Evidence indicates that man who died in Connecticut apartment was Epstein mentor
By Eliza Kruczynski, Roger Susanin and Rob Polansky
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DERBY, Connecticut (WFSB) — Derby police said evidence they have gathered so far indicates that a dead man they found inside a home earlier this week is likely a former associate of Jeffrey Epstein.
That associate was Steven Hoffenberg, a mentor to Epstein.
Channel 3 learned that investigators have a lot of evidence, but the body still has not been officially identified. The medical examiner’s office is still working on it.
Apparently, the condition of the body has made identification difficult.
As of Friday morning, police said all the evidence they gathered so far indicated that the person who died was Hoffenberg.
Thursday, police officers and two women went into an apartment on Mount Pleasant Street and later walked out with bags. Investigators have been sifting through evidence since Tuesday night. They were called out to the home for a welfare check and found the dead man inside the home.
Investigators said cell phone records, the car parked outside the home, and medical records indicated the man who died was likely the 77-year-old Hoffenberg, who served as a friend, mentor, and business partner of Epstein before eventually serving 18 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme.
Channel 3 spoke with a neighbor who didn’t want to go on camera. She said the man who lived in the apartment was named “Steve,” and mostly kept to himself and kept his blinds closed. She said she was still in shock Friday morning.
“The only time I really saw him was when he was coming out of his front door, coming to his car,” she said. “He would leave for a while, come back, go right back into the apartment. Like I said, I never saw him buy groceries, I never saw him do laundry, you know normal things which most people do which I found was a little odd.”
A Derby police spokesman told Eyewitness News that they will officially identify the person who died once the medical examiner’s office makes that determination.
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