Judge Releases Alleged Epstein Suicide Note

A federal judge on Wednesday unsealed a handwritten note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein, years after the disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in what authorities ruled a suicide.

The note, written on a yellow legal pad, includes the line, “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye,” according to court documents released this week.

US District Judge Kenneth Karas ordered the note released after a request by The New York Times, which reported on its existence last week. Karas had overseen the criminal case of Nicholas Tartaglione, Epstein’s former jail cellmate, who is serving four consecutive life sentences for drug-related murders.

The note was submitted by Tartaglione’s lawyers in connection with his criminal case. Karas ruled that it qualified as a judicial document and was therefore subject to the public’s right of access. He said no party had shown a legal basis for keeping it sealed.

The judge did not determine whether the note was authentic and did not assess its chain of custody, saying those questions were not relevant to the decision over whether the document should be made public.

The note allegedly surfaced in July 2019, after Epstein was found alive in his jail cell with marks on his neck in what authorities later described as an apparent suicide attempt. Tartaglione, who shared a cell with Epstein for about two weeks that month at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, has said the note was tucked inside a book in their cell.

Epstein died several weeks later, on August 10, 2019, in a separate incident that was ruled a suicide.

The handwritten note refers to past investigations and charges against Epstein. “They investigated me for a month - Found NOTHING!!! So 15 year old charges resulted,” it says, according to an image released in the court file.

Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor, receiving a short jail sentence under a controversial plea deal. He was arrested again in July 2019 and charged with sex trafficking of minors, accused of recruiting and abusing underage girls in New York and Florida.

Tartaglione discussed the note in a podcast interview last year, but it drew broader attention after The New York Times reported that it had not been seen by federal investigators and was not included in millions of Epstein-related documents released by the Justice Department.

Karas rejected privacy arguments against releasing it, citing Epstein’s death and the extensive public discussion surrounding the document.