--- alias: - Michael M. Baden - Dr. Michael Baden category: Scientists & Researchers created: 2026-09-25 location: New York, New York relations: - fn: 1 role: forensic pathologist retained to observe the autopsy start: 2019-08 type: contractor_to with: '[[Mark Epstein]]' - end: 1979 fn: 3 role: chairman, forensic pathology panel start: 1977 type: member_of with: '[[House Select Committee on Assassinations]]' - fn: 1 role: chief medical examiner, dismissed by Mayor Edward Koch type: head_of with: '[[Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York]]' summary: Michael Baden is the former New York City chief medical examiner who observed Jeffrey Epstein's autopsy for his brother and said the three neck fractures pointed toward homicidal strangulation rather than suicide. tags: - Person - ForensicPathology - JeffreyEpstein - DeathInCustody - JFKAssassination - HSCA - Autopsy updated: 2026-09-25 --- Michael Baden is an American forensic pathologist and former chief medical examiner of [New York City](/places/new-york-city/) who, retained by [Mark Epstein](/people/mark-epstein/), observed the August 11, 2019 autopsy of his brother [Jeffrey Epstein](/people/jeffrey-epstein/) and later said that the three fractures found in Epstein's neck were "extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more commonly in homicidal strangulation." The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner, which ruled the death a suicide by hanging, said it stood "firmly" behind its finding. Baden earlier chaired the forensic pathology panel of the [House Select Committee on Assassinations](/events/hsca/), which reviewed the medical evidence in the assassination of [John F. Kennedy](/people/john-f-kennedy/).[^1][^2][^3] ### Career Baden served briefly as New York City's chief medical examiner before Mayor Edward Koch dismissed him about a year later. From 1977 to 1979 he chaired the Select Committee's panel of forensic pathologists, which re-examined the Kennedy autopsy materials and supported the single-bullet conclusion of the [Warren Commission](/events/warren-commission/) while criticizing the conduct of the original autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He later testified or consulted in high-profile cases including the 1995 murder trial of O. J. Simpson, and by 2020 estimated that he had performed more than 20,000 autopsies over a 45-year career.[^1][^3] ### The Epstein Autopsy Epstein was found hanged in his cell in the Special Housing Unit of the [Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York](/places/metropolitan-correctional-center-new-york/) at about 6:30 a.m. on August 10, 2019. Dr. Kristin Roman, the city medical examiner who performed the autopsy the next day with Baden present, initially listed the manner of death as "pending." Days later Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson announced that she had reviewed additional evidence and ruled the death a suicide by hanging; she did not disclose the additional evidence, and sources told 60 Minutes that one element was Epstein's apparent attempt on July 23. Toxicology found no medications or illegal drugs.[^1][^4] Autopsy photographs showed fractures of the left and right thyroid cartilage and of the left hyoid bone. "I have never seen three fractures like this in a suicidal hanging," Baden said on 60 Minutes in January 2020. "Going over a thousand jail hangings, suicides in the New York City state prisons over the past 40 to 50 years, no one had three fractures." He cited petechial hemorrhages on Epstein's face, mouth, and eyes as often indicating strangulation, and noted contusions on both wrists, an abrasion on the left forearm, and deep hemorrhage in the left shoulder muscle. He said that no photograph existed of the body as it was found in the cell: "if this was called a suicide without all that information, it was a premature judgment." The medical examiner's office photographed at least two nooses made from orange bedsheet strips on the cell floor, and the one collected as evidence had both ends folded and hemmed rather than cut; [Michael Thomas](/people/michael-thomas/), the officer who found Epstein, told investigators he ripped the cloth from the bunk.[^1][^5] Sampson answered Baden's October 2019 Fox News appearance by telling the [New York Times](/organizations/new-york-times/) that "in general, fractures of the hyoid bone and the cartilage can be seen in suicides and homicides," and told the Associated Press, "You can't draw a conclusion from one finding. Everything about the case has to be considered." Of the other pathologists consulted by 60 Minutes, one agreed that the three fractures were very uncommon and another said such neck trauma was associated with both hanging and strangulation, especially in older men; Epstein was 66.[^1] ### The Official Findings The Justice Department's Inspector General, in its June 2023 report on Epstein's custody, relied on the account of the medical examiner who performed the autopsy: that Epstein's injuries were consistent with suicide by hanging and that there were no defensive wounds, no marks on his hands, no broken fingernails or debris beneath them, no knuckle contusions, and no bruising other than an arm abrasion "likely due to convulsing from hanging." The report does not mention Baden or the fractures. A July 7, 2025 memorandum from the [Justice Department](/organizations/department-of-justice/) and the [Federal Bureau of Investigation](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) cited "the August 19, 2019 autopsy findings" of the medical examiner as consistent with suicide; the Inspector General dates the autopsy to August 11. In March 2026 the [Miami Herald](/organizations/miami-herald/) reported that Baden continued to maintain that the injuries were more consistent with strangulation.[^2][^4][^6][^7] [^1]: "Jeffrey Epstein's autopsy: A closer look." *CBS News, 60 Minutes,* January 5, 2020. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-autopsy-a-closer-look-60-minutes-2020-01-05/ (Baden retained by Epstein's brother and present at the autopsy; fractures, petechiae, other injuries; Roman's "pending" classification and Sampson's ruling; noose photographs; Sampson and AP quotes; Koch dismissal; Simpson trial; 20,000 autopsies). [^2]: "Jeffrey Epstein's Death Looks Like Murder Not Suicide, Forensic Expert Tells '60 Minutes'." *CBS New York,* January 2020. https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/jeffrey-epstein-murder-60-minutes/ ; "Jeffrey Epstein's autopsy more consistent with homicidal strangulation than suicide, Dr. Michael Baden reveals." *FOX 32 Chicago,* October 30, 2019. https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/jeffrey-epsteins-autopsy-more-consistent-with-homicidal-strangulation-than-suicide-dr-michael-baden-reveals [^3]: *Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives.* Washington: Government Printing Office, 1979, and Appendix Volume VII (forensic pathology panel, Michael M. Baden, chairman). https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Report 23-085, June 2023, pp. iii to iv and 2. https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23-085.pdf (autopsy August 11, 2019; toxicology; medical examiner's account to the OIG). [^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General. *Investigation and Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Custody, Care, and Supervision of Jeffrey Epstein at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, New York.* Report 23-085, June 2023. https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23-085.pdf (p. 1 and pp. 70 to 71, Thomas's account of ripping the cloth from the bunk). [^6]: U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Memorandum on review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein, July 7, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1407001/dl?inline= [^7]: Brown, Julie K. "Tova Noel, the prison guard who worked night of Epstein's death, was born in Antigua and lived a number of years on STX." *Miami Herald* via *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 27, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/ap/tova-noel-the-prison-guard-who-worked-night-of-epstein-s-death-was-born-in/article_e0fd90de-fa08-4667-9bff-838a8e591755.html