Mark Epstein calls suicide probe a sham, says he fears that he and his children will be murdered

A defiant Mark Epstein is lashing out at federal officials in the wake of his brother Jeffrey’s death. 

In a rare interview with Julie Brown of the Miami Herald, Mark says that the investigation into his brother’s suicide was both incomplete and inconclusive, making it impossible to determine his cause of death.

Mark also reveals that even he has seen no evidence to support the New York City Medical Examiner’s conclusion that his brother committed suicide, and cannot think of a single reason why the pedophile would have taken his own life.

He now says that he fears he or his family members could be targeted by the same individuals who may have wanted Jeffrey dead, and implores those who so quickly labeled the death a suicide to take another look at the case.

‘It’s all very suspicious, too much to be a coincidence,’ says Mark.

 

Murder he wrote: Mark Epstein (above in August) says that his life and the life of his family members could be at risk in an interview with Julie Brown for the Miami Herald

In the interview, Mark makes it clear that he cannot accept the idea that his brother would want to take his own life. 

‘I could see if he got a life sentence, I could then see him taking himself out, but he had a bail hearing coming up,’ explains Mark. 

He later goes into more detail, arguing: ‘He had a bail hearing in two days. He agreed to be on house arrest. He was going to hire armed guards to keep an eye on him at his own expense.’

Mark then adds: ‘He was the most recognizable person on the planet. Where is he going to run and hide?’ 

At the same time, it is unclear how he would be able to make that determination given his own description of the relationship he had with Jeffrey prior to his death.

‘Jeffrey and I were not that close, we shared brother stuff, but I was not involved in what he was doing,’ reveals Mark. 

‘When he first got in trouble he called me. We were very straight with each other. I wasn’t going to lecture him.’ 

Mark, as well as the man he hired to attend his brother’s autopsy, also express their frustrations about the manner in which the cause of death was determined and the lack of evidence that was provided to them in support of that conclusion. 

Dr. Michael Baden, the man hired by Mark, believed that the cause of death was most likely strangulation after observing medical examiner Kristin Roman perform Jeffrey’s autopsy.

He was not positive however, and claims Roman was similarly unsure, so both determined that they should note the results were pending further investigation. 

Dr Baden explains that he was then shocked to hear New York City Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson declare the death a suicide just five days later, despite the fact that key players in the case had not been interviewed and there was no evidence.

‘Everything we have is from two guards, who immediately lawyered up and refused to say anything,’ points out Dr. Baden. 

Dr Baden also claims that he determined further investigation was needed

Dr Baden also claims that he determined further investigation was needed

‘We have one photograph that shows the ligature laid out on the ground, which, if that’s the way it was found, it looks like it was a planted kind of scene because that’s not the way it would have been found if the guards had cut it.’

That suggests that the investigation was launched with a predetermined conclusion says the forensic pathologist, who also served as the medical examiner for New York City. 

‘Once you decide that it’s a suicide, you don’t do the same kind of evidence collection that you would if you considered it a suspicious death,’ explains Dr Baden, who is one of if not the most noted medical examiners in the country.

‘It is amazing how much information you can get by interviewing the prisoners in the nearby cell. Would the FBI have interviewed them if they thought it was a suicide?’

And while a lawyer for the former cellmate who allegedly attacked Jeffrey weeks before his death vehemently denies rumors that his client might have been involved in a plot to kill the pedophile, even he notes that officials did not conduct a proper probe.

‘I don’t know how they did a thorough investigation when they haven’t interviewed my client,’ notes Bruce A. Barket, the attorney for Nicholas Tartaglione.

Three months after his death, officials have still not released any details at all about the case, and what little has been revealed has come from Dr Baden and not the medical examiner’s office.

This has left Mark concerned that he and his children could suffer a fate similar to Jeffrey’s at the hands of a person or persons that officials have no interest in trying to identify. 

‘Jeffrey knew a lot of stuff about a lot of people,’ notes Mark. 

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk