Judge does not make claim on authenticity of document, filed in court as part of criminal case of former cellmate.
Published On 7 May 2026
A document purported to be a suicide note written by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has been released by a judge in New York.
The decision by US District Judge Kenneth Karas did not establish the note’s authenticity, but simply found that it was a judicial document subject to the public’s right of access.
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The document, which was released on Wednesday, was submitted as part of the criminal case of Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer and convicted murderer who had been Epstein’s cellmate. The financier, a convicted sex offender, had been found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on federal sex trafficking charges, in what authorities said was a suicide.
Lawyers for Tartaglione said he had found the note when he and Epstein shared a cell for about two weeks in July 2019. Handwritten on a yellow legal pad, the note contained a simple message
“They investigated me for month – Found NOTHING!!! So 15 year old charges resulted,” the note said.
“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!!”
Tartaglione, who is serving four consecutive life sentences for drug-related murders, had previously referenced the existence of the note in a podcast interview.
According to public descriptions by Tartaglione, the note was tucked inside a book in their shared cell. Epstein died several weeks later, on August 10, 2019.
The note’s existence gained renewed attention following a New York Times report last year. The newspaper reported the document was never seen by federal investigators and was absent from millions of Epstein-related documents released by the Department of Justice in recent years.
The New York Times had officially requested the release by Judge Karas.
Epstein’s influential social circle – which included billionaires, celebrities and politicians – and the circumstances surrounding his death have for years piqued intrigue.
Last year, in a rare bipartisan effort, the US Congress passed a bill requiring the Justice Department to release all files related to its investigation into Epstein.
US President Donald Trump, who has acknowledged a past friendship with Epstein, initially opposed the legislation but signed it into law in November. The Justice Department has since released millions of documents, but lawmakers have questioned how total the release has been.
Lawmakers are also conducting their own investigation into Epstein, subpoenaing several current and former US officials to testify, including the husband-and-wife team of former US President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
On Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared before the House Oversight Committee.
In advance of the hearing, the Republican chair of the committee, Representative James Comer, said that Lutnick has not been “100 percent truthful” about his ties to Epstein.
Lutnick had said in a podcast that he had cut ties with Epstein in 2005, but documents showed the pair had met up several times up until 2012.
Ties to Epstein are not in and of themselves incriminating. To date, no one has been criminally charged in the US in connection with the financier’s alleged crimes.
Several officials have been charged elsewhere, including the UK’s Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, and former British ambassador Peter Mandelson.
