According to a new report, Jeffrey Epstein‘s autopsy showed that the hyoid bone in his neck was fractured, indicating possible strangulation.
In a Fox News segment, Dr. Marc Siegal, an NYU Langone medical professor claimed that this bone being fractured increases the likelihood that Epstein was murdered.
“The hyoid bone in the neck being fractured and other fractures in the neck, make it more likely, and again, this is a percentage call, more likely that it was a homicide than a suicide,” Siegal said.
Siegal later qualified his statements saying that it could have been either a suicide or a homicide, but that his suspicions have been raised. He also said that the answer will be revealed as to the nature of Epstein’s death because “if someone is attacked, [one can] see signs of the attack on the body.”
This new information follows reports that Epstein was taken off suicide watch right before his apparent suicide and that shrieks were heard coming from his cell before he died.
That said, these broken bones don’t necessarily rule out suicide as a possibility. Jonathan L. Arden, president of the National Association of Medical Examiners told the Washington Post that the hyoid bones begin hardening in middle age and become easier to break.
As of now Epstein’s cause of death has yet to be reported, and investigators are waiting on surveillance footage as well as a complete autopsy and toxicology report before officially announcing anything.
[Photo via Fox News screen cap]