EFTA00113165.pdf
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DIGITALLY RECORDED
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SWORN STATEMENT
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OF
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OIG CASE #:
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2019-010614
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
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OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
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MAY 31, 2022
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RESOLUTE DOCUMENTATION SERVICES
28632 Roadside Dr., Suite 285
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
Phone: (818) 431-5800
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APPEARANCES:
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OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
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BY:
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BY:
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WITNESS:
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OTHER APPEARANCES:
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MR.
: This is Special Agent
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. Today is May 313', 2022. The time is
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3:33 p.m., and the recording is now on.
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My name is
. I am a Special
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Agent with the U.S. Department of Justice,
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Office of the Inspector General, New York Field
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Office, and these are my credentials. You
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should be able to see. This interview with New
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York City Medical Examiner Dr.
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Did I say that right?
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MS.
: Yes.
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MR.
: Is being conducted as part of
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an official U.S. Department of Justice, Office
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of the Inspector General investigation.
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Today's date is May 31st, 2022. The time is
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3:34 p.m. This interview is being conducted
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via Microsoft Teams Video Conferencing. Also
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present is DOJ/OIG Special Agent-in-Charge
, and Office of Chief Medical Examiner
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General Counsel,
. For this
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interview be recorded by me, Special Agent
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Could everyone please identify
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themselves for the record and spell your last
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name? To start, again, I am DOJ/OIG Special
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Agent
, and that's spelled
•
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MR.
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? You're on mute. Sorry.
My name is
I'm a Special Agent-in-Charge for the New
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York Field Office.
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MR.
: Ms.
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MS.
: Oh,
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General Counsel from the New York City
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Office of Chief Medical Examiner.
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MR.
: Dr.
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MS.
: I'm
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And I'm a city medical examiner at Office of
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the Chief Medical Examiner in New York.
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MR.
: Thank you, everyone. This is
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an official DOJ/OIG investigation into the
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events surrounding the death of inmate Jeffrey
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Epstein. And you are being asked to
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voluntarily provide answers to our questions.
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Will you agree to a voluntary interview with
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the DOJ/OIG?
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MS.
: Yes.
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MR.
: Before starting the
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interview, I would like to place you under
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oath. Dr.
, can you please raise your
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right hand? Do you swear to tell the truth and
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nothing but the truth during this interview?
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MS.
:
I swear.
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MR.
: Thank you. Please let me
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know if you don't understand any questions that
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I ask. I'll try to repeat it or try to
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rephrase it for you.
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7
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your background, and then get into the details
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of the autopsy itself. Can you provide us with
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a summary of your college level education,
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starting with your bachelor's degree?
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MS.
: Sure. My bachelor's degree is
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in Fine Art, and I completed that at Cooper
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Union School of Art (Phonetic Sp. *00:02:45).
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I then went back to school for pre-medical
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studies only, to Columbia University School of
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Graduate Studies, and completed the requisites,
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the pre-requisite courses for applying to
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medical school.
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I then went to medical school at SUNY
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downstate in Brooklyn, completed that, and I
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earned an MD. I did a year of residency
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training in obstetrics and gynecology. Found
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that that wasn't the right field for me, so I
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switched.
MS.
: Okay.
MR.
: We're going to start with
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I did three years of training in
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pathology. And then, I did a final year of
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fellowship training in forensic pathology. All
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of my residency training was done at King's
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County Hospital in Brooklyn, and the fellowship
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training was done here at the Office of the
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Chief Medical Examiner.
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MR.
: Okay. And the three years in
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pathology, that was done at the Office of Chief
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Medical Examiner?
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MS.
: No. That was also done at
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King's County, and not Brooklyn.
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MR.
: Okay. Now, once you do the
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three years in pathology, and you come over.
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Did you start with the Office of Chief Medical
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Examiner right after that?
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MS.
: After completing the
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fellowship year, yes.
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MR.
: Okay. And then, once you
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started at the Office of Chief Medical
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Examiner, is there specialized training that
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they sent you in for also, or -?
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MS.
: We do, to maintain our
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licenses, we do training on a weekly basis.
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And in order to be board certified, you have to
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recertify every ten years, and every year, show
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that you've done a certain amount of credits of
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training. So, I've been undergoing
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supplementary training my entire life since
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coming to the Office of the Chief Medical
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Examiner.
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MR.
: Okay. And what year did you
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earn your doctor? Did you become a doctor?
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MS.
: It was 1999 when I graduated
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from medical school.
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MR.
: Okay. And your three years
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in pathology? When did you complete that?
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MS.
: So, I did, from '99 to 2001
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was OB. And then, from 2001 to 2003 was the
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pathology training. And then, '03 to '04 was
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the fellowship training.
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MR.
'03 to '04. So, you've been
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with the Medical Examiner's Officer for almost
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20 years now?
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MS.
: Yes. I did leave for one year
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briefly. I took a job elsewhere to be second
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in command. Didn't like it. Came back. So,
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there has been a year break in service.
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MR.
: Was that recently, or going
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back a while?
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MS.
:
2013 to 2014.
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MR.
: Okay. Where did you go?
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MS.
: I went to Madison, Wisconsin
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to work at the Dane County Medical Examiner's
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Officer.
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MR.
: That's a big jump from New
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York City to Madison.
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MS.
: Oh, you aren't kidding. It's
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very different.
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MR.
: SAC
, do you have any
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questions about background?
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MR.
: Nothing from me. Thanks.
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MR.
: No problem. Prior to
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conducting -. So, are you familiar with MCC
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inmate - the Metropolitan Correctional Center
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in New York - inmate Jeffrey Epstein?
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MS.
: After his death, yes.
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MR.
: So, prior to conducting -.
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Did you conduct his autopsy?
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MS.
: I did.
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MR.
: Okay. Prior to conducting
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Jeffrey Epstein's autopsy, how many autopsies
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had you conducted? If you can give me a rough
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estimate.
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MS.
: Oh. I don't know exactly. It
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was a couple thousand.
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MR.
: Oh, okay. And do you know
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how many -? An estimate of how many of those
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autopsies resulted in the conclusion of
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suicide?
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MS.
: Again, I don't have an exact
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number, but I will say that there were an awful
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lot of suicides in Staten Island where I worked
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in Dane County. So, I've done plenty.
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Certainly more than a hundred, probably several
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hundred.
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MR.
: Wow. Okay. And did you ever
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deal with any prisoner deaths that you
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conducted autopsies for, prior to Mr. Epstein?
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MS.
: Oh, yes.
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MR.
: Okay. And how many of those
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autopsies, if you can give an estimate,
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resulted in the determination of cause of death
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by suicide?
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MS.
: So, I can remember a couple
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actually. Maybe two or three.
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MR.
: Okay. I'll come back to
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that. Anything else, SAC
, on that?
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MR.
: No. And now, doctor, these
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were deaths at the MDC, Metropolitan Detention
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Center, or was this the MCC, or what facility
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were these autopsies conducted in reference to
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their deaths?
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MS.
: I honestly don't remember.
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I'd have to look that up.
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MR.
: But they were local here in
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New York?
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MS.
: They were New York cases.
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Yes.
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MR.
: Okay.
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MS.
: I didn't do any custody cases
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at all when I was in Dane County.
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MR.
: Thanks.
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MS.
: Just to clarify, it is
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(Indiscernible *00:07:30) City Department of
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Correction --
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MR.
: Okay.
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MS.
: -- you're asking about
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federal deaths.
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MR.
: Yes, we are.
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MR.
: Okay. So, yeah.
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MR.
: Thank you for that. Dr.
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, do you recall when and where you
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conducted the autopsy of Jeffrey Epstein?
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MS.
: I did the autopsy on the 11th
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of August, 2019, and I actually have my notes
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in front of me, so I will check the --
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MR.
: Okay.
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MS.
: -- time, if you'd bear with
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me. Oh, let's see. I mean, actually, maybe I
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don't have that particular note. I don't
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remember exactly, but I know he was my only
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case that day. So, I started in the morning,
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and worked steadily through the day on him.
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MR.
: Okay. So, that was the only
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case for the day.
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MS.
: Yes.
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MR.
: And when did you become aware
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of his death?
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MS.
: We were made aware of the
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death the day prior, and we were expecting him
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to arrive the day prior, actually, on the 10th.
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MR.
: Okay. How do you get
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assigned to do Mr. Epstein's autopsy? Is that
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like a rotation? Or was it assigned to you by
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somebody?
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MS.
: It was assigned to me by
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somebody. We had initially thought he would
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come in on the 10th, and I wasn't the person
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assigned, but that person wasn't working on the
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11th, and I was chosen to do the autopsy on the
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11th.
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MR.
: Okay. Do you know who it was
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that was chosen initially?
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MS.
: Yes.
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MR.
: Do you know the name?
MS.
: Sure. It was Dr.
(Phonetic Sp. *00:09:00).
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MR.
•
. Okay. No problem.
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MS.
: Yup.
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MR.
: Did anyone else assist you
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with the autopsy?
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MS.
: Yes. I had morgue technicians
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and photographers assisting me with the
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autopsy.
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MR.
: Do you know the names off
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hand?
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MS.
: I remember the photographer is
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(Phonetic Sp. *00:09:17). And there
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were a couple of morgue techs, but the one that
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I recall is
Gosh, what's her last
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name? It's blanking. I'm blanking on
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last name. But
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MR.
: Okay. No problem. And yo,..
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said --
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MS.
:
Yeah.
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MR.
: -- there's
, and there's
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one other person. Right?
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MS.
: Yeah. And there was another
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morgue tech who sort of rotated in and out, and
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I don't remember which one that was.
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MR.
: Okay.
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MS.
: We usually don't keep track of
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that.
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MR.
: No problem.
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MS.
That's her last name.
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I know a couple (Indiscernible
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*00:09:49), and she
. Mm-hmm.
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MR.
: Thank you. Based on your
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recollection of the autopsy, is there anything
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that stood out in your mind, based on your
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examination?
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MS.
: Yeah. Definitely.
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MR.
: Do -?
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MS.
: Do you want me to --
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MR.
: Yes.
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MS.
: -- recount it for you?
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MR.
: Yes, please.
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MS.
: So, he had a really marked
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(Phonetic Sp. *00:10:07) and obvious ligature
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furrow (Phonetic Sp. *00:10:10), very
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consistent with what I typically see in a
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hanging. And he, above the furrow, had fluride
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(Phonetic Sp. *00:10:16) petechial hemorrhages
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of his facial skin, his conjunctiva, and in his
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mouth, all things that I see very frequently in
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hangings.
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MR.
: I'm going to ask you a favor.
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So, some of the terminology is going to go
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right over my head. So, and especially for
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reporting everything. Is it possible -? I
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don't know if you can, how do I say? To dumb it
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down.
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MS.
: Say it in English?
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MR.
: Yes.
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MS.
: I could do that. I'm pretty
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sure you know what ligature furrow
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MR.
: Yes.
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MS.
: -- means.
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MR.
: I do.
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MS.
: It's just a deep --
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MR.
: Yes.
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MS.
: -- abraded sort of abrasion of
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the skin. The petechiae that I'm referring to,
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and the plethora. So, plethora is purple
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discoloration of the skin from back up of
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circulation. Petechiae are pinpoint
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hemorrhages that occur with a similar
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mechanism. If the blood is cut off, and the
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small capillaries burst, you get petechial
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hemorrhages, which, they're just like pinpoint
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bleeds in the skin. So, he had them in his
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skin, in his eyes, and in his mouth.
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MR.
: Okay.
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MS.
: Yeah.
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MR.
: And is that consistent with
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suicides?
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MS.
: It's consistent with a suicide
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by hanging. Yes.
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MR.
: Right. Hanging. Can that
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also be associated with anything else, like
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strangulation, anything like that?
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MS.
: So, the petechiae can be. The
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plethora, usually not.
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MR.
: Okay. And why not the
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plethora?
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MS.
: Because the plethora really
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involves having a sustained steady pressure,
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and you usually don't get that in a
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strangulation because very rarely is a person
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going to be still for that, or submit to it,
without struggling. So, with a struggle, the
pressure is not even, and you really don't get
the plethora, and the petechiae aren't quite
distributed like his were. His were, like,
just all the way from the neck up, he had
petechiae. In strangulations, it's usually
just the eyes and mouth, not all of the skin.
So, even though they can be seen in homicidal
strangulations, they usually have a different
pattern then I saw in Mr. Epstein.
MR.
: Got it. Thank you. So, what
made you come to the conclusion that Jeffrey
Epstein's death was a suicide? Can you walk us
through that? I know you mentioned the
plethora, the petechiae, and also the ligature
itself. What all did you see that made you
come to the conclusion as suicide? Sorry.
MS.
: So, the autopsy didn't show
really any signs of a struggle. And every
single strangulation case I've had, even people
who were really impaired by intoxicants, they
struggled. So, he didn't have any marks on his
hands. He had one abrasion on his arm, which
probably was from convulsing when being
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hanging. But nothing that suggested a
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struggle. No broken fingernails. No other
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bruising anywhere.
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He was pretty much pristine, other than
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the neck and face findings. He also internally
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didn't have strap muscle hemorrhages of the
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neck. That's bleeding in the lung muscles, in
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the front of your neck. Nor did he have
9
hemorrhaging in the muscles of the back of his
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neck. That you see when it's been an
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incomplete compression, not a sustained
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compression like a hanging. So, when I don't
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see those, I'm more likely to think hanging
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than manual strangulation, or even ligature
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strangulation.
16
And then, lastly, he did have fractures of
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his thyroid cartilage and one side of his hyoid
18
bone. These are structures inside your neck.
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Then the pattern of these fractures was
20
consistent with a hanging. You see a very
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different pattern of fracturing if there has
22
been a manual compression of the neck versus a
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sustained pressure of a hanging. And the
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pattern of his fractures was that of a hanging.
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So, even without an investigation, and
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although I wanted one, just because of the
2
nature of the case, even without an
3
investigation, this case, autopsy wise, looked
4
like a very clear-cut hanging.
5
MR.
: Okay. I'm going to break
6
that down just a little bit. The hyoid --
7
MS.
: Sure.
8
MR.
: -- the hyoid bone. What is
9
that?
10
MS.
: So - there's a little worm in
11
my office, sorry - it's a U-shaped bone that
12
sits between your tongue and your larynx. Sort
13
of horseshoed like this, shaped like this,
14
right here. And its function is to aid in
15
swallowing and phonation, speaking.
16
Because it's almost like a little
17
wishbone, when somebody squeezes your neck, it
18
snaps. And if somebody squeezes your neck in a
19
homicidal fashion with un-sustained pressure,
20
it'll snap near the joints where it was
21
centrally. If your hyoid bone is pressed
22
against your spine by hanging, it fractures at
23
the tips. Maybe one. Maybe both. His is
24
fractured on the tip, on the left. So, that's
25
why I think his hyoid bone is fractured from
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hanging and not manual strangulation.
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MR.
: Okay. And what about the
3
thyroid -? What is the thyroid?
4
MS.
: So, the thyroid cartilage, I
5
think that's what you mean
6
MR.
: Yes.
7
MS.
: -- is what we refer to as,
8
like, the larynx, or the voice box. And it's
9
sort of a
It's almost shaped like a
10
butterfly inside of your throat. And it has
11
two horns at the top, which be almost like the
12
tops of butterfly wings. And those sit next to
13
the end points of the hyoid bone.
14
MR.
: Okay.
15
MS.
: So, that structure also gets
16
pressed against the spine when you hang, and
17
the tips break, and that's exactly where his
18
thyroid cartilage is fractured, on both of the
19
tips.
20
MR.
: Okay.
21
MS.
: And if it's fractured during a
22
manual strangulation, whether it's a bar type
23
or a pincher type, it usually fractures, again,
24
centrally or unevenly, not in this even
25
fashion.
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MR.
: And because there was
2
consistent - you're saying - because there was
3
consistent pressure --
4
MS.
: Yes.
5
MR.
: -- pressure on the neck, it's
6
a different type of damage that happens to the
7
hyoid bone, and also the thyroid cartilage
8
itself, and that's what you saw in Epstein
9
Jeffrey Epstein --
10
MS.
: Yes.
11
MR.
: -- and that's why you came to
12
the determination of suicide?
13
MS.
: Yes. All of these things
14
combined, lack of other trauma, beautiful
15
ligature furrow that actually peaked. You
16
know, if it's a ligature strangulation, they
17
usually don't peak upward. They're either
18
straight across, or they peak downward. His
19
peak is upward slightly. He's got the
20
plethora, the petechiae, the patterns of
21
fracturing, and no other trauma. So, all of
22
that together made this autopsy very, very
23
consistent with a suicidal hanging.
24
MR.
: When you say peak, you mean
25
the back of the actual ligature itself, on the
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back of the neck, going up?
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MS.
: Yeah. I can -. Let me see.
3
I'm going to use my phone cord to show you.
4
When you hang yourself, it hangs, and it
5
actually will sometimes make like a peak at the
6
back, right? And sometimes it isn't fully
7
circumferential. That's really classic for
8
hanging. So, Mr. Epstein had a peak, it was
9
sort of to the right and behind the ear, and it
10
was not fully circumferential. Totally
11
consistent with a hanging.
12
MR.
: And if it was circumstantial,
13
that means someone strangled him?
14
MS.
: It can, or it can mean that if
15
he has - if you are really good, if what they
16
showed me was his ligature, he didn't tie a
17
good slip knot, i.e., he didn't tie a good
18
hangman's knot. If you tie a good hangman's
19
knot, it will sometimes be circumferential just
20
because it tightens with your weight. If you
21
don't, if you have a fixed knot, you slump into
22
the ligature, and it doesn't -. It isn't
23
circumferential. So, it depends on the
24
ligature. I have a feeling he wasn't well
25
versed in the tying of hangman's knots or good
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slip knots, and that's why his isn't
2
circumferential.
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MR.
: So, what type of knot did you
4
see on the noose?
5
MS.
: So, they showed me a noose
6
with what looked like a fixed sort of granny
7
knot. And I'm not convinced that's even a
8
noose because they told me they thought this
9
was the ligature, but there was a lot of
10
confusion about what the ligature - which thing
11
was actually the ligature. And there was a lot
12
of stuff in that room. But the thing that they
13
said, this is the ligature, it had a fixed
14
knot. Not a slip knot.
15
MR.
: Okay. I kind of jumped, but
16
I'll come back to the noose part. That's later
17
on in the interview. You said there was no
18
defensive wounds. So, if someone was to - if
19
there was possibly an attack - me just putting
20
it out there - if it was an attack, there would
21
have been defensive wounds. Where else? Where
22
would you have seen the defensive wounds?
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MS.
: So, what I tend to see in
24
victims of strangulation is they have lots of
25
debris under their fingernails from fighting,
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and from trying to pull the strangling person
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off their own neck. So, you'll see a bunch of
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linear abrasions usually on the neck itself,
4
and chin, and you'll see a lot of debris under
5
the nails. He didn't have either of those
6
things. Those are usually women.
7
Being that he's a man, I would have also
8
expected more of sort of the pugilistic type of
9
injuries, because I can't imagine somebody
10
strangling a man easily without him trying to
11
punch them out. So, I would think there would
12
be some, you know, punch-type things, too, or
13
sort of contusions on the knuckles and stuff.
14
But he didn't have any of that. None of that
15
stuff.
16
MR.
: Is it possible, I mean, in
17
cases of suicide, like, once someone tries to
18
hang themselves, do they just sit there? I
19
mean, is it possible that they -? Normally
20
with a person trying, you know, last second,
21
change their mind, and try to dig in, and try
22
to stop themselves from dying?
23
MS.
: Well, that really rarely
24
happens. I've yet to see that happen. I've
25
seen hangings where people simply tie a
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1
ligature and slump forward in a chair. It
2
happens pretty quickly. You lose consciousness
3
in, like, less than a minute. And then, at
4
that point, there's really no intentional
5
activity, and you start to seize pretty
6
quickly.
7
So, there is a very small sort of envelope
8
of time, and most people are able to not fight
9
that. I mean, I rarely -. I actually can't
10
think of any case where I've seen the clawing
11
things in a hanging, even a non-complete
12
suspension hanging, which I suspect this is.
13
MR.
: No problem. SAC
, any
14
questions on that?
15
MR.
: Yes, doctor. So, the broken
16
hyoid bone and the fractured thyroid. Was
17
there any indication that these bones were
18
damaged --
19
MS.
: Mm-hmm.
20
MR.
: -- before the possible - well,
21
I guess the break, right? - but could you be
22
able to tell if there was some kind of damage
23
to those bones before you actually conducted
24
your atop?
25
MS.
: So, I had an anthropologist
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1
look at those to determine exactly that, if
2
they were fractured superimposed on old trauma,
3
or if they were just recent fractures. And
4
their opinion was that they were recent
5
fractures. It was no superimposed trauma.
6
MR.
: So, I'm guessing you were
7
familiar with the July 23rd incident where Mr.
8
Epstein tried to take his life initially?
9
MS.
: Yes. I was.
10
MR.
: And there was a noose found
11
around his neck. We were just trying to get an
12
idea if it's possible that he sustained
13
injuries during that attempt, that could have
14
also assisted, or made things, you know, the
15
broken hyoid and the thyroid cartilage could
16
have also been because of the fact of the
17
initial attempt? Could it have been broken
18
because of the damage already caused by the
19
July 23rd incident?
20
MS.
: I think probably not, just
21
based on how they appeared. They don't
22
describe any - the anthropologist - doesn't
23
describe any healing. So, there would have
24
been, if three is a refracture from a prior
25
fracture, there probably would have been some
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healing visible, and they didn't see that.
2
Also, if he had sustained that kind of
3
trauma the first time, he would have had
4
symptoms. He would have, you know, had
5
difficulty talking and swallowing, and they
6
probably would have noted that clinically. So,
7
that might be a question you direct the people
8
who took care of him after the first attempt.
9
MR.
: Okay.
10
MR.
: And just a follow up, doctor.
11
You said that people lose consciousness within
12
a minute. Is that pretty standard, you know,
13
when they attempt to hang themselves? Is that,
14
in your practice, a pretty standard time frame?
15
MS.
: So, where I'm getting that
16
information from isn't so much my practice as
17
there is a woman in Canada who researched this
18
extensively, and actually had a collection of
19
films of people hanging themselves.
20
They were judicial hangings. They were
21
in-custody hangings where there were actual
22
cameras on prisoners who had managed to hang
23
themselves. And there were people who actually
24
filmed their own hangings.
25
And on those films, there is a really
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1
consistent pattern of they hang, in about a
2
minute or less, they become limp, and then they
3
start to seize violently. And it's almost a
4
hundred percent reproducible. So, it's based
5
on sort of evidence that other people have
6
gathered as opposed to anything I've done or
7
researched on my own.
8
MR.
: Sure. Okay. No. Thank you.
9
MR.
: Is there anything else you
10
observed during the autopsy examination that
11
you thought might seem suspicious or out of
12
place? Like bruising, cuts, things like that?
13
MS.
: Nothing at all.
14
MR.
: I'm going to show you -. I'm
15
going to share a picture with you. This is
16
part of your -. Bear with me. Can you see
17
this?
18
MS.
: Yes.
19
MR.
: Do you see the cut above the
20
lip?
21
MS.
: Yeah.
22
MR.
: On him.
23
MS.
: Yeah. I do.
24
MR.
: Do you know where -? Do you
25
know what the cause of that? Is that something
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from the resuscitation, or was that -?
2
MS.
: So, there were other photos
3
that will also show cuts on the other side of
4
the lip, inside, and I think that these are
5
from resuscitative efforts. They're pretty
6
commonly seen when there is a mixture of
7
different types of resuscitation, particularly
8
if they've used a mask, or if it's somebody who
9
is - if there was any bystander resuscitation,
10
as well. So, these, to me, appeared
11
resuscitative.
12
Also, there is no, like, real bruising
13
under these. If I had thought these were from
14
some kind of impact to his face, there would be
15
bruising, and if you look at the rest of the
16
autopsy, I have the inside of his mouth
17
photographed really well, and all you see are
18
the petechiae. There is no big bruising. So,
19
these aren't impacts. These are consistent
20
with him probably being already dead when they
21
were trying to resuscitate him.
22
MR.
: Okay. And this is, this
23
picture is labeled, "Photos, I.D., Visual 001".
24
This is the picture that was taken by your
25
office. Right?
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1
MS.
:
Yes. It's taken by the
2
mortuary technicians for the purpose of showing
3
it to a family so they can identify the
4
deceased formally for us.
5
MR.
: Okay. (Indiscernible
6
*00:25:21).
7
MS.
: In the next picture, you car.
8
see the petechiae really well on his face,
9
actually.
10
MR.
: Yeah. Doctor, that was going
11
to be my question. Is this a good depiction of
12
the petechiae, was you described earlier to us?
13
The blonchyness (Phonetic Sp. *00:25:29) red in
14
his face. Is that what you typically see? The
15
petechiae.
16
MS.
: Yeah.
17
MR.
: Okay.
18
MS.
: Yeah. You can see it's
19
blotchy, and almost sort of -. It looks almost
20
like a measles rash, but it's small pinpoint
21
hemorrhages. Yeah.
22
MR.
: Okay.
23
MR.
: And you mentioned that's from
24
sustained pressure on the neck.
25
MS.
: Yes.
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MR.
: All right. I'm going to show
2
you a couple other pictures from the same
3
Tell me if you recognize this picture. It was
4
also labeled, "INV scene 004." It was provided
5
by your office. Do you recognize this?
6
MS.
: I do.
7
MR.
: Okay. So, just to give an
8
explanation. Did you have a chance to go by
9
the cell, see the cell itself?
10
MS.
: No. They wouldn't let me go
11
in and see the cell itself. I had to rely on
12
photographs.
13
MR.
: Yeah. So, it's a little
14
tough. So, just to give an explanation. Where
15
the picture, the person's point of view,
16
whoever is standing there, that's where the
17
door is, the cell door is. Now, if you look
18
in, there is a little window on the door. So,
19
when we got a chance to interview the
20
correctional officer who found Mr. Epstein, ne
21
was basically doing feeding, just to give you
22
an understanding, he was coming there early
23
morning, he was doing the feeding time, and he
24
knocked on the cell, and you see the mattress
25
on the floor?
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MS.
:
Yes.
2
MR.
: Mr. Epstein's legs were
3
sticking out. So, he was actually - and not,
4
like, to (Indiscernible *00:26:53) - I mean,
5
the mattress sticking out. Mr. Epstein was to
6
the right itself. So, he couldn't see anything
7
to the right. He called out to Mr. Epstein.
8
He didn't answer. So, he walked in.
9
And when he walked in, he couldn't explain
10
it for us, a mess like this, he explained there
11
was a lot of linens, a lot of different stuff,
12
but the mattress was there. And when he found
13
Mr. Epstein - and I'm going to show you another
14
picture - Mr. Epstein was to the right, the
15
part that we can't see in the initial picture.
16
MS.
: Yup.
17
MR.
: And he was hanging from the
18
corner over here. So, you see then, he
19
mentioned that's part of the noose. And he was
20
hanging low with his bottom, with his buttocks
21
off the ground. So, his feet was out, and his
22
buttocks was off the ground. So --
23
MS.
: Okay.
24
MR.
: -- that's how he found him.
25
So, basically, he didn't use a cutter. He
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1
actually pulled. So, I think he used all his
2
might, he panicked, so the C.O. kind of pulled
3
the noose, and the noose broke, and Mr. Epstein
4
fell to the ground, and then he wrapped his
5
arms around Mr. Epstein and dragged him out to
6
the outer area. I don't know if I have a
7
picture. Let me go back. He dragged him out
8
here. Can you see where my mouse is?
9
MS.
: Yup.
10
MR.
: He dragged him out here so he
11
could perform CPR on it, or on Mr. Epstein.
12
MS.
: Can I ask you a question
13
quickly?
14
MR.
: Yeah.
15
MS.
: So, I see that piece of stuff
16
hanging in the corner there. That is not what
17
they brought to me and called the ligature.
18
When this correction officer pulled Jeffrey
19
Epstein out to start CPR, did something remain
20
around his neck?
21
MR.
: So, he doesn't recall. He
22
thinks he took it --
23
MS.
: Ah.
24
MR.
: -- took it off. He was not a
25
hundred percent sure. Everything happened in
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1
the moment in time. One of the questions we
2
were going to ask you is, who provided you with
3
that noose?
4
MS.
: I believe -. So, I think that
5
it was given to the investigators by the EMS
6
crew who took over the -. Yeah, that's the
7
picture of how it came to us. It was in the
8
bag. And this is what they brought me.
9
MR.
: So, this is labeled, "Path
10
evidence 006." And the picture prior to this
11
was, "INV scene 009." So, this is what they
12
provided to you. And you said this didn't seem
13
This was like a -. You didn't think this
14
was the piece that cost - that was the noose
15
around his neck?
16
MS.
: Well, I'm asking because in
17
the photo you showed me a piece of stuff
18
hanging, and you tell me that the correction
19
officer pulled and ripped. This thing that
20
they gave me isn't ripped at all like it would
21
be ripped off of something. It's ripped to
22
create the strip, but it's not ripped off. So
23
24
MR.
: Okay.
25
MS.
:
I'm -.
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1
MR.
: That's the same question we
2
had.
3
MS.
: It's making me wonder if this
4
is even the ligature that they gave me.
5
MR.
: All right. So, I'm going to
6
show you another picture. This is in the same
7
set of pictures that you had to -. Sorry.
8
(Indiscernible *00:29:50).
9
MS.
: Oh, no, don't do that.
10
MR.
: This is labeled "INV scene
11
055." Right? And this is when you -. Let me
12
show you the initial picture again. You
13
notice, there's the entrance when we walk in.
14
This is the little table, stool area right
15
there.
16
MS.
: Yes.
17
MR.
: This is INV picture 005.
18
There is a toilet here. There is a stool
19
there. Now, we're going to go back to the
20
other picture. You'll notice this to the left
21
of the stool. You see that?
22
MS.
: Yes.
23
MR.
: You see that little noose
24
laying there?
25
MS.
: Yeah.
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1
MR.
: Now I'm going to give you a
2
close up over here. This is INV scene 015.
3
This seems like there was another noose that
4
was laying at the scene. I don't know if you
5
can see that a little bit better.
6
MS.
: Yeah.
7
MR.
: And this seems to have a
8
tear.
9
MS.
: It does.
10
MR.
: And if you compare it to the
11
other picture that we saw, if he pulled, if
12
this was around Mr. Epstein's neck, to me, it
13
seems like there should have been more
14
Like, it should have been tight, tightened up a
15
lot more. Like, he should have been more
16
wrinkled up because it was wrapped around his
17
neck. Right? As a noose. But it doesn't seem
18
like there was much. It looks like
Can you
19
explain the difference? By looking at it, what
20
do you think?
21
MS.
: Well, what it looks like to me
22
is that it's too tidy. And if you tell me that
23
somebody tore him off of the corner -. Like,
24
when you look at that thing that they showed
25
me, it was never clear to me how that suspended
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1
him from anything. All right? I could see him
2
putting the looped part around his neck, but I
3
can't see how this suspended him from anything.
4
There is no knot hanging anywhere or anything
5
like this.
6
And then, that other thing you showed me
7
that's by the desk apparatus, that is torn, it
8
makes more sense to me because that's got the
9
tearing that the correction officer remembers.
10
Either one of these, in terms of its shape,
11
could have caused the markings on Mr. Epstein,
12
but this one, this second one that you're
13
showing me that was never brought to me, looks
14
like a more likely candidate.
15
MR.
: Okay. Do you recall -? Do
16
you know if the initial noose that was brought
17
to you, was there any DNA testing, or any kind
18
of testing done on that noose?
19
MS.
: I didn't swab it or anything.
20
We're instructed not to do that just to submit
21
it. So, I am not sure what happened to it
22
after I bagged it up and gave it to evidence.
23
MR.
: When you say submit it, what
24
does that mean?
25
MS.
: It means that I bag it up
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again, and submit it as evidence, and then
2
whoever is investigating, the cops, you guys,
3
whoever it is, they decide whether or not to do
4
DNA testing. I don't actually order that.
5
MR.
: Okay.
6
MS.
: Because it's irrelevant to me,
7
really.
8
MR.
: SAC
, do you have any
9
questions on the pictures before -?
10
MR.
: Yes. I do. Just a follow up.
11
And I think you said this earlier. You said
12
this cloth material could have caused those
13
marks. So, regardless of what noose was used
14
here, we have several in the pictures, but what
15
you're saying is that, this type of material
16
could have caused the marks consistent of what
17
you noticed in your autopsy?
18
MS.
: Correct.
19
MR.
: Okay.
20
MR.
: And your office doesn't have
21
the second noose, you said. Right?
22
MS.
: I don't think I ever received
23
this piece of stuff that you're showing me.
24
No.
25
MR.
: Okay. And this knot. I
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know, since you mentioned hangman's noose, and
2
different nooses, do you
3
MS.
: Mm-hmm.
4
MR.
: -- can you tell what kind of
5
knot this is?
6
MS.
: Those look like fixed knots,
7
as well. They actually look like granny knots
8
to me. They don't look like knots that will
9
slide and tighten, which is one of the reasons
10
why I said that this could have just as easily
11
caused the markings.
12
MR.
: Okay. And based on the knot,
13
this was - as SAC
asked - this could have
14
been the one that - this or the other one -
15
could be the one that caused Mr. Epstein's
16
death/
17
MS.
: Yes.
18
MR.
: Okay. And this is, what kind
19
of knot is this one?
20
MS.
: That looks like another kind
21
of -. It's either a granny knot, or it's an
22
overhand knot, but it's a fixed knot. It's not
23
a sliding knot, like a slip knot or a hangman's
24
knot, which is really just a series of slip
25
knots.
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1
MR.
: So, this is in reference to
2
packed evidence, picture 006, and the other one
3
was the initial reference about the knot was
4
for INV scene 015. Okay. Anything else, SAC
5
6
MR.
: Nothing further. Thank you.
7
MR.
: All right. So, a witness,
8
basically an inmate, told the guard man that he
9
saw the C.O. who entered Epstein's cell fall to
10
the ground with Epstein when he attempted to
11
move him, or when he pulled him, whatever, he
12
couldn't describe -. He didn't give us an
13
exact explanation. But he said that he
14
actually saw the C.O. and Epstein fall to the
15
ground. In your examination, did you see any
16
bruising or anything consistent with any falls
17
that Mr. Epstein might have taken?
18
MS.
: Nope.
19
MR.
: Okay.
20
MS.
: But if he landed on top of the
21
guy, I wouldn't have seen much.
22
MR.
: Okay. And if he didn't, if
23
he landed on the floor, would there have been
24
bruising being the fact that he was already -
25
if he was already dead at this point. Would
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there have been bruising on his body?
2
MS.
: There might not have been
3
bruising, but what I might have seen might have
4
been sort of dried, not hemorrhagic abrasions.
5
Particularly if the guy pulling him was a big
6
guy and landed on top of him. That could
7
Even a dead body, if you scrape it across
8
concrete floor like that, you're going to get
9
some scraping on the skin. I wouldn't see
10
bruising, but I would see scraping most likely.
11
MR.
: And he mentioned that he
12
didn't use a cutter. Normal practices, if you
13
see somebody hanging, they use a cutter to cut
14
the rope.
15
MS.
: Mm-hmm.
16
MR.
: He didn't use a cutter. He
17
just yanked on it. Is it possible why him
18
yanking on the rope, trying to yank the rope
19
off, he could have caused - the C.O. - could
20
have caused any of the damage on Mr. Epstein's
21
neck?
22
MS.
: He certainly could have
23
augmented it. I see it in hangings without
24
that, but if he was pulling Epstein against the
25
ligature, and it snapped, that could have
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1
augmented any damage that was already there, or
2
even created some of it. Particularly, if he
3
did a short, sharp pull. It could have.
4
MR.
: Okay. And as far as you
5
recall, there was no bruising, cuts, or
6
anything else that stood out on his body, that
7
could have possibly been, like, defensive or
8
suspicious to you?
9
MS.
: Not at all.
10
MR.
: Okay. Sorry. I asked a lot
11
of questions, and I'm just making sure I'm not
12
(Indiscernible *00:36:30). SAC
, you can
13
ask anything else.
14
MR.
: Yeah.
, I don't know if
15
you want to move on to toxicology.
16
MR.
: Yes.
17
MR.
: I know there was a toxicology
18
test done, and, you know, you know, I guess the
19
question is, was there anything found in his
20
system?
21
MS.
: Let me double check that.
22
Hang on. I have the case in front of me. As I
23
recall, absolutely nothing, but let me be sure,
24
sure, sure. Since I'm under oath and all.
25
Here we go. Yup. Nothing detected.
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MR.
: And that's, and obviously,
2
contraband substances, but also anything
3
prescribed to him. Any medications that he
4
would have been on? But there was nothing in
5
his system at all?
6
MS.
: Nothing in his system at all.
7
Now, our testing doesn't cover every single
8
prescription medication --
9
MR.
: All right.
10
MS.
: -- out there. Those are often
11
targeted testing that I need to request. I saw
12
what was in the cell. There were vitamins.
13
There was Tylenol that was not opened. Those
14
things, the Tylenol will show up on our regular
15
testing. As well as, like, the other stuff he
16
was taking. I think he was taking, like, a
17
steroid, as well. None of that showed up.
18
MR.
: And in those substances, is it
19
safe to say that it would not have contributed
20
to his death?
21
MS.
: Correct.
22
MR.
: Yeah.
23
MR.
: I just have a few more
24
questions. And before I go. All right. Do
25
you recall that Mark Epstein -? Did you ever
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deal with a Mark Epstein? Jeffrey Epstein's
2
3
4
5
hired his own medical examiner to be also
6
present for the autopsy?
7
8
9
that medical examiner?
10
MS.
: Yeah. So, that was Dr.
11
(Phonetic Sp. *00:38:39).
12
MR.
: Okay. And they mentioned,
13
they told the OIG that, when they spoke with
14
you, that you needed information from the
15
correctional officer who found Jeffrey Epstein,
16
before you could make the determination on
17
cause of death, and instead of waiting on that
18
information, you actually moved forward and
19
made a determination anyway as suicide.
20
MS.
: So, what I did was, we
21
attempted to get the information from the
22
correctional officer, and I also, I wanted to
23
go and see the cell. They wouldn't allow that.
24
I wanted to see some film footage. I was
25
allowed to do that.
brother.
MS.
: I did.
MR.
: Okay. Do you recall that he
MS.
: Oh, yeah. Yup.
MR.
: Do you remember the name of
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So, there were a couple of different
2
things I wanted to do before I could ascertain
3
whether or not -. You know, and mostly, in
4
this case, it was being thorough. If he had
5
been a less high-profile person who there
6
weren't people wanting to kill, I would have
7
probably called it a hanging on the day of
8
autopsy. But this was thoroughness that made
9
me look for these things before I called it a
10
suicide.
11
MR.
: Understood.
12
MS.
: Yeah. It was pretty clear
13
cut.
14
MR.
: What information did you need
15
from the C.O.s? Like, if you ended up getting
16
to talk to them.
17
MS.
: So, what I ideally would have
18
liked to know was, how was he hanging? And was
19
this thing that they gave me the actual
20
ligature? So, I still don't think we really
21
know that, or at least I'm not as convinced as
22
I would like to be. But that was what I sort
23
of -. Was he fully hanging? Where was he
24
hanging? That kind of stuff.
25
MR.
: Okay. I just realized that
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there's one other picture I wanted to show you.
2
MS.
: Oh, good.
3
MR.
: This is INV scene 007. If
4
you notice, that's a CPAP machine that was
5
assigned to - that was given to Mr. Epstein.
6
MS.
: can you show -? I'm not
7
seeing. You need to be --
8
MR.
: Yeah.
9
MR.
: Oh, sorry.
10
MS.
: -- more width.
11
MR.
: I apologize.
12
MR.
: We can't see it,
13
Yeah.
14
MR.
: How about now?
15
MS.
: Yes.
16
MR.
: Now, this, it looks like it
17
was, this is the CPAP machine that was given to
18
- assigned to Jeffrey Epstein. And this looks
19
like the cord was inside his room. Is it
20
possible that this cord could have done it
21
also? Been used as a noose.
22
MS.
: No. No. The furrow is too
23
broad for a cord. I've seen plenty of cord
24
furrows, and this is nothing like this. This
25
is definitely a furrow from some type of
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fabric.
2
MR.
: Okay.
3
MS.
: And not a rope.
4
MR.
: Perfect. Okay. Okay.
5
MS.
: Excuse me.
6
MR.
: Is there anything -? Is it
7
something that C.O.s could have said to you, if
8
you ever got a chance to interview them, that
9
could possibly affect your conclusion on cause
10
of death?
11
MS.
: I would have been a little bit
12
more circumspect if there had been another
13
inmate in there with him who had made threats.
14
But even knowing that, that would have been
15
more thoroughness, because this doesn't look
16
anything like a strangulation. So, it would
17
have been more for completeness rather than a
18
big factor in making the determination.
19
MR.
: Okay. Based on all the --
20
MR.
: So, the
21
MR.
: -- go ahead. Sorry.
22
MR.
: -- sorry. Just to follow up o
23
that. So, in the instance, you know,
24
hypothetical, that there was another inmate in
25
that cell, is what you saw possibly consistent,
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or would be consistent with, like, this other
2
inmate helping or assisting this person hanging
3
themselves? Would that be a possibility?
4
MS.
: No. What it would be more
5
consistent with is if the other inmate benignly
6
neglecting, maybe at the request of Mr.
7
Epstein, the fact that he was hanging. You
8
know, don't call them until I'm stuck shaking
9
or whatever. You know? Yeah.
10
MR.
: Versus naturally assisting
11
(Indiscernible *00:42:31) -.
12
MS.
: It doesn't look anything like
13
a strangulation, or an
You can't really
14
assist someone to hang unless they don't have
15
the use of their arms and legs. Otherwise, you
16
really can't do that.
17
MR.
: Okay. Makes sense. Okay.
18
Thank you.
19
MS.
: Yeah.
20
MR.
: I'm sorry,
. I cut you
21
off.
22
MR.
: No, no. That explains it.
23
Based on all the information you have now, is
24
it your professional opinion that Jeffrey
25
Epstein's cause of death was suicide?
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MS.
: That's his manner of death.
2
His cause of death is hanging, and his manner
3
of death is suicide.
4
MR.
: Okay. Now, I have to ask the
5
last question. Did anyone attempt to coarse or
6
bribe you into ruling Jeffrey Epstein's death
7
as a suicide?
8
MS.
: No. No. There were a lot of
9
rumors, but no.
10
MR.
: Okay. SAC
11
MS.
: Yeah.
12
MR.
: -- anything else?
13
MR.
: Yeah. So, just to follow up
14
on that. Any calls, media, family members,
15
that type of thing, that were unwanted, that
16
you received after his death?
17
MS.
: I actually did a lot of
18
ducking of the media --
19
MR.
: Okay.
20
MS.
: -- and refusing to speak to
21
people. I did have some very unpleasant calls
22
with his family, because they weren't happy
23
with the determination of suicide. But it is
24
what it is.
25
MR.
: Now, if it was not Jeffrey
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Epstein, would you, in the normal course of
2
business, speak to the family members as often
3
as you did in this case?
4
MS.
: Absolutely. That's one thing
5
that we definitely do as medical examiners.
6
It's a very important part of my job, is
7
conveying the findings to families. The only
8
times that I do not do that is when it's a
9
homicide, for sure, and there is an ongoing
10
investigation, or a case that's suspicious for
11
homicide, then I don't talk to family members
12
because sometimes they're the perpetrators.
13
But when it's as clear cut as this, I always
14
talk to the families. As much as they need to
15
talk to me.
16
MR.
: Sure. That's all I had,
17
18
MR.
: That's all that I have, too.
19
Is there anything else? Any information you
20
think that might help us in our investigation,
21
or you think wasn't shared in the report, that
22
might be useful to us? You want to share with
23
us?
24
MS.
: No. I think I put everything
25
relevant in the report, to make it as clear as
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possible.
2
MR.
: Is there any questions that
3
you think I should have asked that I didn't ask
4
or address?
5
MS.
: No. I think you were very
6
thorough.
7
MR.
: SAC
, anything?
8
MR.
: And
, a quick question
9
for you. We have the whole report with the
10
exhibits and everything?
11
MR.
: Yes. You know what? Let me
12
show it. Let me show it to you just to
13
confirm. Let me present this. Bear with me.
14
I just want to make sure. Okay. Can you guys
15
see this?
16
MS.
: Yes.
17
MR.
: I think Attorney
can
18
speak more about it because it looks like she's
19
the one that signed off on it.
20
MS.
: Yeah.
21
MR.
: (Indiscernible *00:45:29).
22
MS.
: Unfortunately - yeah - I'm a
23
little bit of a disadvantage because I am doing
24
this call from my phone, so the images are
25
tiny.
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MR.
: Let me zoom. Is it any
2
better?
3
MS.
: Yup.
4
MR.
: I think this is a cover
5
letter. This is the letter that we sent to
6
you. And --
7
MS.
: Right.
8
MR.
: -- where you sent us the
9
report.
10
MS.
: And that was approved. That
11
green stamp is an approval from my office.
12
MR.
: Okay. And I'm just going to
13
scroll down slowly, for both of you guys, just
14
to make sure, and especially Dr.
Let me
15
know if you see that there is any records or
16
documents missing, that stands out, that you
17
can only see.
18
MS.
: Let me just say, it's going
19
to be very hard to determine that. I mean, all
20
I can tell you, I mean, it's sort of more a
21
presumption of regularity. If we issued a
22
certified copy of the medical examiner case
23
file, that means it's been really carefully
24
vetted and that it has been certified to be a
25
true and exact copy of that file. I am not
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going to be able to give you any information,
2
on this call, that would be any different from
3
that.
4
MR.
: No problem. As long as this
5
is the document you sent me, and you say this
6
has everything in it.
7
MS.
: It certainly --
8
MR.
: That's fine.
9
MS.
: -- it certainly looks like
10
it. It came to you from our Records
11
Department, but I specifically remember
12
approving the release by the Records
13
Department, and it is clear that, you know,
14
that we okayed it, and that it came from the
15
Office of Chief Medical Examiner. And as you
16
know, there is that little red sort of self-
17
protective note that I okayed the release by
18
whoever put the note there. So, it seems to me
19
that this looks exactly like what we would have
20
issued to you. There is no way for me to
21
verify that, looking at it, and I couldn't even
22
do that on, you know, a giant plasma screen,
23
either.
24
MR.
: Understood. That's all.
25
That's all. As long as you can say that this
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is the record. SAC
, do you have anything
2
else on that?
3
MR.
: No. I appreciate that. I
4
just want to (Indiscernible *00:47:31) and say
5
that we have the whole report (Indiscernible
6
*00:47:37). So, it sounds like we do. So,
7
thank you.
8
MS.
: Yeah. I mean, if there seems
9
to be some gap to you, or there is a reference
10
to something that you don't have, certainly
11
come back to us, but I assume that, by now, you
12
would have noticed anything that clear.
13
MR.
: Perfect. Anything else, SAC
14
15
MR.
: Nothing further. Thank you.
16
MR.
: Dr.
, again, thank you
17
so much for taking the time, and we appreciate
18
you talking to us. If there is anything else
19
you think that, hey, you wanted, you think that
20
we didn't ask, or you think you want to share
21
with us, feel free, through Attorney
to
22
reach back out to us, and we'll do another
23
quick interview to catch up on it.
24
MS.
: Sure.
25
MR.
: And we might have follow up
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questions. If we do, be patient with us. We
2
might come back to you and say, hey, we just
3
need another quick interview.
4
MS.
: Sure.
5
MR.
: If that's fine.
6
MS.
: You know where to find us.
7
MR.
: Yes.
8
MS.
: Absolutely. You're quite
9
welcome. Yup.
10
MR.
: And -.
11
MS.
: Good luck with everything.
12
MR.
: Thank you. And this is
13
Special Agent
The time is 4:21
14
p.m. on May 31st, 2022. I am ending the
15
recording.
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CERTIFICATE
I hereby certify that the foregoing pages
represent an accurate transcript of the
electronic sound recording of the proceedings
before the Department of Justice, Office of the
Inspector General in the matter of:
Interview of
55
, Transcriber
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Document Details
| Filename | EFTA00113165.pdf |
| File Size | 2085.0 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 85.0% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 56,090 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-11T10:41:11.875254 |