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In Brief
- The handwritten note was said to have been discovered by Jeffrey Epstein’s former cellmate.
- The unauthenticated letter is ostensibly from Epstein’s unsuccessful suicide attempt in July 2019.
Editor’s Note: This article discusses the topic of suicide.
A U.S. judge has unveiled a document reportedly penned by the late Jeffrey Epstein, labeled as a suicide note. Epstein, who was a convicted sex offender, left behind this handwritten message, which was discovered by a former cellmate.
The note, previously kept under wraps in a courthouse vault for almost five years, became public on Wednesday. It was part of an unrelated legal case and only came to light following a request from The New York Times.
In response to this request, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas from White Plains, New York, decided to release the document. The petition was part of a larger effort to unseal materials concerning Epstein’s cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione.
The judge clarified the reasoning for his decision, stating, “No party has identified any competing consideration that would justify sealing the Note.”
Karas said existing case law suggests that the privacy interests of a deceased person, such as Epstein, “are vastly reduced and disclosure of the deceased’s information is unlikely to ‘work a concrete harm’”.
The letter, which is handwritten on lined paper and has not been authenticated, dates to what was believed to be Epstein’s unsuccessful suicide attempt in July 2019, less than two weeks before he died.
Few people had known about the note until Tartaglione, a former police officer who is serving a life sentence for killing four people, mentioned it on a podcast last year.
The Times newspaper reported the note was never seen by federal investigators and was absent from millions of Epstein-related documents recently released by the US Justice Department.
Tartaglione claimed he discovered it in a book in his cell after Epstein was found after the suicide attempt on 23 July 2019.
“They investigated me for month — found nothing!!! So 15 year old charges resulted,” said the short note, which is hard to decipher in some places.
“It is a treat to be able to choose” the “time to say goodbye,” the note continues. “Watcha want me to do — Bust out cryin!!”
“NO FUN,” it concludes, with those words underlined. “NOT WORTH IT!!”
Epstein’s name is not mentioned in the note, which is not signed.
Officials said they found a handwritten note in Epstein’s cell at the time of his death, but that it didn’t appear to be a suicide note.
Rather, they said, it appeared to be a list of grievances about conditions at the jail, including about food, showers and the presence of bugs.
Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre, a federal jail in Manhattan, on 10 August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The medical examiner ruled it a suicide and authorities have pointed to a series of missteps by jail personnel — including browsing the internet and sleeping when they should’ve been checking on Epstein — for allowing him to take his own life.
Readers seeking crisis support can ring Lifeline on 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged up to 25). More information and support with mental health is available at beyondblue.org.au and on 1300 22 4636.
Embrace Multicultural Mental Health supports people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
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