A federal judge in New York has unsealed a purported Jeffrey Epstein suicide note that investigators say was found by his former cellmate, adding a new, but still unverified, document to the long-running public record surrounding the disgraced financier’s death. The note, released on Wednesday in proceedings tied to Epstein’s ex-cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione, appears to show Epstein writing that he had been investigated “for months” and found “nothing,” while adding, “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye.”
What the note says
The handwritten page, released from court records in White Plains, New York, appears to be a short, defiant message in Epstein’s voice.
Among the lines reported by ABC, the Times and NBC:
- “They investigated me for months — FOUND NOTHING!!!”
- “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye.”
- “Whatcha want me to do — Bust out cryin!!”
- “NO FUN — NOT WORTH IT!!”
One word in the seven-line note remains indecipherable, and none of the outlets could independently verify that Epstein himself wrote it. The New York Times explicitly said the authenticity of the note had not been verified and that it was entered into the docket as part of Tartaglione’s case rather than Epstein’s own.
Why it surfaced now
The note surfaced not from a new Epstein investigation, but from the court file of Nicholas Tartaglione, Epstein’s former cellmate and a former police officer serving a life sentence for a quadruple murder conviction.
According to ABC and Fox 5 Atlanta, Tartaglione said he found the page tucked in a book after Epstein’s first suicide attempt in July 2019, before Epstein’s eventual death in August of that year. His claims about the note had circulated in interviews and a podcast appearance before a judge ordered the document unsealed.
The New York Times reported that Judge Kenneth M. Karas of the Southern District of New York released the document after a request from the newspaper, which had previously reported Tartaglione’s account of discovering it. Politico and Reuters described the move as a straightforward unsealing order, saying the judge saw no sufficient reason to keep the page hidden from public view.
What is and isn’t known
The note is likely to become another flashpoint in the broader debate over Epstein’s death, but the record remains limited.
What is known:
- Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan on August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
- The New York City medical examiner ruled his death a suicide by hanging, and the Justice Department later concurred.
- Federal investigators have long acknowledged serious jail failures, including staffing lapses, and missed checks, that created the conditions for his death.
What is not known:
- Whether Epstein actually wrote the note.
- Whether the page was intended as a personal note, a draft, or something else entirely.
- Why it remained sealed for so long if it was in fact relevant to jail or death investigations.
ABC and NBC both emphasize that the document is purported or believed to be Epstein’s, a careful distinction that reflects the unresolved chain of custody and the lack of forensic verification.
Echoes of old messages
The note has drawn attention because parts of it seem to echo Epstein’s earlier writing.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the note contains a reference to a line from a 1931 Little Rascals film that Epstein had also used in at least two emails released this year under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. That similarity has led some reporters and commentators to suggest the note could be genuine, or at least written by someone deeply familiar with Epstein’s language and habits.
Still, similarity is not proof. The Times says the document’s authenticity has not been established, and no outlet has produced a definitive handwriting or forensic analysis tying the note to Epstein.
The content itself is consistent with the self‑pitying, defiant tone Epstein used in other public and private communications, but that alone does not settle the question of authorship.
Transparency and skepticism
The release has already renewed demands for greater transparency around the Epstein case, especially from lawmakers and media critics who argue that the public still does not have a complete accounting of how Epstein died and what investigators knew at the time.
Newsweek reported that some legislators and federal prosecutors are urging the Justice Department to disclose more material tied to the note, arguing that “transparency is crucial” because the document could shed light on Epstein’s state of mind, if authentic, before his death.
But the careful wording used by the courts and major news organizations also underscores an important point: a released document is not the same as a verified document. In a case that has already fueled conspiracy theories for years, the difference matters.
That skepticism is likely to continue even with the note public because the central questions around Epstein’s death involve not only what he may have written, but also how he was monitored, what jail officials missed, and why so many gaps still remain in the public record.
What the release changes
At one level, the unsealing changes very little: Epstein is still dead, the official ruling remains suicide, and the note’s authorship is still unresolved.
At another, it adds a new piece of documentary evidence that may help historians, journalists and investigators understand Epstein’s final weeks, or at least the mythology that now surrounds them.
For the public, the note will likely be read through two competing lenses: as a potentially revealing glimpse into Epstein’s mindset, or as yet another incomplete artifact in a case that has never stopped generating suspicion.
Either way, the judge’s decision to unseal it ensures that one of the most watched criminal cases of the century remains very much alive in the public imagination, even if its central figure is not.
