NY Mayor Bill de Blasio says 'something doesn't quite fit' with Epstein death a day after pathologist hinted at homicide
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, on October 31, said he is suspicious of the circumstances surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's death, saying "something doesn't fit." The lawmaker made the statement despite the city's medical examiner ruling that the pedophile's death was a suicide. De Blasio's statement came a day after expert pathologist Dr Michael Baden stated that Epstein's body showed signs of homicide by strangulation and not suicide.
The millionaire investor allegedly hanged himself at the Manhattan Correctional Center early morning on August 10, despite being intermittently put on suicide watch. Epstein, a registered sex offender, was arrested by federal agents on July 6 in New Jersey after his return from a Paris trip and was charged with child sex trafficking in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591.
De Blasio, while addressing a press conference in Queens, said: "Something doesn’t fit here. It just doesn’t make sense that the highest-profile prisoner in America, you know, someone forgot to guard him. I want to understand, I think everyone wants to understand, what really happened. I don’t know what the nature of the death was. I just know it should never have happened, and we still don’t have good answers", the Daily Mail reported.
Dr. Baden, a forensic pathologist, had revealed his conclusions about the suspicious nature of Epstein's death in an interview with 'Fox & Friends'. The pathologist said the financier had two fractures on the left and right sides of his larynx, around his Adam's apple. The 66-year-old also had a fracture on the left hyoid bone that is above the Adam's apple, Baden explained.
"Those three fractures are extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more commonly in homicidal strangulation", the 85-year-old forensic pioneer said. Baden has reportedly worked on famous cases involving OJ Simpson, President John F Kennedy, Phil Spector, Aaron Hernandez and more.
"I've not seen, in 50 years, where that occurred in a suicidal hanging case", he said, adding that there were also hemorrhages in Epstein's eyes that were consistent with homicide strangulation.
He, however, added that a conclusion could not be reached in the case until an independent study was completed. "The investigation is not completed until all the information has come in."