An autopsy of the late financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein revealed multiple broken bones in his neck, two people familiar with the findings have told The Washington Post.
Among the broken bones was the hyoid bone, near Epstein’s Adam’s apple. Such breaks can occur when someone hangs themselves, forensics experts told the Post, but they are more often associated with homicide victims who died by strangulation.
{mosads}Epstein was discovered early Saturday morning when guards found him hanging in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. Attorney General William Barr, whose agency oversees the facility where Epstein died, has called his death an “apparent suicide.”
The office of Barbara Sampson, New York City’s chief medical examiner, completed an autopsy of Epstein’s body Sunday and listed the cause of death as “pending,” according to the Post.
“In all forensic investigations, all information must be synthesized to determine the cause and manner of death,” Sampson told the Post. “Everything must be consistent; no single finding can be evaluated in a vacuum.”
People familiar with the autopsy told the Post that Sampson’s office is seeking further information on Epstein’s condition in the hours prior to his death, including video evidence from inside the jail, interviews with nearby guards and inmates and results of a toxicology test to determine if any unusual substances were in his body.
The details add to the mystery behind Epstein’s death, which has fueled a bevy of conspiracy theories mostly centering around the concept that the financier was killed due to possibly having damaging information on high-profile associates.
Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges earlier this month after being accused of leading a sex trafficking operation shuttling underage girls from 2002 to 2005. Questions have been raised as to why Epstein, who had been placed on suicide watch in late July after reportedly being found with marks on his neck, was not more closely observed.
Barr announced Saturday the Justice Department had directed both the FBI and the agency’s inspector general to open probes into the death. He later ordered the Bureau of Prisons to temporarily reassign the warden at the New York federal prison and place two staff members assigned to Epstein’s unit on administrative leave.