Americans are deeply split on whether disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was murdered or committed suicide — and even most those who say he hanged himself in his jail cell say it happened because authorities turned a blind eye.
A Certus Insights poll found 35% believe Epstein was murdered, and 37% believe his death two weeks ago was a suicide. Self-identified Republicans were most likely to suspect murder, with 40% saying his demise was orchestrated.
Among those who said his death was a suicide, 53% said they still see something fishy, suspecting that prison guards “intentionally gave him the opportunity.” Again, Republicans were more suspicious.
The poll results were released by Ron Faucheux, Certus’s chief analyst, in his daily Lunchtime Politics newsletter.
Epstein was in jail awaiting trial on federal charges. Prosecutors said he maintained a network of teen girls he paid to perform sexual acts, and also paid them to recruit other teens to join the network.
He had pleaded guilty to a prostitution solicitation charge in Florida a decade ago, as part of a deal with federal prosectors in that state who agreed not to pursue a more extensive case against him.
But after a Miami Herald investigation, federal prosecutors in New York brought a new case.
He was found hanged in his jail cell at the Manhattan Correctional Center on Aug. 10, just after a judge released thousands of pages of documents from a previous civil lawsuit. Among those documents were detailed allegations of prominent figures to whom Epstein was alleged to have provided young girls.
Those connections have helped spawn theories about Epstein’s death, fueling the doubts seen in the Certus polling.
The Justice Department has vowed to get to the bottom of Epstein’s situation, both in terms of the initial prosecution decisions and his death while in federal custody.
Attorney General William P. Barr has also said the department will continue to look into criminal activity related to the alleged network of girls, and will consider prosecution of co-conspirators.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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