An alleged “suicide note” written by Jeffrey Epstein has been sealed inside a New York courthouse for nearly seven years, according to a bombshell new report.
The note was hidden from the investigators who looked into Epstein’s death under mysterious circumstances, and isn’t in the 3.5 million documents the DOJ released to the public. According to the New York Times, the note was unknown even to federal prosecutors who handled his case.
The bombshell was first reported by the Times, which interviewed Epstein’s former cellmate, convicted quadruple murderer Nicholas Tartaglione, 58.
Tartaglione claimed he discovered Epstein’s suicide note in July 2019, tucked inside the pages of a comic book in their shared cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.
He said he saw the note weeks before Epstein was found dead on August 10, 2019.
“I opened the book to read, and there it was, a piece of yellow paper ripped from a legal pad,” Tartaglione said.
According to Tartaglione, the note said investigators had spent months looking into Epstein and found nothing. It then continued: “What do you want me to do, bust out crying? Time to say goodbye.”
The note included a smiley face.
Tartaglione said he handed the note to his defense lawyers, believing it could help counter Epstein’s allegation that Tartaglione had tried to kill him.
Weeks before Epstein’s death, prison guards had found Epstein on the floor of his cell with a homemade rope around his neck. Epstein told jail officials he was attacked and that he was not suicidal.
Tartaglione has denied he attacked Epstein. Then, a week after making the accusation, Epstein told Bureau of Prisons officials he had “never had any issues” with Tartaglione and felt safe being in his cell.
Epstein’s death was ruled a suicide by the New York City medical examiner. An independent autopsy evaluation ruled that it was more likely Epstein was murdered by strangulation.
Tartaglione’s attorneys had the note authenticated in January 2020, according to a document contained in the DOJ’s Epstein files. The note then became sealed as part of Tartaglione’s criminal case — where it has remained ever since.
The Times filed a petition Thursday with U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas to have the note unsealed.
Epstein’s family has long maintained he was murdered. The existence of a sealed note — authenticated by his own cellmate’s lawyers and referenced in DOJ records — does nothing to quiet those questions.