Purported Epstein suicide note unsealed by judge : NPR

The Justice Department has released millions of documents and images from criminal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein since December, but his alleged suicide note was sealed in an unrelated court case until this week.

Jon Elswick/AP

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Jon Elswick/AP

A suicide note allegedly written by Jeffrey Epstein in prison has been made public, nearly seven years after Epstein’s former cellmate said he found it.

District Judge Kenneth Karas unsealed the one-page memo Wednesday in response to a legal request from the New York Timeswho reported on its existence last week.

NPR has not independently verified the authenticity of the memo. The five sentences on a sheet of lined paper read in part: “It’s a treat to be able to choose your time to say goodbye. Watcha wants me to do – Go out crying!! NO FUN – IT’S NOT WORTH IT!!”

Nicholas Tartaglione said he discovered the note while sharing a cell with Epstein at the now-closed Metropolitan Correctional Center. The two overlapped for about two weeks in July 2019 — shortly after Epstein’s arrest on federal sex trafficking charges — as they awaited their respective sentences, according to documents released by the Justice Department.

Their cohabitation ended after Epstein was found unconscious in his cell with marks on his neck, in an alleged suicide attempt described in a 2023 Justice Department Office of Inspector General report.

According to the report, Epstein initially claimed that Tartaglione had assaulted him, which Tartaglione denied. Epstein changed his mind while on suicide watch in the following days, telling prison staff he had no memory of the incident. Epstein committed suicide in another cell less than a month later.

Tartaglione told writer and influencer Jessica Reed Kraus in a July 2025 podcast interview that he was in the cell when Epstein first allegedly tried to hang himself, and “woke up and saved him by performing CPR.” He said he discovered Epstein’s note in one of his books after this incident.

A judge has unsealed a note allegedly written by Jeffrey Epstein in prison after an alleged suicide attempt in July 2019, a month before he was found dead in his cell.

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

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U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

“When I came back to the cell, I opened my book to read it and there he was,” said Tartaglione, a former officer with the Briarcliff Manor Police Department in Westchester County, New York. convicted of quadruple homicide.

Bruce Barket, one of Tartaglione’s lawyers at the time, told NPR in a telephone interview that he agreed with Tartaglione’s public description that he found the note and gave it to his lawyers, but could not provide further details due to attorney-client privilege. Since then, the note has been in Tartaglione’s files.

Barket said the note was relevant evidence in Tartaglione’s case because federal prosecutors initially sought the death penalty against him and “his conduct in prison matters a lot before a jury.” The note, if verified, would lend credibility to Tartaglione’s claims that not only did he not hurt his cellmate, but that he tried to help him.

“Ultimately, my goal here was to do everything I could, obviously within the bounds of the law and ethics, to protect my client and advance his interests,” Barket said. “And that’s what we did.”

Barket said he believed the note was authentic but did not officially authenticate it, contradicting the timeline of events released by the Justice Department among millions of “Epstein files” documents earlier this year. The timeline, whose origins are unclear, indicates that Barket authenticated the note in January 2020. But he calls that claim “a bit of an exaggeration.”

“We never authenticated it [with] any real analysis of the handwriting or anything like that,” Barket said. “The circumstances under which we came into possession of it, [Tartaglione’s] story, and looking at a similar writing that was found in the cell after he killed himself, we became comfortable with the fact that Epstein had written it.

The Justice Department told NPR via email Thursday that the memo had not yet been authenticated, adding, “this is the first time the DOJ has seen it as well.” His lawyers did not object to its release in a two-page court filing in which they wrote that the government had no “knowledge of the accuracy of the factual account” in Tartaglione’s 2025 podcast interview.

“In particular, the government is not aware of any compelling interest in keeping under seal the matters on which Tartaglione has made voluntary public statements, given that sealing was in Tartaglione’s interest in the first place,” they wrote. “In contrast, there appears to be strong public interest in the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death, as described in the unsealing motion.”

Tartaglione was ultimately sentenced in 2024 to four consecutive life sentences, which he is appealing. Much of the case remains sealed, although Times also requested that three other court documents be released along with the alleged suicide note, according to the judge’s order.

In Wednesday’s ruling, Judge Kenneth Karas of the Southern District of New York gave all parties — including Tartaglione’s lawyers and the Justice Department — a week to come up with redactions of those documents. Barket said the documents could answer more questions about the memo, such as why it wasn’t released sooner.

Epstein’s life, crimes and death continue to fuel conspiracy theories, as well as political fallout for those with ties to the disgraced financier.

The House Oversight Committee is questioning high-level officials as part of its investigation into Epstein and the federal government’s handling of the investigation.

He recently heard from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (who appears in the records and was Epstein’s Manhattan neighbor) on Wednesday. The release of the records indicates that Lutnick was in contact with Epstein long after he said he had severed ties with him, although Lutnick claims he “barely had any relationship with him” and had “nothing to hide.” Former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was fired in April after coming under fire for her handling of the Epstein cases, is expected to speak before the committee later this month.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 9-8-8 to reach the Suicide and crisis lifeline.