A federal judge on Wednesday unsealed a document that is purported to be a suicide note written by Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who died in federal custody in 2019. The note was obtained by Epstein’s former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, who said he found it in a graphic novel. The release came after The New York Times petitioned the court to make the document public.
The note, written on yellow paper from a legal pad, is undated. In it, the author expresses fear about conditions at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. “I’ve lived a wonderful life, I’ve had a great life,” the note states. “I am not suicidal.” It also says, “If anything happens to me, please make sure the truth comes out,” and describes jail officials as “corrupt.” The New York Times has not authenticated that Epstein wrote the note.
Tartaglione, a former police officer convicted of murder and awaiting sentencing, was Epstein’s cellmate for a period in 2019. He has said he discovered the note inside a graphic novel after Epstein was removed from the cell following an incident in July 2019, when Epstein was found semiconscious with marks on his neck. That episode was later described by authorities as a possible suicide attempt. Epstein died in August 2019; the New York City medical examiner ruled the death a suicide by hanging.
The note was unsealed as part of a lawsuit Tartaglione filed against the federal Bureau of Prisons, alleging negligence and unsafe conditions at the jail. His lawyers have argued that the note supports claims that Epstein did not intend to kill himself and that the facility failed to protect him. The Bureau of Prisons has not commented on the unsealed note.
Judge Kenneth M. Karas of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered the release. The document had been under seal as part of the litigation. Multiple news organizations, including The New York Times, reported on the note’s contents after Tartaglione’s legal team described it in court filings.
The unsealing adds a new piece of evidence to the public record surrounding Epstein’s death, which has been the subject of ongoing speculation and multiple investigations. The note’s authenticity remains unverified.
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