Jeffrey Esptein’s body was claimed from the New York City medical examiner’s office by his brother Mark Epstein, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Daily Beast on Friday.
The exclusive details come as Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson is preparing to issue a report on Epstein’s autopsy and a final ruling on his cause of death. Officials have previously said Epstein’s death is being investigated as a suicide.
Epstein, 66, was found unconcious Aug. 10 in a cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center where he was being held while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. He was pronounced dead about an hour later after being transported to a nearby hospital. Authorities are investigating how the federal prison apparently failed to prevent Epstein’s death.
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Epstein’s lawyers have said in court papers that Mark Epstein is their client’s only surviving next of kin. The brother, a former artist turned real-estate magnate, raised eyebrows last month when
he offered up his Florida condo as collateral for his brother’s bail.
While Mark Epstein has denied any connection to his brother’s businesses, at least one of his properties has turned up repeatedly in sex-trafficking lawsuits involving Jeffrey Epstein.
It is not immediately clear where Mark Epstein had his brother’s body transferred or if it has been buried. The medical examiner finished the autopsy exam a day after Epstein died.
