Jeffrey Epstein death a suicide by hanging, medical examiner rules
Jeffrey Epstein’s death was the result of suicide, the New York City medical examiner ruled Friday, stating that the 66-year-old financier hanged himself in the federal prison where he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The ruling by Dr. Barbara Sampson eliminates a bevy of conspiracy theories about how the wealthy New Yorker died, including speculation that he was murdered to ensure that he could not incriminate numerous powerful men for assorted sex crimes.
The embattled hedge fund manager was found hanging in his cell Saturday and was pronounced dead later that day at a hospital.
Epstein seemed positive, "upbeat and optimistic" on his last day of life, according to the New York Post. The newspaper said Epstein's attorney had spoken with Epstein just hours before his death.
Epstein had connections to several prominent names, including Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, and was facing charges on sexual abuse as well as conspiracy.
A senior Justice Department official told Fox News that, “The Attorney General has dispatched two senior [U.S. Department of Justice] officials to personally visit the [Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC)] facility in New York to gather information and speak with U.S. Bureau of Prisons staff at the facility. They have been on site since Thursday.”
The autopsy results provide vital information to the several investigations into the cause of death including the FBI, DOJ and Congress. Fox News also reported that several of the MCC guards in charge of protecting Epstein were on working overtime and that 93 percent of that was voluntary.
Conspiracy theories continue to surround Epstein's death and Attorney General William Barr says officials uncovered "serious irregularities" at the jail. Epstein was placed on suicide watch last month after he was found on the floor of his cell with bruising on his neck, but was taken off suicide watch days later, according to multiple reports.
The day before he died, federal prosecutors unsealed documents in a 2015 lawsuit filed by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claimed Epstein and socialite Ghislaine Maxwell kept her as their "sex slave" in the early 2000s. She said she was trafficked for sex and erotic massage among high-profile political players and businessman, including former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and former New Mexico Governor and Clinton-era Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. Both men have denied any wrongdoing.
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Others named in the suit include Britain’s Prince Andrew Hedge Fund manager Glenn Dubin, American scientist Marvin Minsky, and model scout Jean Luc Brunell.
The FBI and the Justice Department's inspector general are continuing to invesigate Epstein's death.