double or even triple the pressure on the neck, Baden said.
There were also hemorrhages in Epstein’s eyes that were common in homicidal strangulation and uncommon, though not unheard of, in suicidal hangings, the forensic pathologist said.
Epstein, longtime friend of former President Bill Clinton among a slew of other politicians, was in prison at the time of his “suicide,” having been charged with multiple counts of sex trafficking and abuse of underage girls. He was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan on August 10 under suspicious circumstances, including the fact that his cell mate was moved out just prior to his death, as well as a lapse in guard security and allegedly malfunctioning security cameras.