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Medical examiner dismisses doubts about Epstein autopsy

FILE - This March 28, 2017, file photo, provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry, shows Jeffrey Epstein. Dr. Michael Baden, a pathologist hired by Jeffrey Epstein's brother, says he believes the financier's death at a New York City jail was a murder, not suicide. Baden told Fox News on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019, that some injuries found on the 66-year-old Epstein's body "are extremely unusual in suicidal hangings" and more consistent with "homicidal strangulation." (New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — The medical examiner who ruled Jeffrey Epstein’s death a suicide is immediately pushing back against the suggestion by a longtime forensic pathologist hired by Epstein’s family that some of the evidence indicates homicide.

New York City Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson says Wednesday she stands “firmly” behind her findings. The autopsy report appeared to put much speculation about the 66-year-old financier’s death to rest.

Dr. Michael Baden reignited conspiracy theories Wednesday when he said on Fox News that fractures to Epstein’s larynx and hyoid bone are more consistent with homicidal strangulation.

Other experts have said the hyoid bone often breaks in suicidal hangings.

Baden was in the room for the autopsy, but he cautioned that his observations weren’t conclusive.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center with a bedsheet around his neck on Aug. 10.