Why Jeffrey Epstein's Death Wasn't Immediately Ruled A Suicide

The medical examiner who conducted convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's autopsy hesitated before ruling his death a suicide, newly released federal documents reveal.

Dr Kristin Roman, New York City medical examiner, delayed the final ruling even though she said the evidence strongly suggested suicide, according to The NY Post.

In a transcript included in the released files, she said it was "pretty clear cut" that Epstein had died by suicide after she examined his body. She explained that she wanted to be "100 per cent certain" before officially declaring the cause of death because of the high-profile nature of the case.

The newly released records are part of millions of files related to the Epstein investigation that were recently made public by the Justice Department.

Epstein, a disgraced financier, was found dead in August 2019 inside his jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

"If he had been a less high-profile person who there weren't people wanting to kill, I would have probably called it a hanging on the day of autopsy," she told the investigators, adding, "But this was thoroughness that made me look for these things before I called it a suicide."

Roman also said she wanted to gather more details from the prison staff before concluding her findings. She said the conversation would help clarify exactly how Epstein's body was found inside the cell. Roman explained that she had specific questions about the scene.

"Was he fully hanging? Where was he hanging? That kind of stuff," she said. She also wanted to visit and inspect the jail cell where Epstein died to see the scene herself.

Roman also told investigators that she considered other possibilities while reviewing the case. "I would have been a little bit more circumspect if there had been another inmate in there with him who had made threats," Roman told the investigators.

However, Roman said she was not allowed to do either of these thing and she ruled his death as suicide based on medical evidence. 

"Even without an investigation, and although I wanted one, just because of the nature of the case, even without an investigation, this case, autopsy-wise, looked like a very clear-cut hanging," she said.

Later, Epstein's family hired a forensic pathologist who believed that Epstein's death was not a suicide and that he might have been killed. However, Barbara Sampson, the chief medical examiner of New York City, said the medical examiner's office still stands by its original finding.

"We stand by that determination. We continue to share information around the medical investigation with Mr. Epstein's family, their representatives, and their pathology consultant," said Sampson. "There is no reason for a second medical investigation by our office," she added.