An alleged suicide note attributed to financier Jeffrey Epstein has remained under judicial secrecy for almost seven years in a federal court in New York, according to a report revealed this Thursday by the New York Times.
The newspaper, which requested the judge to declassify it, noted that the note was found in July 2019 by Epstein’s then cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, after an incident in which the magnate was found unconscious with a cloth around his neck.
Epstein, accused of trafficking and sexual abuse of minors, survived that episode, but weeks later was found dead in his cell in a Manhattan prison.
The note includes the phrase “it’s time to say goodbye”
According to the Times, the note includes the phrase “it’s time to say goodbye” and was handed over by Tartaglione to his lawyers. It ended up being sealed by a federal judge as part of his criminal case, which may have prevented investigators from examining it during the inquiries into Epstein’s death.
The Department of Justice told the newspaper it “has no record” of that document, despite having collected millions of pages related to the case in recent months.
According to Tartaglione’s account, collected by the Times in several interviews, the note was written on a yellow sheet torn from a notepad and was found inside a book in the cell.
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He also states that he decided to hand it over to his defense because it could have been relevant to the accusations against Epstein, who initially claimed that his cellmate had attacked him.
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Tartaglione has denied for years having assaulted Epstein
Tartaglione, sentenced in 2023 to life imprisonment for a quadruple murder and currently appealing his sentence, has denied for years having assaulted Epstein.
Epstein’s death in August 2019, at age 66, was ruled a suicide by New York authorities.
The Times emphasized that it has not been able to independently verify the content of the note and suggests that its authenticity has been analyzed by experts.
According to the newspaper, the existence of the note does not appear in the official reports on the financier’s death.
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