A federal judge in New York has released a document purported to be a suicide note written by Jeffrey Epstein, offering the public its first look at text that has remained sealed within court records since 2019. The note, which does not bear a signature, was unsealed on Wednesday by Judge Kenneth Karas of Federal District Court in White Plains, New York, who presided over the criminal case of Epstein’s former cellmate.
What Jeffrey Epstein’s purported suicide note says word for word
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The note opens with a defiant declaration about a prior investigation. “They investigated me for months — FOUND NOTHING!!!” it begins, before referencing charges described as reaching back many years.
It then shifts in register. “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye,” the note continues.
“Watcha want me to do — Bust out cryin!!” it reads.
The note ends with two underlined phrases. “NO FUN,” it concludes. “NOT WORTH IT!!”
The authenticity of the note has not been independently verified. The New York Times, which petitioned the court to unseal the document, has stated it has not confirmed whether . LiveMint could no verify the authenticity of the purported Jeffery Eptsien suicide note.
A Justice Department spokeswoman said the agency had never previously seen the note.
Who found the Epstein note and how it was kept hidden
Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer from Briarcliff Manor, New York, who shared a cell with in Lower Manhattan, said he discovered the note in July 2019 after Epstein was found unresponsive in their shared cell with a strip of cloth wrapped around his neck.
Tartaglione told the Times in telephone interviews conducted from a California prison that he found the was removed from their cell following the apparent suicide attempt.
“I opened the book to read and there it was,” Tartaglione said. The note had been written on a piece of yellow paper torn from a legal pad.
Tartaglione said he passed the note to his lawyers because he believed it could prove useful if Epstein continued to allege that he had attacked him. When jail officials questioned following the July incident, Epstein initially claimed Tartaglione had assaulted him and denied being suicidal. He later told jail officials he “never had any issues” with his cellmate. Tartaglione has consistently denied any assault.
Why the Epstein suicide note was sealed for years in a US court
The note was not made public even as the Justice Department released millions of pages of Epstein-related documents in what was described as an unprecedented act of transparency. A search of those records by the Times did not locate a copy of the note.
The documents did contain a cryptic two-page chronology tracing how the note became caught up in the legal proceedings surrounding Tartaglione’s case. That chronology indicated Tartaglione’s lawyers had authenticated the note, though it did not detail the method by which they did so. The note subsequently became the subject of a protracted legal dispute among his legal team and was placed under a court seal to protect attorney-client privilege.
Judge Karas requested the views of all parties in the case before agreeing to unseal the documents. The US attorney’s office in Manhattan, which prosecuted Tartaglione, did not oppose the release. In a letter to the judge, prosecutors wrote that “there appears to be a strong public interest in the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death.”
How Jeffrey Epstein died and why questions persist
at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan, which has since been closed. He was 66 years old. The New York City medical examiner ruled his death a suicide. His first apparent attempt, in July 2019, had not proved fatal.
In the years since his death, documented security failures at the jail have given rise to persistent and wide-ranging theories about the circumstances in which he died and whether his death was in fact a suicide. The release of the purported note is likely to reignite those discussions.
What happened to Epstein’s cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione
Tartaglione was awaiting trial on a quadruple murder charge when he shared a cell with Epstein. He was convicted in 2023 and is currently serving four consecutive life sentences. He has maintained his innocence throughout and has filed an appeal against his conviction.
The note was placed on the court docket on Wednesday evening, following the Times‘s petition to the court the previous Thursday and the publication of an article in which Tartaglione described the note and the circumstances of its discovery.
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