JEFFREY Epstein’s death has been confirmed as a suicide by hanging after the billionaire paedo was found dead in his cell last week.
The 66-year-old disgraced financer was found dead with marks around his neck, a medical examiner in New York has confirmed.
Epstein was to face a 45-year prison sentence if convicted of multiple counts of sexually abusing underage girls.
His death sparked outrage as many believed he was “dodging justice.”
The paedo was found dead in his prison cell on 10 August while awaiting trial on child sex charges.
A spokeswoman from the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that Epstein hanged himself.
Aja Worthy-Davis, a spokeswoman from the Office of Chief Medical Examiner said: “We are sending the determination out very shortly.
“It is suicide by hanging.”
He had been on suicide watch at the prison, having been found with marks around his neck earlier on 23 July – but sources report he was taken off watch after just one week.
Epstein’s suicide by hanging came just 12 days after being removed from the suicide watch.
Guards, who were meant to be overseeing the 66-year-old, reportedly fell asleep for three hours before he hanged himself and then faked the logs to cover their mistakes.
The two guards in the special housing unit where Epstein was held should have been checking on him every 30 minutes, according to protocol.
But they had actually been asleep for some or all of the three hours at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, officials told the New York Times.
Epstein, 66, was found “unresponsive” in his cell at around 6.30 am local time last Saturday, according to an official statement.
Staff at the Metropolitan Correctional Center tried to revive him, and he was eventually taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
It is suicide by hanging
Aja Worthy-Davis, Office of Chief Medical Examiner
His death came hours after a Manhattan court released a 1,200-page dossier detailing lurid abuse allegations against him.
The billionaire was arrested on July 6 and pleaded not guilty to federal charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls as young as 14.
Epstein was already a registered sex offender after pleading guilty in 2008 to Florida state charges of unlawfully paying a teenage girl for sex.
Prior to his conviction, he had counted the rich and powerful, including U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton, among his associates.
Attorney General William Barr, who ordered an investigation after the death, said officials had uncovered “serious irregularities” at the prison.
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