Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, alleged Thursday that autopsy photos of Jeffrey Epstein show he had burst capillaries in his eyes, which is a more common occurrence with strangulation than with hanging.
In a Dr. Oz clip obtained by the Daily Mail, Baden, who was hired by Epstein’s brother to observe the autopsy performed by New York City officials after the deceased pedophile’s death, said there are “red flags” suggesting foul play. Particularly, the pathologist pointed to the burst capillaries and Epstein’s legs not appearing purple — a coloration that often happens with hangings — as two occurrences that could raise questions about the once-high flying investor’s death.
“In a hanging, the arteries and the blood vessels, the veins are both clogged off and the person is pale. The face is pale,” Dr. Baden told Dr. Oz.
“It suffocates you, no blood goes up there,” Dr. Oz replied.
“That’s right. No blood coming in or out… 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,” Dr. Baden responded.
Dr. Baden then explained what concerned him about Epstein’s pale leg color.
“The blood settles after we die. The so-called lividity, if your hanging, the lividity is on the lower part on the legs,” he said. “These would be like maroon/purple, front and back and they aren’t.”
The pathologist went on to reiterate that the manner in which officials ruled Epstein’s cause of death was “very unusual.”
“The initial death certificate was issued at the time of the autopsy, it’s pending further study, getting more information,” he said. “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.”
This is not the first time that Dr. Baden has raised doubts about how Epstein’s death was ruled, having recently told CBS This Morning that his injuries “are more indicative of a homicidal strangulation than a suicidal strangulation.”
“What stood out to me the most was that the ligature mark was made after a few hours,” Dr. Baden said. “He had been dead for a few hours at the time he was discovered. And that there were multiple fractures of the Adam’s apple, the thyroid cartilage and the hyoid bone that are more indicative of a homicidal strangulation than a suicidal strangulation.
Epstein was found dead in his New York City prison cell in August following his arrest on child sex trafficking charges. He pleaded not guilty to abusing girls as young as 14 in New York and Florida. Numerous women have sued Epstein, alleging his abuse took place over decades at his residences in Manhattan, Florida, New Mexico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Paris.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.