Jeffrey Epstein’s death was more likely a struggle, not suicide – this is the evidence
Jeffrey Epstein’s autopsy files show his death was more consistent with a struggle and not suicide, a respected forensic pathologist told Metro after reviewing the evidence.
Dr Michael Freeman, fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists in London, will publish an independent report about the late financier’s death after he was given the complete medical examiner’s file by Epstein’s brother, Mark.
Ahead of a bombshell talk revealing his findings next month, Freeman told Metro the suicide determination was ‘problematic’.
He pointed to evidence such as fingernail marks which allegedly showed Epstein tried to get the ligature off in a ‘potential struggle’ or assault.
Dr Freeman, who previously served as chair of forensic and legal medicine with the Royal College of Physicians, told Metro: ‘There are lots of things that are not explained by a suicidal hanging, but are consistent with potentially a struggle.
‘He had injuries that could not possibly have been caused by a ligature.’
The pathologist will be releasing the complete medical file, including portions not public, after his talk at a University College London law-faculty event next month.
Epstein was found unresponsive in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan on August 10, 2019, while he was awaiting trial.
A guard said they discovered him hanging with an orange-coloured strip of material around his neck in a near-seated position.
New York chief medical examiner’s office ruled his death a suicide, which was later backed up by a review from the Department of Justice in 2023 and FBI findings.
Dr Freeman says he is the first person trained in forensic pathology who has reviewed all the evidence, including the entire autopsy files, since the suicide determination.
The top pathologist told Metro that Epstein’s ‘death was completely unique in the annals of suicidal hanging descriptions’.
He claimed: ‘We had no picture of him suspended. There was no picture of him after he was taken down from the suspension.’
Dr Freeman believes the guard’s description of the position where he found Epstein was ‘credible’, so he said his focus was: ‘Could all of the [Epstein’s] injuries have been caused by the hanging scenario in which he was found?’
He has concluded there are ‘some very notable inconsistencies and areas where there is not adequate explanation of what the medical examiner found.’
The expert said Epstein had a number of injuries aside from the ligature marks, including on his left shoulder and behind his neck.
He added: ‘He had injuries that could not possibly have been caused by a ligature, and he had facial injuries that were clearly not caused by resuscitation efforts.
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‘He had been dead for hours by the time they tried to resuscitate him.’
Dr Freeman, who worked with a team of researchers, said there was evidence that aligned ‘potentially with a struggle, an assault.’
He claimed: ‘One of the things that I will point out during my lecture will be the presence of what appear to be fingernail marks above the ligature mark.
‘That would be consistent with his own fingernail marks, trying to get the ligature off.’
Dr Freeman said this information was not even ‘the good stuff’, which will come out during the talk next month.
The pathologist acknowledged that ‘there’ll be people who are going to disagree’ with him, but he was releasing the autopsy files publicly to let the world judge for themselves.
He explained: ‘Medical examiners don’t want to have their their work looked at again.
‘Meanwhile, that leaves everybody without recourse to go back and say, “Can we have a second look at this?”
‘Science is what you can prove, what is replicable, what’s reproducible. That is what I’m focused on.
‘So the fact it is Jeffrey Epstein is actually more of a nuisance factor because there’s so much interest in it.’
Dr Freeman said he has ‘no opinions’ about the debate and conspiracies surrounding Epstein’s death.
The New York Medical Examiner told Metro their ‘office stands by the determination’ of suicide after they were asked about Dr Freeman’s criticisms.
Epstein’s brother Mark Epstein previously told Metro the report will be ‘game-changing’.
He said the independent group have been ‘properly studying the autopsy results for months’, comparing the evidence against autopsies of suicides and murders.
The younger brother – who gave the panel Jeffrey’s autopsy reports – added: ‘They are not doing this on my behalf. I am not paying for this.’
