The CBS news program 60 Minutes aired a graphic investigation Sunday night into the death of disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, featuring exclusive autopsy photographs that forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden claims contradict the official ruling of suicide.
The segment provided the first public look at images from inside Epstein’s cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) and close-up views of his injuries. While the New York City Medical Examiner officially ruled Epstein’s August 2019 death a suicide by hanging, Dr. Baden, who observed the autopsy on behalf of the Epstein family, argued that the physical evidence points closer to homicide.
Dispute Over Ligature Marks and Broken Bones
Dr. Baden focused heavily on a photograph of Epstein’s neck, which showed a thin, bloody ligature mark running across the middle of his throat. According to Baden, this injury does not align with a hanging.
“This noose doesn’t match the ligature furrow mark. It’s wider than this,” Dr. Baden stated during the broadcast. “Most hangings, especially free hangings, the ligature slides up to beneath the jawbone, the mandible. Here it’s in the middle of the neck.”
The investigation also highlighted a fracture in Epstein’s hyoid bone, a small U-shaped bone in the neck. Baden noted that Epstein suffered fractures to his left and right thyroid cartilage as well as the left hyoid bone. He asserted that seeing three such fractures is “extremely unusual” in suicidal hangings and is more typically associated with manual strangulation.
“I have never seen three fractures like this in a suicidal hanging,” Baden said. “Going over a thousand jail hangings, suicides, in the New York state prisons over the past 40, 50 years, no one had three fractures.”
Inconsistencies in the Cell
The 60 Minutes report also scrutinized the condition of Epstein’s jail cell. Photos revealed a chaotic scene with bed linens allegedly fashioned into nooses. However, Dr. Baden pointed out a lack of DNA transfer or blood on the cloth noose supposedly used in the act. He also questioned why Epstein would choose to tear bedsheets when electrical extension cords—a stronger and more efficient ligature—were readily available in the cell.
Security failures at the facility have further fueled skepticism. At the time of Epstein’s death, two cameras outside his cell malfunctioned, and prosecutors later charged the assigned guards with falsifying records to hide that they slept during their shifts.
Official Rebuttals and Counterarguments
Despite Dr. Baden’s claims, the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office stands by its determination. Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson has previously stated that the autopsy findings align with hanging and rule out foul play.
Cameron Lindsay, a former federal prison warden interviewed for the segment, vehemently rejected the idea of an inside job or murder. When asked if there was any possibility Epstein was killed, Lindsay responded, “Absolutely, unequivocally not.”
Critics of the murder theory argue that the chaotic nature of the jail and the incompetence of the guards created a “perfect storm” for suicide, rather than a conspiracy. However, the release of these graphic images fuels the theory that someone silenced Epstein—who held connections to powerful figures like Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew—to prevent him from testifying.
The FBI and the Department of Justice Inspector General have conducted investigations into the circumstances of his death, but for many, the images aired Sunday night suggest the case is far from closed.
This video is relevant because it is the official “60 Minutes” segment discussed in the article, featuring the autopsy photos and Dr. Michael Baden’s analysis.
