Jeffrey Epstein’s death ruled suicide by hanging, source says

MivPiv/iStock(NEW YORK) —  Accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s death in a Manhattan jail cell was ruled suicide by hanging, New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has concluded, a source familiar with the conclusion told ABC News.

ABC News has previously reported Epstein hanged himself with a bedsheet in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he was found unresponsive about 6:30 in the morning on Aug. 10.

On Thursday, a city official with knowledge of the autopsy told ABC News that Epstein sustained a broken hyoid bone, which is near the Adam’s apple. Experts say the injury can be associated with suicide or strangulation.

OCME is expected to formally release its determination this afternoon or this evening.

The autopsy was completed on Sunday.

Epstein’s apparent suicide occurred after he was previously found on July 23 unresponsive in his cell with marks on his neck and taken to a hospital, sources with knowledge of the episode told ABC News.

He was placed on suicide watch, but removed on July 29 after jail officials determined he was no longer a threat to himself, sources said.

In the wake of Epstein’s death, staff members at the MCC jail, who have been placed on temporary leave, are suspected of falsifying log entries to show they made the proper checks on Epstein and other inmates in the Special Housing Unit at the federal lockup in Manhattan, but those log entries have been contradicted by surveillance footage, the sources said.

ABC News has previously reported the staff failed to follow protocol that requires welfare checks every 30 minutes.

Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.