Barbara Sampson

Background

Dr. Barbara Sampson has served as Chief Medical Examiner of New York City since 2013. The OCME is responsible for investigating violent, sudden, and suspicious deaths in the five boroughs of New York City.

Ruling on Epstein’s Death

Following Jeffrey Epstein’s death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10, 2019, the OCME conducted an autopsy. On August 16, 2019, Dr. Sampson announced the official ruling: suicide by hanging.

Her ruling acknowledged the presence of multiple neck bone fractures, including a fractured hyoid bone, but stated these findings were “not inconsistent” with suicide by hanging, particularly in older men.

Controversy

Independent forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, hired by Epstein’s brother Mark, disputed Sampson’s findings. Baden publicly stated that the pattern of injuries including the number and type of neck fractures was more consistent with homicidal strangulation than with suicide.

Sampson maintained the suicide ruling despite Baden’s public challenge. The controversy was never definitively resolved at the official level.

DOJ IG Report

The DOJ Inspector General’s 2023 report investigated the circumstances of Epstein’s death and found no evidence of homicide. The report focused on the institutional failures at MCC rather than re-examining the forensic findings.