A suicide note believed to have been written by Jeffrey Epstein has remained locked inside a New York courthouse for nearly seven years, never seen by the public or included in official investigations into his death, according to The New York Times.
Epstein’s suicide note kept sealed in New York courthouse: Report
The note is said to have been found by Epstein’s cellmate in July 2019, just weeks before Epstein was later found dead in his jail cell. According to The NYT accounts, the message was written on a torn piece of paper and appeared to suggest a final goodbye.
This came shortly after Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell with a strip of cloth around his neck. He survived that incident but was later found dead in the same jail weeks afterwards.
The New York Times reports that the note was later sealed by a federal judge as part of a separate criminal case involving the cellmate. Because of that, investigators looking into Epstein’s death were not able to review it.
‘Time to say goodbye,’ Epstein’s note reportedly said
Tartaglione, who is now serving four life sentences after being convicted in 2023, continues to maintain his innocence and is appealing his conviction. In interviews from prison, he said he found the note after Epstein was moved to another part of the jail and briefly placed on suicide watch.
Epstein’s cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, later said he discovered the note inside a book in their shared cell. “I opened the book to read, and there it was,” Tartaglione said, describing a yellow sheet torn from a legal pad, according to NYT.
According to him, the note said investigators had looked into Epstein for months and “found nothing,” and continued with lines such as: “What do you want me to do, bust out crying? Time to say goodbye.”
The newspaper says it has not seen the note itself, and it could not be located in the Epstein documents that have been released so far. A Justice Department spokesperson also said the agency had not seen it.
According to The New York Times, a two-page internal chronology in court records describes how the note became tied up in Tartaglione’s legal proceedings. It says his lawyers later authenticated the note, although it does not explain exactly how that was done.
If the note is genuine, it could offer a rare glimpse into Epstein’s mindset in the weeks leading up to his death by hanging in August 2019. The New York Times has based its reporting on court records, the internal timeline, and interviews with people involved in the case.
What investigators did — and didn’t see
The Justice Department has said it carried out an extensive review of all Epstein-related records held by federal agencies, including the Bureau of Prisons and the Inspector General’s office, in response to laws demanding greater transparency.
However, the note was not mentioned in major official reviews, including a 2023 Justice Department Inspector General report into Epstein’s death.
Officials had previously questioned Epstein about marks on his neck after the July incident. At the time, he reportedly said he had been attacked by his cellmate and insisted he was not suicidal.
Epstein’s death and ongoing doubts
Epstein, aged 66, was found with injuries on his neck in July 2019. His death was ruled a suicide by the New York City medical examiner.
However, repeated security failures inside the Manhattan jail have fueled ongoing public doubts and theories about what actually happened.
After the July incident, Epstein told jail officials that Tartaglione had attacked him and that he was not suicidal. Tartaglione has denied this claim. Later prison records showed Epstein also saying he had no problems with Tartaglione and felt safe sharing a cell with him.