Jeffrey Epstein Autopsy Report Shows Broken Neck: Report

Reuters
By Reuters
August 15, 2019US News
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Jeffrey Epstein Autopsy Report Shows Broken Neck: Report
Jeffrey Epstein. (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department)

The autopsy into financier Jeffrey Epstein, who reportedly died in an apparent suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, found his neck had been broken in several places, the Washington Post reported late on Wednesday.

Such injuries can occur to people who hang themselves or who are strangled, the newspaper said. It cited unidentified sources familiar with the autopsy’s results.

Epstein, a multi-millionaire and convicted sexual offender, was found dead in his jail cell in New York City on Saturday. The circumstances of his death are under investigation.

jeffrey epstein jail barr
The Metropolitan Correctional Center where financier Jeffrey Epstein was being held, on August 10, 2019 (Don Emmert/ AFP/Getty Images)

The New York Medical Examiner’s office could not be reached for comment on the Post report early on Thursday and a representative did not immediately respond to Reuters by phone or text message.

It was unclear if the medical examiner has made a final determination into the cause of death, but NBC news cited an unnamed source as saying Epstein’s body had been claimed by an associate.

It was also unclear when the autopsy report would be finished or made public.

MCC Jeffrey-Epstein
The Metropolitan Correctional Facility, where Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his jail cell, is seen in New York City on Aug. 10, 2019. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

Epstein, 66, was found unresponsive in his cell on Saturday morning, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

A source told Reuters previously that he was found hanging by the neck.

Epstein pleaded not guilty in July to charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls between 2002 and 2005.

Attorney General William Barr has said the criminal investigation into any possible co-conspirators would continue.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Attorney General Barr attends a farewell ceremony for Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington
U.S. Attorney General William Barr attends a farewell ceremony for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington DC, May 9, 2019. (Reuters/Leah Millis/File Photo)

Barr, whose agency oversees the Bureau of Prisons, has also demanded an investigation into Epstein’s death and ordered the removal of the prison’s warden.

The disgraced financier had been on suicide watch at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan but was then put back in a regular cell.

Multiple news reports have said guards did not follow procedures to check on Epstein frequently and that he was left alone in his cell for as long as three hours.

Separately, a team at the jail on Wednesday began an “after-action” review, which is normally triggered by significant events such as a prominent inmate’s death, a person familiar with the matter said. That review is being headed by a prison bureau director from another region.

By Rich McKay

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