Much more accurate
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) Sep 9, 2025
Day: September 9, 2025
Suspicious Minds: Medical Experts Cast Doubt On Lesin Autopsy rferl.org/a/of-suspicious-mi…
The autopsy report obtained by RFE/RL following more than two years of litigation over Freedom Of Information Act requests is incomplete; some pages are heavily redacted; signatures are whited out. But the details of laboratory results, observations by pathologists from the chief medical examiner’s office and Georgetown University hospital, and an unidentified forensic anthropologist are included in relatively precise detail.
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“I’ve done 12,000 autopsies over my career,” said Donald Jason, a forensic pathology consultant and retired professor from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina. “A good number have been alcoholics. And I’ve never seen a fractured hyoid bone on someone who’s falling around drunk.”
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“I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” said Tom Andrews, who retired in 2017 as chief medical examiner for the state of New Hampshire, and reviewed the file at RFE/RL’s request.“This is an unusual case, the complexity of the injuries, even for an alcoholic,” he said. “It’s an unusual constellation of injuries to see in an accidental death, in a fall or a series of falls, from a standing height.”
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner did not answer an e-mail seeking further comment by the time of publication of this article.
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Documenting the conversation in a supplemental report dated April 1, 2016, and included in the file handed over to RFE/RL, the official notes that the fracture occurred “at or near the time” of death. While other causes could not be ruled out — including a “significant fall” or that the bone was broken during the autopsy — such an injury was “commonly associated with hanging or manual strangulation,” the official wrote.
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Police records, however, state that there was a “problem” with the disk that was storing the video footage from the 9th-floor penthouse where Lesin was staying. An unidentified agent states that he was unable to review footage of the 9th-floor hallway from 1:02 p.m. until 11:14 p.m. due to the problem with the disk — a period that includes nearly three hours after Lesin was last known to have been seen alive.It’s unclear whether that specific footage was ever reviewed.
Asked for further comment on the question of the footage, the Metropolitan Police Department referred questions to the U.S. Justice Department, which oversees both the FBI as well as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. The Justice Department, meanwhile, referred queries from RFE/RL to the Metropolitan Police Department.
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Karl Williams, chief medical examiner of Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located, echoed other observations that the absence of further information from the police investigative records makes it harder to get a full picture.“The key to this case lies in what’s not in the medical examiner’s file,” he said. “There’s more missing in the medical examiner’s file than what’s there.”
As for the hyoid, he said, “It would be extraordinarily rare to see this fractured from a fall.”
–— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Sep 9, 2025
Suspicious Minds: Medical Experts Cast Doubt On Lesin Autopsy rferl.org/a/of-suspicious-mi…
The autopsy report obtained by RFE/RL following more than two years of litigation over Freedom Of Information Act requests is incomplete; some pages are heavily redacted; signatures are whited out. But the details of laboratory results, observations by pathologists from the chief medical examiner’s office and Georgetown University hospital, and an unidentified forensic anthropologist are included in relatively precise detail.
–
“I’ve done 12,000 autopsies over my career,” said Donald Jason, a forensic pathology consultant and retired professor from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina. “A good number have been alcoholics. And I’ve never seen a fractured hyoid bone on someone who’s falling around drunk.”
–
“I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” said Tom Andrews, who retired in 2017 as chief medical examiner for the state of New Hampshire, and reviewed the file at RFE/RL’s request.“This is an unusual case, the complexity of the injuries, even for an alcoholic,” he said. “It’s an unusual constellation of injuries to see in an accidental death, in a fall or a series of falls, from a standing height.”
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner did not answer an e-mail seeking further comment by the time of publication of this article.
–
Documenting the conversation in a supplemental report dated April 1, 2016, and included in the file handed over to RFE/RL, the official notes that the fracture occurred “at or near the time” of death. While other causes could not be ruled out — including a “significant fall” or that the bone was broken during the autopsy — such an injury was “commonly associated with hanging or manual strangulation,” the official wrote.
–
Police records, however, state that there was a “problem” with the disk that was storing the video footage from the 9th-floor penthouse where Lesin was staying. An unidentified agent states that he was unable to review footage of the 9th-floor hallway from 1:02 p.m. until 11:14 p.m. due to the problem with the disk — a period that includes nearly three hours after Lesin was last known to have been seen alive.It’s unclear whether that specific footage was ever reviewed.
Asked for further comment on the question of the footage, the Metropolitan Police Department referred questions to the U.S. Justice Department, which oversees both the FBI as well as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. The Justice Department, meanwhile, referred queries from RFE/RL to the Metropolitan Police Department.
–
Karl Williams, chief medical examiner of Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located, echoed other observations that the absence of further information from the police investigative records makes it harder to get a full picture.“The key to this case lies in what’s not in the medical examiner’s file,” he said. “There’s more missing in the medical examiner’s file than what’s there.”
As for the hyoid, he said, “It would be extraordinarily rare to see this fractured from a fall.”
–— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Sep 9, 2025
Inside Government is a Q&A series that gives New Yorkers a glimpse inside the role of the elected officials who represent them. This edition of Inside Government with PoliticsNY features New York State Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest. Assembly Member Souffrant Forrest represents the 57th Assembly District in Brooklyn which includes the neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill as well as parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights.
What piece of legislation are you most proud to have passed this legislative session?
I’m proud to have passed my bill A2698 directing DOH to create an awareness campaign regarding the usage of hormone replacement therapy for treating menopause and perimenopause. Too many people, especially Black, working-class, and immigrant women, go without the care they need simply because they don’t know what’s available or because providers don’t take their symptoms seriously. As a maternal health nurse, I believe every stage of reproductive life deserves real support. Menopause is no exception.
How does your office work to support your constituents in their day-to-day lives?
My office is here first and foremost to serve the people of the 57th District, not just during campaign season, not just when it’s time to vote, but every single day. We support constituents in their day-to-day lives by providing direct services, advocacy, access to resources, and training on organizing in the community to help people navigate the systems that are supposed to work for them but too often don’t.
What is the most prevalent issue facing your constituents and how are you working to resolve it?
The most pressing issue facing our community, by far, is housing. Rents are skyrocketing, evictions are rising, and working-class people are being pushed out of Brooklyn every day. Folks are scared they won’t be able to stay in the communities they built. We need bold action to keep people housed. That means protecting tenants, expanding affordable options, and saying loud and clear: housing is a human right.
What do you hope to accomplish by the end of 2025?
By the end of 2025, I want to see the legislature return to Albany in a special session to pass legislation safeguarding New Yorkers from the actions of the Trump administration. This means protecting our immigrant communities and raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires to insulate us from federal spending cuts. Our communities are vulnerable, and we cannot wait till January.
What is the proudest moment of your political career?
The proudest moment of my political career was the day I was sworn into the Assembly, not just because I won the election, but because of how I got there and the community I brought with me. I was sworn in as a daughter of Haitian immigrants, a lifelong tenant, a mother, and a union nurse. That moment reminds me why I do this work: to make the government serve the people, not the powerful.
