Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in 2019 from an apparent suicide while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges. However, conspiracy theories emerged that he was murdered to protect powerful individuals. While some circumstances were suspicious, investigations found no evidence anyone else was involved in his death. Video footage confirmed no one entered his cell and the autopsy found injuries consistent with suicide. While questions remain, available facts point to Epstein taking his own life despite the theories he was assassinated.

1. T H E J E F F R E Y
E P S T E I N
C O N S P I R A C Y

2. D I D J E F F R E Y E P S T E I N K I L L
H I M S E L F ?
D E B U N K I N G A W O R L D - F A M O U S C O N S P I R A C Y
T H E O R Y
Cassandra Wunderley
Critical Thinking
Westmoreland County Community
College
December 11th, 2022

3. W H AT I S A C O N S P I R A C Y T H E O R Y ?
W H E R E D I D I T O R I G I N A T E ?
• A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by
sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more
probable.
• Historically, conspiracy theories have been closely linked to prejudice, propaganda, witch
hunts, wars, and genocides.
• Conspiracy theories once limited to fringe audiences have become commonplace in mass
media, the internet, and social media, emerging as a cultural phenomenon of the late 20th
and early 21st centuries. They are widespread around the world and are often commonly
believed, some even being held by most of the population.

4. W H AT I S T H E
J E F F R E Y E P S T E I N
C O N S P I R A C Y ?
On July 6th, 2019, Jeffrey Epstein was arrested
on sex trafficking charges involving minors in
Florida and New York. One month later, on
August 10th, Epstein was found dead in his
cell. His death was ruled a suicide. As the news
of his death became public, conspiracy
theories arose that he was murdered by
powerful people in order to silence him from
exposing their involvement in his crimes.

5. I N A U G U S T O F 2 0 1 9 C E R T U S
I N S I G H T S C O N D U C T E D A P O L L
O F A M E R I C A N S O N W H E T H E R
T H E Y B E L I E V E D J E F F R E Y
E P S T E I N C O M M I T T E D S U I C I D E .
The link to that poll can be found here: https://certusinsights.com/new-
certus-poll-results-americans-split-on-cause-of-jeffrey-epsteins-death/

6. Before we can debate the conspiracy, we must first learn about the man behind it.
WHO WAS JEFFREY
EPSTEIN?

7. Jeffrey Epstein was born on January 20th, 1953, in
Brooklynn, New York. His professional career began as
a teacher at the Dalton School in Manhattan. Soon
after leaving teaching, Epstein got involved in banking
and finance. He worked at Bear Stearns in the Early
1980’s. Shortly after, he founded his own firm, J.
Epstein and Co., in 1982, advertising his services for
those with assets worth more than $1 billion — and
was soon managing billions of dollars in client assets.
By 1992, he owned the largest private residence in
Manhattan. For tax purposes, he ran his business from
the island of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands since
at least 1996, and near that island, he owned the island
of Little St. James.

8. T I M E L I N E O F T H E A L L E G AT I O N S
A G A I N S T J E F F R E Y E P S T E I N
• In 2005, “A 14-year-old girl and her parents accused Epstein of molesting her at his Palm Beach mansion. After
an acquaintance and classmate allegedly took her to his home, they said that she gave him a massage in
exchange for money. While searching his trash, police later discovered a phone message with her name on it, as
well as a paper slip with the names and phone numbers of other girls. In October, the Palm Beach police were
issued a warrant to search his home. ”- The Miami Herald
• May 2005, Epstein and two of his assistants were charged with multiple counts of unlawful sex with a minor,
and the case was referred to a grand jury in Palm Beach. After hearing from just one victim, the grand jury
indicted Epstein on one count of solicitation of prostitution but did not include that the victim was a minor in its
charges.
• July 2006, the FBI opened a federal investigation into Epstein’s criminal activities and began interviewing
witnesses and victims in Florida, New York, and New Mexico in November.

9. E P S T E I N ’ S A L L E G AT I O N S C O N T ’ D
• June 2008, Epstein is sentenced to 18 months in jail, and must register as a sex offender twice a year in Florida.
• July 2009, Epstein is released from prison five months early.
• September 2009, dozens of women file civil lawsuits against Epstein claiming he had molested them when they
were underage.
• From 2015-2017 Epstein is hit with several more lawsuits, some of which were settled out of court. One settled
case was filed by Virginia Giuffre, who filed a lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, alleging that Maxwell assisted
and participated with Epstein sexually abusing her from 1999-2002. Another case was filed by a woman who
went by Jane Doe, who accused Epstein and Donald Trump of raping her in 1994 when she was only 13 years
old. She later dropped the charges.
• July 2019, Epstein is arrested on charges of child sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. He
pleaded guilty and was held without bond. The following week, a dozen new people had come forward with
accusations of sexual abuse against the financier.

10. After becoming successful, Epstein befriended many powerful people from
celebrities, to royalty and politicians.
In 2002, Epstein described his famous
friends as a “collection” of sorts, saying, “I
invest in people — be it politics or science.
It’s what I do.” (Jane Coaston, 2020)
“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York
magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he
likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the
younger side.” (Hallemann, 2022)

11. C E L E B R I T I E S I N V O L V E D W I T H J E F F R E Y E P S T E I N
• PRINCE ANDREW
• ALAN DERSHOWITZ
• EMMY TAYLOR
• SARAH KELLEN
• EVA DUBIN
• GLEN DUBIN
• JEAN LUC BRUNEL
• NADIA MARCINKOVA
• BILL CLINTON
• MARVIN MINSKY
• HENRY JARECKI
• NAOMI CAMPBELL
• RON EPPINGER
• STEPHEN HAWKING
As previously discussed, many conspiracies arose declaring that Epstein was murdered by powerful people who wanted to silence
Epstein for fear of being identified as participants in the alleged sex crimes. Initially, celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres, John
Legend, Chrissy Teigen and Oprah Winfrey were associated with the list of people on Epstein’s flight logs to Epstein Island, where
the crimes allegedly occurred. It was later made known that those celebrities were wrongly linked to those flight logs.
Unfortunately, it was too late, because the public had already made up their minds to associate them with Epstein. Here is the
actual list that was released by Newsweek Magazine: (Nolan,2020)

12. F A C T S A B O U T E P S T E I N ’ S D E AT H
In order to determine whether Epstein committed suicide,
or was murdered in his cell, we must separate the facts
from fiction. In conspiracies, there is so much
misinformation, and we need to distinguish between truth
and untruth.

13. F A C T S I N E P S T E I N ’ S D E AT H
• Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correction Center at
6:30 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2019. His death was ruled a suicide.
• The medical examiner determined he hung himself by his bedsheet.
• The guard who found Epstein claims to have cut him down off the bedsheet.
• There is video evidence proving that no one entered or exited Jeffrey’s cell on the
night of his death.
• One month prior to his death, on July 23rd, Epstein attempted suicide but failed.
• Two days before his death, Epstein signed a new will leaving his estate of nearly
$600 million to a new trust.
• Epstein was facing up to 45 years in prison if convicted of the charges against him.

14. S P E C U L AT I O N S S U R R O U N D I N G
E P S T E I N ’ S D E AT H
• Claims surrounding the case say that someone entered the cell and murdered him.
• Epstein’s brother, Mark, claims that Jeffrey Epstein did not commit suicide. He claims that “Jeffrey
wasn’t a wimp.” (Parker, 2020)
• Mark Epstein posted a picture of a clean bedsheet without and blood or cuts in it, claiming that the
supposed bedsheet used had not been cut, proving that the guard couldn’t have cut him down.
• Two of the guards who were on duty at the time of Epstein’s death admitted to not conducting their
checks on Epstein, and falsifying records to say that they did. This led to claims that someone had
entered the cell when the guards were unaware.
• Epstein’s brother hired a forensic pathologist that suggested that Epstein may have been strangled. He
claimed that Epstein’s injuries “are extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more
commonly in homicidal strangulation.”

15. E X P L A N AT I O N S D E B U N K I N G T H E
C O N S P I R A C Y
• There is absolutely no evidence that anyone entered Jeffrey Epstein’s cell. Video footage from
that night proves that Jeffrey was alone the night he died.
• Mark Epstein claimed that Jeffrey was not suicidal, however it was proven that Epstein had tried
to kill himself just a month before. He also had changed his will two days prior, which indicated
he was preparing for his death.
• Epstein’s brother also claimed the bedsheet used had not been cut, however evidence shows
that several bedsheets had been tied into nooses, and the picture he was showing wasn’t
necessarily the one used in his death.
• The guards on duty did not claim there was any foul play.
• Even though the pathologist that Mark Epstein hired claimed that the broken bones in Epstein's
neck might indicate strangulation, evidence proves that these same neck breaks can be found in
suicidal hangings as well.

16. FA C T S V S S P E C U L AT I O N
When we look at all the information, the only facts in the death of Jeffrey
Epstein point to suicide. There is simply no concrete evidence of murder.
Though some of the speculation is compelling, it cannot be proven. Jeffrey
Epstein was alone in his cell, no one came in, no one came out. There isn’t
a shred of evidence tying any celebrities or politicians to any involvement
in his death, even though it can be believed that many could’ve possibly
suffered severe consequences if Epstein were to incriminate them. Based
on the evidence, as hard as it may be to believe, it can only be said that
Jeffrey Epstein did, in fact, take his own life.

17. R E F E R E N C E S
• Hallemann, C. (2022, June 28). What We Do and Don't Know About Jeffrey Epstein. Retrieved from
Town and Country Magazine: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-
power/a28352055/jeffrey-epstein-criminal-case-facts/
• Jane Coaston, A. N. (2020, January 16). The life and death of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, explained.
Retrieved from VOX: https://www.vox.com/2018/12/3/18116351/jeffrey-epstein-case-indictment-
arrested-trump-clinton
• Jeffrey Epstein. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Epstein
• Nolan, E. (2020, July 30). Every Celebrity Named in Jeffrey Epstein Files. Retrieved from Newsweek:
https://www.newsweek.com/every-celebrity-named-jeffrey-epstein-files-1521985
• Parker, T. (2020, January 9). Epstein's brother: jail cell photos show Epstein didn't kill himself. Retrieved
from ABC 25WPBF News: https://www.wpbf.com/article/epsteins-brother-jail-cell-photos-show-Epstein-
didn’t-kill-himself/30461055