A federal judge in New York has ordered the release of a purported handwritten note attributed to Jeffrey Epstein.
Manhattan Federal Judge Kenneth Karas ordered the note unsealed Wednesday from sealed records in the criminal case of Nicholas Tartaglione, Epstein’s former cellmate, after a request by The New York Times, according to court records and reporting cited in the case.
Judge Kenneth Karas described the document as an alleged “suicide note purportedly authored by Jeffrey Epstein.” The judge did not confirm the note’s authenticity.
Epstein died by suicide in federal custody in August 2019 while he awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, according to the Justice Department’s inspector general. He was 66 years old.
The note had remained under seal in Tartaglione’s case. Court records show it was tied to sealed materials involving Tartaglione’s legal team, with the secrecy originally connected to attorney-client privilege issues.
According to the released image, The New York Times said that the note appears to begin with large lettering saying investigators had examined Epstein for months and “found nothing.” Other reported lines refer to choosing the time to say goodbye and ask, “What do you want from me — to see me cry?” The final lines include “NO FUN” and “NOT WORTH IT!!”
Tartaglione has said he found the note inside a book after Epstein was moved from their shared cell. That claim has not been established as an official finding.
The note is connected to the period after Epstein was found unconscious in his cell in July 2019 with a piece of cloth around his neck. He survived that incident but was found dead weeks later at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.
The Justice Department has published millions of pages of materials under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but the purported note was not included in that release. The agency had never seen the note, a DOJ spokesperson cited by the Times reported.
The court’s unsealing order followed requests for input from involved parties. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan did not object to the release, saying there was public interest in records connected to Epstein’s death.
His longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was later convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for crimes connected to Epstein’s sexual abuse of minors, according to the Justice Department.
A global media for the latest news, entertainment, music fashion, and more.
