A famed pathologist who observed the autopsy of convicted sex offender and billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein said Wednesday that his body showed signs of homicide despite an official ruling that he killed himself.
Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner who is known for investigating high-profile deaths, appeared on Fox News to talk about the autopsy.
Baden was hired by Epstein’s brother to observe the autopsy. He told Fox News that the findings of the autopsy were more consistent with homicidal strangulation than suicide.
“I think that the evidence points toward homicide rather than suicide,” Baden told reporters. He indicated three fractures that he says are “very unusual” for suicide, and more indicative of homicidal strangulation. “Hanging does not cause these broken bones, and homicide does,” he said.
Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell on Aug. 10 while he was awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking underage girls. The official cause of death was ruled a suicide by hanging, but some have suggested that a hit may have been carried out on the well-connected billionaire as a means to silence him.
Baden also pointed out a “total breakdown in security” at the time of Epstein’s death.
“The video cameras didn’t work. The guards went to sleep,” Baden said, adding that Epstein was taken off suicide watch despite an apparent suicide attempt in late July. “I’ve never seen it in 50 years of investigating all deaths that occur in prisons in New York state.”
Baden is known for testifying in the murder trials of O.J. Simpson and Phil Spector, as well as hosting HBO’s “Autopsy.” He has also conducted private autopsies in high-profile cases including the police shooting of Michael Brown, and the death of NFL player Aaron Hernandez.