Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself in Manhattan jail cell, New York City medical examiner rules
New York City‘s chief medical examiner has ruled that disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide by hanging in his prison cell last week.
In a brief statement Friday, Dr. Barbara Sampson said her ruling came following a “careful review of all investigative information, including complete autopsy findings.”
Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan early Saturday and was pronounced dead hours later. His lawyers said in a statement late Friday that they were “not satisfied” with Sampson’s ruling and vowed to conduct their own investigation, including seeking to obtain any video of the area around Epstein’s cell from the time leading to his death.
Epstein had been awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls. He was placed on suicide watch last month after he was found on the floor of his cell with bruising on his neck. However, multiple reports say Epstein was taken off suicide watch days later.
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Epstein’s death caused public and official outrage over how such a high-profile prisoner could have gone unmonitored. His death led to a torrent of conspiracy theories focusing on the high-profile people who moved in Epstein’s social circle, including former President Bill Clinton and President Trump.
Speculation that Epstein was murdered ramped up Thursday after The New York Times and The Washington Post reported that the autopsy found broken bones in the financier’s neck.
Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson issued a statement Thursday in response to those articles, saying: “In all forensic investigations, all information must be synthesized to determine the cause and manner of death. Everything must be consistent; no single finding can be evaluated in a vacuum.”