New York Post – by Lee Brown and Yaron Steinbuch
Jeffrey Epstein’s eyes had burst capillaries after his body was found in his Manhattan jail cell, suggesting that the convicted pedophile was likely murdered through manual strangulation and did not hang himself, a forensic pathologist says in a TV interview.
In a clip provided to The Post from a “Dr. Oz” special set to air Thursday, former New York City Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Baden discusses his theories and examines graphic photographs.
Among them are the burst capillaries and the fact that Epstein’s lower extremities were pale and not purple or bluish, which he said would have been the case had he hanged himself in August at the Manhattan Correctional Center.
“The blood settles after we die. The so-called lividity, if you’re hanging, the lividity is on the lower part on the legs. These would be like maroon/purple, front and back and they aren’t,” Baden tells Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Oz then shows gruesome images of Epstein’s eyes.
“These little hemorrhages, tiny little blood splotches. What do these particular hemorrhages, burst blood vessels, tell you? Why is it a red flag?” he asks the pathologist, who was hired by Epstein’s brother, Mark, to observe an autopsy on the disgraced financier.
“In a hanging, the arteries and the blood vessels, the veins are both clogged off and the person is pale. The face is pale,” Baden replies.
“With a manual strangulation, there’s a backup of a pressure and the little capillaries can rupture and they’re best seen in the eye,” he adds.
Baden also says it was “very unusual, especially in a prison situation” that the cause of death was changed to hanging after being deemed inconclusive.
“The initial death certificate was issued at the time of the autopsy, it’s pending further study, getting more information,” he says.
“Five days later it was changed to hanging suicide and one of the things the family wishes to know, the estate wishes to know is, what was that additional information that caused them to change it when five months later and the family still doesn’t know what happened to in the first encounter and what happened to him when he was found dead,” he says.
In an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” earlier this month, Baden also said that “the forensic evidence released so far, including autopsy, point much more to murder and strangulation than the suicide and suicidal hanging.”
An autopsy photo of the 66-year-old’s hyoid bone, at the base of his neck, showed it broken in three places, which Baden told “60 Minutes” is unheard of in a suicidal hanging.
The city ME’s office has said it stands “firmly’’ behind its ruling that Epstein killed himself while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges
Law enforcement sources have told The Post that authorities believe Epstein tied one end of a prison sheet around his neck and the other around a bed railing before kneeling forward, hanging, until he died.
The “Dr. Oz” special will air at 1 p.m. EST across Fox networks.