Epstein's brother shows new photo, says he didn't commit suicide
4 Min Read
Mark Epstein claims another inmate killed his brother, Jeffrey, and argues that if he truly did hang himself, ligature marks should have reached under his chin and behind his ears.
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Audrey Strauss, acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell during a news conference, in New York on July 2, 2020. (AP)
In an interview on Friday with US podcast host Megan Kelly, the brother of convicted sex trafficker and late Jeffrey Epstein revealed a previously unreported and unrevealed autopsy photo, indicating that his death possibly was not a suicide.
His brother, Mark Epstein, revealed that the graphic picture shows a large red scar across the middle of the neck, saying it was inconsistent with reports that he hung himself in his New York City jail cell. He argued that if he truly did hang himself, ligature marks should have reached under his chin and behind his ears.
“From that picture, the ligature mark on his neck is more in the middle of his neck and sort of goes straight back,” he said, adding, “In a hanging, it goes really high up in the front of the neck because you sink down into that noose.”
In the interview, Mark Epstein claimed that another inmate killed his brother. According to government authorities, the camera in Epstein's jail section wasn’t functioning on the night of his death, and authorities refused to provide footage from another camera or to disclose the identities of the inmates.
Read more: Convict Ghislaine Maxwell appeals over 'inhumane conditions'
“All I got from them, for every question I asked, was, ‘After a thorough investigation, we determined it was a suicide,’” Mark Epstein said, stressing, “That was the answer I got to every question.”
He continued to say that normal investigative practices, such as leaving the body as is until the medical examiner arrives, were not complied with. He expressed skepticism about an autopsy photo of his brother’s legs, which didn’t show lividity (the state in which blood pools to the lowest point in the body after death).
“If he was hanging the way they said, there would be evidence of lividity in his legs and buttocks,” he said.
A glitch in the justice system?
In 2022, The New York Times got its hands on a 2,000-page document compilation, sourced from Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) records, which was attained after filing a freedom of information lawsuit. The analysis of Epstein's mental state revealed the sex trafficker's disinterest in suicide and his rather fondness toward life.
For some background, Epstein was found dead in his prison cell on August 10, 2019; however, his death remains questioned by many.
According to the documents, Epstein told psychologists that he was too "coward" to commit suicide. Yet, two weeks afterward, the pedophile was found dead by hanging at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in August 2019.
Read more: Epstein's associates: List to include Clinton, Prince Andrew, and more
"I have no interest in killing myself," Epstein told a psychologist working for the jail. On the contrary, Epstein told the therapist that he was living "a wonderful life" even when he was in jail, saying that he would not be able to tolerate the pain of suicide if he were to commit it.
A report back in June by the US Justice Department Office of the Inspector General (OIG) shows that "the combination of negligence, misconduct, and outright job performance failures documented in this report all contributed to an environment in which arguably one of the BOP’s most notorious inmates was provided with the opportunity to take his own life, resulting in significant questions being asked about the circumstances of his death," in a review of its investigation into Epstein's death in federal custody.
MCC New York personnel placed Epstein on suicide watch but later moved him to psychological observation until July 30. Epstein was then assigned a new cellmate until August 9, when the cellmate was transferred without arranging for a replacement.
Additionally, Epstein was allowed to make an unmonitored phone call, which violated BOP policy.
