IT SEEMS that we can't get away from conspiracy theories related to the coronavirus pandemic these days. Bill Gates, vaccines with "microchips," 5G, biological weapons, "empty" hospitals, "fake" corona deaths - all this paranoid nonsense has flooded our social media newsfeeds.

We have already written extensively about these theories being unproven, based on erroneous or misunderstood data, as well as being generally absurd.

It should be noted, however, that this does not mean that all information about the coronavirus should be accepted uncritically, especially not when it comes from an authoritarian regime known for censorship such as the Chinese one. For example, there are reasonable suspicions that the coronavirus did not pass to humans from bats or any other animal in the so-called wet market in Wuhan, but that it instead spread due to a security failure in a biology lab of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The reports stating that American and British secret services are investigating this possibility confirm that it is not just another conspiracy theory. It should be noted, however, that they have ruled out the possibility that the virus is a biological weapon produced in a lab, as conspiracy theorists have been claiming. On the contrary, this scenario includes a fairly plausible possibility that the naturally occurring coronavirus which was researched in the Wuhan Institute leaked from the lab through an infected man.

Although there is a bunch of crazy conspiracy theories, there are some that make sense

Yet, because of that crucial difference, we cannot say that this conspiracy theory was true. More precisely, it contained, as is often the case, a grain of truth wrapped in a thick layer of paranoia. However, this might be a good moment to recall another conspiracy theory which became a ubiquitous meme a few months ago, and which was never completely refuted.

It has not been proven either, of course, but it has remained at least plausible, due to numerous suspicious elements from the official version of events. It is about the suicide - or murder, according to this conspiracy theory - of the notorious American billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein was found dead on August 10 last year in his prison cell, in a New York City high-security prison, where he awaited trial for sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. He was looking at up to 45 years in prison for that - a de facto life sentence for the 66-year-old.

As prison sources revealed to the media, he was found hanging with a prison bed sheet wrapped around his neck. After an autopsy, the New York coroner's office confirmed that Epstein had committed suicide by hanging in his cell. But even before the coroner's official finding, rumors that Epstein was actually murdered, as well as that powerful masterminds behind the murder then covered up the murder as a suicide, flooded social media.

Many suspicious elements regarding this case supported that conspiracy theory. Epstein's roommate, a burly former police officer who was looking at the death penalty for a quadruple murder in a mafia showdown, was moved from the cell a few days before Epstein's death, after Epstein allegedly tried to kill himself for the first time, with Tartaglione claiming he had found him in time and saved his life.

A whole series of suspicious circumstances regarding Epstein's suicide

Following protocol, Epstein was placed under special prison supervision for suicidal individuals, but was moved from it after less than a week, allegedly at his own request made through his lawyer.

Aside from not being assigned a new roommate who could have alerted the guards if Epstein had tried anything, the guards did not really check Epstein's cell every 30 minutes, as was scheduled. Furthermore, the only two guards on the night shift in that wing fell asleep the night before Epstein's death, which is why they did not check on him for a full three hours. He was found at 6:30 am. They subsequently put in records of checking the cell every 30 minutes to cover up their negligence.

The fact that especially flamed the conspiracy theories in this series of bizarre coincidences was that not one, but two of the cameras outside Epstein's cell (there were no cameras in the cell itself) broke before Epstein's death and did not record what was happening in the hallway that night, that is, whether someone entered his cell. Considering all this, even Epstein's lawyers expressed doubts regarding the official conclusion that their client had killed himself.

US Attorney General William Barr also stated that an internal investigation had found "serious irregularities" in this federal prison in Manhattan, which led to guards being suspended and the prison director temporarily transferred to another position.

In October of last year, another shocking piece of news further heightened suspicion: pathologist Michael Baden, hired by Mark Epstein, the brother of the billionaire pedophile, expressed serious doubts regarding the official conclusion of investigators that Epstein had hung himself in prison using tied bedsheets.

Reputable American pathologist: I have never seen this happen in any case of suicide by hanging in my 50 years of experience

Baden, who was present at the autopsy as an observer, concluded that bone fractures in the throat, on both sides of the larynx, and on the sublingual or hyoid bone that Epstein had were "extremely unusual in suicides by hanging, and were much more common in homicidal strangulation."

"In 50 years (of my medical career), I have never seen this happen in a suicide by hanging," added this retired 85-year-old pathologist who used to be an official coroner in New York, and who in his career examined more than 20,000 bodies.

The reason lies in the fact that strangulation can cause twice or even three times more pressure on the victim's neck than hanging. Baden added that hemorrhages in Epstein's eyes and on his neck also point to murder, although they are also possible in suicides.

However, he noted that there was not enough information for his observations to be conclusive as the investigators did not publish all information, for example, information on whether someone else's DNA was found on the bedsheets that were around Epstein's neck. According to this pathologist, it is also strange that the pathologist first concluded there was not enough information to rule his death a suicide - and yet a week later, the death was ruled a suicide.

"It seems this might be a mistake. There's evidence of homicide here that needs to be investigated to see if it is or isn't a homicide," he concluded.

New York coroner Barbara Sampson stated after this interview that she stood by her ruling of suicide, that the original investigation was thorough, that all information was to be given to the family, and that there were no grounds for another investigation.

Other injuries were also found on Epstein's body

On November 5, a video of ABC TV presenter Amy Robach was leaked. In it, she openly states how she prepared a story with the victim of "the most prolific pedophile this country has ever known" three years ago, but ABC did not want to publish it.

Other forensic experts have pointed out that neck fractures due to hanging were possible, especially in the elderly, whose bones are more fragile. Epstein was 66 years old. Moreover, CNN medical expert Sanjay Gupta and spinal surgeon at Emory Clinic Gerald Rodts told CNN that multiple fractures were more likely in hanging than in strangulation, which usually results in a single fracture. Therefore, it can only be concluded that experts do not agree on this issue.

In January of this year, American television CBS, namely the crew of their show 60 Minutes, published a lengthy report that included photos of the cell in the Metropolitan Correctional Center Prison where Epstein died, as well as photos of Epstein's body.

Additional suspicion was caused by the fact that other injuries were found on Epstein's body: contusions on both wrists, an abrasion on his left forearm, deep bruising on his left shoulder, broken capillaries on his face and in his eyes, an injury on his back and a cut on his lip, as well as an injection mark on his arm. However, it is unclear whether any of these injuries occurred during an attempt to resuscitate him in the hospital.

Furthermore, the noose taken as evidence may not be the noose that was wrapped around Epstein's neck, says Baden, explaining that the injuries to Epstein's neck and the shape of that noose do not match. Also, the noose taken as evidence does not appear to have been cut, and the guard who found Epstein allegedly cut the bedsheet which was wrapped around his neck.

It is also suspicious that Epstein hung himself using a bedsheet, considering that the sleep apnea machine found in his cell has a long electric cable suitable for hanging, Baden points out.

Epstein's evasion of justice for years is in itself a conspiracy

Moreover, it was not only Epstein's death that was described as a great conspiracy. Epstein's very life, namely his repeated sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of dozens of minors, the youngest of whom was 14, was often described as a true conspiracy theory regarding a large pedophile chain that operated smoothly for years. As the Vice News portal wrote at the time, this case was, in fact, a confirmation of public suspicions about a corrupt, decadent and perverted elite at the time of a perhaps unprecedented distrust of the government.

Epstein, let us recall, had a number of famous and influential friends. He also hung out with US President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton. In fact, one of the victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, stated she had also seen Clinton on "Pedophile Island," and investigative journalist Conchita Sarnoff told Fox News that Clinton had flown on Epstein's private jet, the so-called "Lolita Express," as many as 27 times according to the flight logs. In the 1990s, Epstein invited Trump to his private party with a bunch of girls barely of age.

However, none of the victims accused Clinton of rape, whereas "Jane Doe" sued Trump, claiming that in 1994, when she was 13, he tied her to a bed in Epstein's home and brutally raped her. She also stated that Trump threatened she would "disappear" if she ever told anyone. She dropped the lawsuit only days before the 2016 election, allegedly due to "numerous threats."

Furthermore, only a day before Epstein's death, the court released secret court documents containing names of Epstein's potential partners in the sexual exploitation of teenage girls: British Prince Andrew, financier Glen Dubin, former Senator George Mitchell, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and the late scientist from the prestigious MIT Marvin Minsky.

All of this led to a flood of memes about how Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself. His alleged murder has not been proven, but this conspiracy theory really isn't as easy to disregard as some others. The court documents, which have not yet been declassified, allegedly contain over a thousand names of potential partners of Epstein's in the address book and witness statements. An unidentified person asked the court in September not to declassify those documents as that would "unfairly damage their reputation," as the New York Times reported at the time. With Epstein's death, the chances of the complete truth being unmasked diminished immeasurably.

The victim's appeal against the controversial 2008 plea bargain with Epstein was rejected

The latest episode of the harrowing and shameful Epstein saga will only reinforce the already strong outrage over the system's actions related to his life and death. One of Epstein's victims, Courtney Wild, filed an appeal against the decision of the New York prosecutor's office, which offered this serial rapist an incredibly generous plea bargain. Under the plea bargain, Epstein was sentenced to just 13 months in prison, and he was regularly allowed to leave to go to work in the office 12 hours a day. Alexander Acosta, the prosecutor who granted him the plea bargain, later became Trump's Secretary of Labor. He resigned in July of last year after Epstein was arrested again and imprisoned.

Wild, who was allegedly abused by Epstein when she was only 14, tried to overturn that plea deal and the verdict against Epstein based on the Crime Victims' Rights Act since the prosecution did not notify the victims of the plea bargain at all. However, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals rejected her appeal with two votes against and one in favor, concluding that the Act did not apply to her case.

"Despite our sympathy for Ms. Wild and others like her, who suffered unspeakable horror, only to be left in the dark – and, so it seems, affirmatively mislead, we find ourselves constrained to deny her petition," the Trial Chamber concluded in the verdict.

Particularly alarming is the fact that the plea deal with Epstein included an agreement not to prosecute his accomplices in the rape and sex trafficking of minors. Does this mean that Epstein's partners in crime will never be revealed and punished? We do not know the answer to that question, but it is almost certain that it will be an additional argument to those who claim that one of Epstein's powerful "friends" had him killed so that he himself would not face the justice that Epstein evaded all his life.