A grieving father says the death of his daughter who plunged down a New York trash chute in 2018 was wrongly ruled a drunken accident by investigators, and that a review of her autopsy report by the same pathologist who refuted Jeffrey Epstein's cause of death shows she may have been strangled.
Lara Prychodko was found dead at the bottom of the trash chute after plummeting from the 27th floor of her high-rise apartment building in Manhattan. Police believe that the 48-year-old mother of one drunkenly fell down the chute and was crushed to death. The chief medical examiner found that although the circumstances around her death were unclear, there was "no suspicion of foul play."
Lara's father, however, believes she was murdered.
"I am dedicated to finding justice for her," Nicholas Prychodko told Inside Edition.
Nicholas sought the help of former New York City Chief Medical Examiner Michael Baden, who made headlines after concluding that Epstein's injuries were "more indicative" of homicide than the suicide determination made in the official autopsy report.
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In a reevaluation of Lara's autopsy, Baden said he found ligature marks around her neck, leading him to believe she may have been strangled and then discarded down the trash chute.
Baden, a contributor on the Fox News Channel, was removed from his position of chief medical examiner in New York in 1979. After taking the same job in Suffolk County, he was dismissed from that role as well. Though that decision was later rescinded, Baden maintained his decision to leave. He has also been hired as a private forensic consultant on high-profile cases like O.J. Simpson, Phil Spector and Epstein.
The Medical Examiner's Office released a statement in response to Baden's claims, standing by the original determination.
"A complete investigation was done in this case, and there is no further information from investigators or others that would prompt reopening it," the statement said.
The NYPD determined no criminal activity was involved.
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