The suspicious death of convicted sex predator Jeffrey Epstein remains one of the biggest so-called mysteries out there.
Did he kill himself? Was he killed by high-powered individuals who wanted him to keep quiet?
Now FBI officials have come forward to say exactly how Epstein died, and have tried to squash any conspiracy theories around the disgraced mogul’s death.
Previously, the Department of Justice had promised to release all the files on Epstein’s death but has failed to do so for months. Now, the FBI emphatically declared that Epstein’s death in 2019 was a suicide — and despite the refusal to release the files, claims there was zero evidence to suggest there was a conspiracy or foul play.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and Director Kash Patel have both said Epstein took his own life in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City.
“I have reviewed the case. Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. There’s no evidence in the case file indicating otherwise,” said Bongino, a former conservative talk radio host.
I haven’t done any media interviews to this point because I want to keep the attention on the work. I don’t work for myself anymore, I work for you.
But it is important to relay to you what we’re doing, and the media can be a tool for that. That’s why we chose a long-form…— Dan Bongino (@FBIDDBongino) May 18, 2025
“I’m not asking you to believe me, or not. I’m telling you what exists, and what doesn’t. If new evidence surfaces I’m happy to reevaluate.”
Epstein’s sudden death in 2019 has long been subject to conspiracy theories and claims that foul play was involved.
Many conspiracy theories suggested that some of the rich and famous clients Epstein served over the years may have been interested in having him silenced just days before his trial was set to begin.
However, during a Senate hearing earlier this month, Patel — who once questioned the evidence — said he now believed Epstein’s death to be a suicide and nothing more.
“Listen, they have a right to their opinion,” Patel told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” about skeptics of his assessment.
“As someone who has worked as a public defender, as a prosecutor, who’s been in that prison system, who’s been in the Metropolitan Detention Center, who’s been in segregated housing, you know a suicide when you see one, and that’s what that was.”
Bongino backed up Patel during a joint interview with Maria Bartiromo this weekend
“He killed himself,” Bongino said. “I have seen the whole file. He killed himself.”
Epstein was reportedly found dead with bedsheets around his neck in his jail cell on Aug. 10, 2019, just over a month after his arrest.
On the day of his death, two guards fell asleep and did not check on him every 30 minutes as required, according to the New York Times.
Swirls of conspiracy theories over his death began after cameras pointed at the hallway outside his cell also malfunctioned and had been broken previously, according to multiple reports.
Initially, a medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide.
However, Epstein’s family hired forensic pathologist Michael Baden, who concluded that based on the evidence, a homicide was far more likely than a suicide.
Baden pointed to specific fractures in Epstein’s thyroid cartilage and hyoid bone that he claimed were more likely the result of strangulation. Other experts cast doubt on that assessment — including FBI officials who now clearly say his death was a suicide.