Short answer up-front
No, the newly released “missing minute” of hallway video does not prove someone slipped into Jeffrey Epstein’s cell and killed him. Justice-Department technicians say every camera in the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) resets at 11:59 p.m., creating the same 62-second gap every night. Yet celebrity pathologist Dr. Michael Baden—who still believes Epstein was likely murdered—insists there are other red flags.
So, which facts are solid and which are still murky? Let’s rewind the tape.
The One-Minute Mystery That Isn’t
Last week the DOJ posted ten straight hours of security footage from the corridor leading to Epstein’s tier. Internet sleuths zeroed in on a gap from 11:58:58 p.m. to 12:00:00 a.m.—exactly 62 seconds of static. Some cried cover-up.
What the records show
- U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters the gap “appears every single night because the 1990s-era system reboots at a minute to midnight.” Newsmax link
- Spot checks of other MCC cameras from earlier dates show the same hiccup, lending weight to Bondi’s claim (DOJ release, 2025-07-07).
Unverified: The Daily Mail article asserts Dr. Baden “dismissed” the killer-during-gap theory; no independent source confirms he ever said that.
Meet the Man Behind the Murder Theory
Dr. Michael Baden is forensic pathology’s most familiar—and most disputed—face. Here’s why:
| Claim from original article | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| “Former chief medical officer of NYC” | Title was Chief Medical Examiner (1978-79). Wiki |
| “Ousted 40 years ago” | Fired 46 years ago, in 1979. |
| “Chaired JFK and MLK panels” | Chaired the JFK forensic panel; merely served on the MLK inquiry. Archives.gov |
| Standard fee $1,500/day | No public record verifies that figure. |
Even his age—90, turning 91 this July—seems to carry an asterisk in press accounts.
The Neck-Fracture Numbers
Baden’s central argument: three fractures in Epstein’s throat bones are “rare in suicides, common in homicide strangulations.”
What we can verify:
- Hyoid + two thyroid cartilage fractures were documented by Dr. Kristin Roman (the city’s pathologist) with Baden observing.
- Roman’s boss, Chief ME Dr. Barbara Sampson, ruled suicide on 16 Aug 2019—three days earlier than the original article claims. BBC
- Baden told Fox News the injuries were “more consistent with homicidal strangulation.” That quote is accurate. Fox
What’s missing: A large-scale statistical study of seated hangings inside U.S. prisons. Baden cites “500–600” suicide cases he reviewed over decades, but those files are not public.
A Pattern of Provocation
Epstein isn’t Baden’s only high-profile clash with official findings. Consider:
-
George Floyd (2020)
- Baden, hired by the family, said Floyd had “no underlying medical problem.”
- County ME later testified heart disease and fentanyl contributed but did not cause the death. Chauvin was convicted in 2021.
- Both statements are true.
-
Michael Brown (2014)
- Baden and assistant Shawn Parcells performed the family autopsy.
- The original article says Officer Darren Wilson “was acquitted.” Correction: Wilson was never tried; a grand jury declined to indict him. Guardian
These cases cement Baden’s reputation as the go-to counter-narrative—but also as a magnet for controversy.
Quick-Glance Fact Fixes
- Suicide ruling date: Aug 16, 2019, not Aug 19.
- Darren Wilson: No indictment—therefore no acquittal.
- Title discrepancy: Chief Medical Examiner, not officer.
- “40 years” since Baden’s ouster: actually 46.
- “Baden chaired MLK panel”: overstated.
- Fee, and Baden’s alleged dismissal of the video gap: unverified.
What Remains Unanswered
• Could a killer have entered at another time?
– Epstein was left alone for long stretches; two guards falsified logbooks. That failure is documented, but no footage shows an intruder.
• Why no camera inside the cell?
– MCC policy only covers common areas, not individual cells—standard in most U.S. federal facilities.
• Will Baden’s notes ever be public?
– The Epstein family could release them; so far they have not. The DOJ holds the official autopsy photos and toxicology, which remain sealed.
The Bottom Line
The “vanishing minute” looks far less sinister once you learn every camera at the MCC blinks at midnight. Still, legitimate questions about Jeffrey Epstein’s death are unresolved—chief among them the unusual neck fractures that Dr. Michael Baden, the pathologist who never met an official story he couldn’t challenge, calls the final clue to murder.
Until the raw autopsy files are unsealed or a new investigation reopens the case, the truth dangles somewhere between a routine system reboot and a veteran doctor’s decades-honed suspicion. In other words, the meme lives on: “Epstein didn’t kill himself”—or did he?