The high-profile death investigations of Barry and Honey Sherman in Toronto, and Jeffrey Epstein in New York, were complicated by confusion and misdiagnosis allegations related to the post-mortem condition of a small U-shaped neck bone called the “hyoid,” the Star has found.
While in life the billionaire philanthropist Shermans and accused sex trafficker Epstein were polar opposites, in death there was a similar controversy over how they died.
In both cases, though in different ways, it appears too much emphasis was placed on whether their hyoid bones were broken or not, and not enough emphasis on other factors. The theory held by some is that a broken hyoid strongly suggests a violent murder by strangulation, and an intact hyoid is indicative of a suicide, where typically less pressure is applied. Not so, say leading experts.
