Dr. Michael Baden, the renowned forensic pathologist who witnessed Jeffrey Epstein's August 2019 autopsy, is publicly demanding a fresh investigation into the death — stating plainly that the evidence points not to suicide, but to murder.

In an interview published Friday by the Telegraph, Baden reiterated what he has maintained for nearly seven years:

"The autopsy findings are much more consistent with a crushing injury caused by homicidal strangulation than caused by hanging by suicide."

The New York Post reported that three fractures in Epstein's neck. Markings inconsistent with the bedsheet material allegedly used. A forensic record that Baden — a former New York City chief medical examiner with decades of experience — says he has never seen replicated in a textbook case of suicide by hanging.

"Findings in textbooks never see those fractures, and neither have I."

And yet, the official ruling remains unchanged: suicide by hanging.

Five Days From "Inconclusive" to "Case Closed"

According to Baden, the autopsy's initial results were marked as pending — and for good reason. He says that he and then-Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson agreed at the time that the findings were inconclusive and that more information was needed to determine how Epstein died.

Five days later, Sampson declared it a suicide by hanging.

Baden has not been quiet about the gap between those two positions. He told the Telegraph that he has seen no evidence of any further study or investigation into the cause of death following that ruling — nothing that would explain the rapid pivot from "we need more information" to a definitive conclusion that one of the most high-profile prisoners in America simply killed himself in federal custody.

"I have not seen any evidence of further study, nothing that indicated further investigation into the cause of death."

Sampson has repeatedly dismissed any evidence of strangulation and defended her office's findings. But the question that lingers isn't whether Sampson is confident in her ruling. It's why the ruling came so fast — and why no one in an official capacity appears to have pursued the questions Baden raised.

The Fractures That Don't Fit

Baden's argument rests on physical evidence, not speculation. Three neck fractures — a finding he describes as extraordinary in a suicide-by-hanging case — and ligature markings on Epstein's neck that were inconsistent with the bedsheet material supposedly used.

"It wasn't smooth like the sheet, the markings [on Epstein's neck] would have required a different type of material."

His standard for what warrants a deeper look is not exotic:

"Even one fracture, we have to investigate the possibility of a homicide. Two definitely warrant a full investigation."

Epstein had three. And the investigation never came.

A 2024 panel of six senior forensic pathologists prepared an exclusive report for The Post reexamining the autopsy findings, crime scene photographs, and all available information.

Four of the six classified the death as suicide. Two found it impossible to give a definitive ruling. Even among those who accepted the suicide finding, the panel's split underscores that this case does not lend itself to the kind of certainty Sampson offered five days after the autopsy.

The Accountability That Never Arrived

Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender with ties to some of the most powerful people on the planet. He died in a federal facility under circumstances that, at minimum, represented a catastrophic failure of the Bureau of Prisons — and at maximum, something far darker.

The surveillance cameras malfunctioned. The guards assigned to check on him fell asleep. The most consequential witness in a sprawling sex trafficking case was found dead before he could testify against anyone.

Every institution that touched this case had an incentive to make it go away. And every institution obliged.

Baden was brought into the autopsy at the request of Mark Epstein, Jeffrey's brother, who has long believed his brother was killed. That Baden was there at all is the only reason there is an independent forensic voice challenging the official narrative. Without him, the Sampson ruling would stand unopposed by anyone who was actually in the room.

"That was my opinion at that time, and I still stand by it."

Newly released documents from the Epstein files have revived public interest in the case, but interest alone changes nothing. Baden's demand is specific: a real investigation, one that treats the forensic anomalies as evidence rather than inconveniences.

"Given all the information now available, further investigation into the cause and manner of death is warranted."

What "Epstein Didn't Kill Himself" Actually Requires

For years, "Epstein didn't kill himself" has functioned as something between a meme and a rallying cry — a shorthand for the belief that powerful people are never truly held accountable.

It's been printed on T-shirts and dropped into cable news segments as a punchline. But Baden isn't offering a punchline. He's offering a forensic record and asking why no one with subpoena power has followed up on it.

The suicide ruling has been accepted by the Trump administration. The case, for official purposes, is settled. But "settled" and "investigated" are not the same thing.

A ruling issued five days after an inconclusive autopsy, never revisited despite three unexplained neck fractures and inconsistent ligature evidence, is not the product of rigorous inquiry. It is the product of a system that decided on an answer and stopped asking questions.

Baden is 90 years old. He has nothing to gain from this fight and no political horse in the race. He was in the room. He saw the body. He reviewed the fractures. And he is telling anyone who will listen that the evidence does not support the official story.

The question was never whether people believed Epstein killed himself. The question is whether anyone in power cares enough to find out if he didn't.