A newly unsealed note allegedly written by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before his death in federal custody is raising new questions about the events leading up to his 2019 suicide at a New York jail.
The document, which has not been authenticated, was reportedly discovered by Epstein’s former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, following what authorities described as Epstein’s first suspected suicide attempt in July 2019. The note became public after The New York Times petitioned a federal judge to release records connected to Tartaglione.
In the handwritten letter, Epstein allegedly claimed that federal authorities had spent months investigating him and had “found nothing.” The note also included the line, “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye.”
The existence of the note was not widely known until Tartaglione discussed it during a podcast appearance last year. According to court filings, Tartaglione told investigators he found the document hidden inside a book after Epstein was discovered on the floor of their jail cell on July 23, 2019, with a strip of bedsheet around his neck.
At the time, Epstein was being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls. Jail records show that officers responding to the July incident found Epstein conscious and breathing heavily. One officer later reported that Epstein claimed Tartaglione had attempted to kill him.
However, records also indicate that Epstein denied attempting suicide. According to documents later released by the Department of Justice, Epstein told a jail psychologist that suicide conflicted with his Jewish faith and described himself as someone who feared pain.
Following the July incident, Epstein was placed on suicide watch for approximately 31 hours before being downgraded to psychiatric observation. He remained under psychiatric evaluation at the time of his death less than two weeks later.
On Aug. 10, 2019, guards found Epstein dead in his jail cell in what authorities later ruled a suicide by hanging. At the time of his death, Epstein was being housed alone because Tartaglione had been transferred to another unit.
The circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death have remained the subject of scrutiny for years, particularly because jail protocol reportedly was not followed in the hours before he died. Records show Epstein was supposed to be monitored by correctional officers every 30 minutes while in the protective housing unit. Investigators later found that those checks did not occur during the overnight shift preceding his death.
The newly released note was not included in prior government reports examining Epstein’s death, nor was it part of the Department of Justice’s recent public release of thousands of Epstein-related documents.
In deciding to unseal the records, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas said the court considered the privacy interests of third parties, including Epstein. Karas wrote that under existing legal precedent, the privacy interests of deceased individuals are “vastly reduced” and that releasing such information is unlikely to cause “concrete harm.”
Court records show Tartaglione informed his attorney about the alleged note just days after the July 2019 incident. The document was later entered as evidence in Tartaglione’s criminal proceedings and remained sealed during disputes over his legal representation.
