A suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein in prison has been publicly released, nearly seven years after Epstein’s former cellmate said he found it.
District Judge Kenneth Karas unsealed the one-page note Wednesday in response to a legal petition from the New York Times, which reported on its existence last week.
NPR has not independently verified the authenticity of the note. The five sentences on a sheet of lined paper read in part: “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye. Watcha want me to do — Bust out cryin!! NO FUN — NOT WORTH IT!!”
Nicholas Tartaglione has 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 a suspected suicide attempt outlined in a 2023 Department of Justice Office of Inspector General report.
According to the report, Epstein initially claimed that Tartaglione had assaulted him, which Tartaglione denied. Epstein changed his tune while on suicide watch in the following days, telling prison staff that he had no memory of the incident. Epstein died by suicide in a different 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 allegedly tried to hang himself the first time, and “woke up and saved him by performing CPR.” He said he discovered Epstein’s note in one of his books after that incident.
US District Court Southern District of New York
“When I got back into the cell, I opened up my book to read and there it was,” said Tartaglione, a former officer in the Briarcliff Manor Police Department in Westchester County, N.Y., convicted of quadruple homicide.
Bruce Barket, one of Tartaglione’s lawyers at the time, told NPR in a phone interview that he agrees with Tartaglione’s public characterization of finding the note and giving it to his lawyers, but could not elaborate due to attorney-client privilege. The note had been in Tartaglione’s files since then.
Barket said the note was relevant evidence in Tartaglione’s case, because federal prosecutors had initially sought the death penalty against him and “his conduct in jail matters a lot in front of a jury.” The note, if verified, would lend credibility to Tartaglione’s claims that he not only didn’t hurt his cellmate, but tried to help him.
“Ultimately, my goal here was to do whatever I could, obviously within the confines of the law and ethics, to protect my client and to advance his interests,” Barket said. “And that’s what we did.”
Barket said he believes the note to be genuine but did not officially authenticate it, contradicting the timeline of events the Justice Department released among the millions of “Epstein files” documents earlier this year. The timeline, whose origins are unclear, said Barket had authenticated the note as of January 2020. But he calls that claim “a bit overstated.”
“We didn’t ever authenticate it [with] any real handwriting analysis or something like that,” Barket said. “The surrounding circumstances of how we came into possession of it, [Tartaglione’s] account, and looking at a similar writing that was found in the cell after he actually killed himself led us to be comfortable with the fact that Epstein had written it.”
The Department of Justice told NPR over email on Thursday that the note has not yet been authenticated, adding, “this is the first time DOJ is seeing it as well.” Its lawyers did not object to its release in a two-page court filing in which they wrote that the government has no “knowledge as to the accuracy of the factual narrative” in Tartaglione’s 2025 podcast interview.
“Specifically, the Government is not aware of any compelling interest in maintaining under seal matters as to which Tartaglione has made voluntary public statements, given that sealing was for Tartaglione’s benefit in the first instance,” they wrote. “By contrast, there appears to be a 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, though the Times has also asked for three other court documents to be released alongside the purported 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 Department of Justice — one week to propose redactions to those filings. Barket said the documents could answer more questions about the note, like 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 interviewing high-level officials as part of its probe into Epstein and the federal government’s handling of the Epstein investigation.
It heard most recently from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (who appears in the files and was Epstein’s neighbor in Manhattan) on Wednesday. The release of the files indicated that Lutnick was in contact with Epstein long after he said he had cut ties with him, though Lutnick maintains he “barely had any relationship with him” and has “nothing to hide.” Former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was ousted in April after facing criticism over her handling of the Epstein files, is scheduled to speak to the committee later this month.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 9-8-8 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
