Lawyer thinks Jeffrey Epstein did a ‘cost-benefit analysis and thought he’d be better off dead’

Jeffrey Epstein’s former lawyer says the pedophile took his own life because he believed it wasn’t worth continuing.

Speaking on aturday, Alan Dershowitz said he doesn’t believe rumors that the 66-year-old was murdered at Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York last Saturday as he awaited trial on allegations of sex trafficking children.

The attorney, who represented the billionaire in his 2007 trial for soliciting a minor for prostitution, says Epstein was simply thinking like the financier he was.

‘I’m not a conspiracy-theory person. I think it was just a suicide,’ Dershowitz told Page Six. ‘I think he killed himself because he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life in prison. He did a cost-benefit analysis and thought he’d be better off dead.

Alan Dershowitz (left) doesn’t believe rumors 66-year-old Jeffrey Epstein (left) was murdered at Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York last Saturday

A coroner confirmed Friday that Epstein died by suicide however an investigation is underway by FBI and Justice Department as the outraged public opined he should not have been given the opportunity to kill himself.

Epstein allegedly tried to take his own life on July 23 and was discovered semiconscious on the floor of a cell he shared with an ex-cop awaiting trial for murdering four people.

Conspiracy theories suggested Epstein may have been killed to protect other high profile names in his circles who may have been implicated in crimes attached to the billionaire.

That inmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, has since been cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident his lawyer has claimed.

While Dershowitz agrees, there wasn’t anyone else involved, he does think further probing is required.

‘There should be a thorough investigation . . . He never should have been taken off of suicide watch,’ he continued.

According to prosecutors, Epstein sexually exploited dozens of teenagers at his homes in Manhattan and Florida between 2002 and 2005.

Virginia Giuffre has alleged she was forced to have sex with the American celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz. He has accused Giuffre of being ‘a complete and total liar’

He denied the charges but faced up to 45 years in jail if found guilty.

Epstein had set up his own foundation, which donated $6.5million to Harvard University to establish an ‘evolutionary dynamics’ program.

This donation earned the praise of none other than celebrated legal mind and Harvard professor Dershowitz – who went on to represent Epstein when he was accused of sex crimes in 2007 – who described it as ‘brilliant’.

In 2007, Dershowitz, now 80, helped broker the plea deal that saw Epstein spend just 13 months in a county jail in Florida after admitting a single state charge of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

He also successfully helped British socialite Claus von Bulow overturn his conviction for the attempted murder of his wife and was part of O.J Simpson’s legal team when he was acquitted of murder.

Virginia Giuffre has alleged she was forced to have sex with the American celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz.

Giuffre said she had performed sexual acts on Dershowitz, an allegation he has repeatedly and vehemently denied. He has accused Giuffre of being ‘a complete and total liar.’

The Epstein accuser also makes the allegations about Prince Andrew, former US Senator and architect of the Northern Irish peace deal George Mitchell, and ex-New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.

Dershowitz denies ever being friends with Epstein.

‘I haven’t seen him in years,’ he told the Post. ‘We never had a friendship. I have no personal feelings. He was a client and someone who I had academic contact with. We didn’t have a personal relationship.’