A federal judge in New York released a handwritten document described as a suicide note purportedly written by late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, nearly seven years after his death in a Manhattan jail cell. The document was released late Wednesday (6 May).
The note, written on a yellow legal pad, included the line, “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye.”
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas ordered the document unsealed after a request from The New York Times, which first reported on its existence last week.
Epstein, a disgraced financier accused of sex trafficking minors, was found dead in August 2019 at a Manhattan federal jail in what authorities ruled a suicide.
The note was reportedly discovered by Epstein’s former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, who later submitted it as part of court proceedings connected to his own criminal case. Tartaglione is serving four consecutive life sentences for drug-related murders.
Judge Karas ruled that the document qualified as a judicial record subject to public access because it had been filed in connection with Tartaglione’s case.
However, the judge stressed that the court was not determining whether the note was authentic or examining how it had been handled before entering the court record.
“No party has identified any competing consideration that would justify sealing the Note,” Karas wrote in the ruling.
According to images released in the court file, the note included references to investigations into Epstein and contained several fragmented remarks, including, “They investigated me for month - Found NOTHING!!! So 15 year old charges resulted,” the note says, according to an image of it released in the court file.
"It is a treat to be able to choose ones time to say goodbye. Watcha want me to do - Burst out cryin!! NO FUN - NOT WORTH IT!!"
The document first surfaced in July 2019 after Epstein was found injured in his jail cell in what authorities later described as an apparent suicide attempt. Tartaglione has previously claimed the note was hidden inside a book in their shared cell.
He had previously pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to soliciting prostitution from a minor, a conviction that led to a controversial plea deal and a short jail sentence. 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.
Epstein died weeks later on 10 August 2019 while awaiting trial.
The case has remained the subject of widespread public scrutiny and conspiracy theories for years, fuelled in part by Epstein’s high-profile connections and questions surrounding jail security failures on the night of his death.
Judge Karas, in ordering the note’s release, said Epstein’s death and extensive public discussion surrounding the document weakened arguments for keeping it sealed.
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