By Greg Norman | Fox News
Graphic images showing injuries to Jeffrey Epstein’s neck after he allegedly hanged himself inside his New York City jail cell have surfaced this week, as suspicions linger surrounding how the disgraced billionaire died.
The photos, which include images of nooses Epstein is said to have made out of bedsheets at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan last August, were first published by CBS News. They depict a messy and chaotic scene inside the cell where the convicted pedophile lived the last moments of his life, as sheets are strewn across the floor while parts of fabric can be seen tied to a bedpost and window grate.
Other images taken by a medical examiner show Epstein’s body lying on a gurney. In one, his lifeless hand is held up for measurement.
Jeffrey Epstein is ruled to have died from suicide by hanging on Aug. 10 in New York City.
Separate images show a note found in Epstein’s cell that mentions being kept “in a locked shower stall for one hour.”
“Giants bugs crawling over my hands. NO FUN!!” the note says.
EPSTEIN’S ALLEGED MADAM GHISLANE MAXWELL UNDER FBI INVESTIGATION
Law enforcement sources told the New York Post that investigators believe Epstein tied a prison sheet around his neck before fastening the other end to a bedpost and kneeling forward, hanging himself. New York City’s medical examiner ruled shortly after Epstein’s death that the cause was suicide by hanging.
But former NYC Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Baden, who appeared on CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday to discuss the images, reiterated his belief that “forensic evidence released so far, including autopsy, point much more to murder and strangulation than the suicide and suicidal hanging.”
The scene inside Epstein’s jail cell following his death.
Baden, who was hired by Epstein’s brother and observed the autopsy, told Fox News in October that the 66-year-old had two fractures on the left and right sides of his larynx, specifically the thyroid cartilage or Adam’s apple, as well as one fracture on the left hyoid bone above the Adam’s apple.
“Those three fractures are extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more commonly in homicidal strangulation,” Baden had said.
“I’ve not seen in 50 years where that occurred in a suicidal hanging case,” he added.
NEW EPSTEIN ACCUSERS SPEAK, AFTER YEARS OF ALLEGED SEXUAL ABUSE
FBI investigators probing Epstein’s death also have been looking into whether a “criminal enterprise” may have played a role, the Bureau of Prisons’ director revealed in November during testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“With a case this high-profile, there has got to be either a major malfunction of the system or criminal enterprise at foot to allow this to happen. So are you looking at both? Is the FBI looking at both?” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., had asked Kathleen Hawk Sawyer.
A noose made out of a prison sheet that was found inside Epstein’s cell.
“The FBI is involved and they are looking at criminal enterprise, yes,” Sawyer responded.
The NYC Medical Examiner’s Office has stood by its ruling.
Sheets are seen strewn across the floor inside Epstein’s cell.
“The original medical investigation was thorough and complete,” Dr. Barbara Sampson, the chief medical examiner, told Fox News in a statement in October. “There is no reason for a second medical investigation by our office.”
Fox News’ Melissa Leon contributed to this report.
