Seven years after Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell, the medical examiner who handled his autopsy is publicly explaining why she did not immediately rule his death a suicide. Dr. Kristin Roman says she held off on making a final call because she wanted to see Epstein’s cell for herself and question the officer who found him before signing the paperwork. Her interview transcript is among the materials released this year in the government’s sprawling Epstein files.
The autopsy doctor speaks
The newly public interview shows Roman initially checked “pending studies” on Epstein’s death certificate instead of immediately choosing suicide or homicide, and that she later signed on to her office’s suicide finding. According to Business Insider, Roman told investigators she was “being thorough” and wanted more detailed scene information before locking in the manner of death.
Roman said that, overall, “it was pretty clear cut” that Epstein had hanged himself, but she also pointed to photos of the cell and several makeshift nooses as factors that made an instant ruling less straightforward. The outlet reports that she described the location of Epstein’s hyoid fracture in a way she told investigators fit a hanging rather than manual strangulation.
Autopsy split: experts still disagree
The autopsy remains a flashpoint. The private pathologist brought in by Epstein’s family, Dr. Michael Baden, has long argued that multiple fractures in Epstein’s neck are “more indicative” of homicidal strangulation than suicide, as reported in 2019 by NPR. The city medical examiner’s office and federal watchdogs, meanwhile, have treated the medical record as consistent with suicide. The Justice Department inspector general laid out that watchdog review and its recommendations in a June 2023 report by the DOJ OIG.
Files release reopened the debate
Roman’s transcript surfaced after the Justice Department began a massive records release under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The disclosure has dumped photos, videos and interview transcripts into the public record and sparked fresh questions about what is still being withheld and why. As CBS News reported, the department’s January release alone included more than three million pages and thousands of images and videos that journalists, lawyers and lawmakers are still sorting through.
Oversight and legal fallout
The new trove has also dragged the Metropolitan Correctional Center’s supervision problems back into the spotlight. The inspector general’s investigation faulted MCC staff for failing to conduct required checks and documented how two employees were indicted for falsifying rounds and inmate counts before entering deferred-prosecution agreements that were later resolved, according to that DOJ OIG report.
Roman’s interview now puts the autopsy’s lead physician clearly on the record about why she paused, and why she ultimately backed her office’s suicide ruling. With private pathologists and Epstein’s family still pushing alternative theories, and federal watchdogs detailing basic operational failures at the MCC, the newly released transcript is far more likely to fuel fresh argument than to close the book for New Yorkers who have been following the case.
