Judge orders release of alleged Jeffrey Epstein farewell note from 2019 jail stay

A federal judge in New York has ordered the public release of a handwritten document believed to be a farewell note by late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, nearly seven years after his death in federal custody.

The document, described in court filings as a possible suicide note, was unsealed on Wednesday by US District Judge Kenneth Karas after a request from The New York Times, which recently revealed its existence.

Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in Manhattan in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls. Authorities officially ruled his death a suicide, though the circumstances surrounding the case have continued to attract public scrutiny and conspiracy theories.

According to the court filing, the handwritten message was allegedly discovered by Epstein’s former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer now serving multiple life sentences for drug-related killings.

Judge Karas ruled that the note qualified as a judicial record because it had been submitted during proceedings connected to Tartaglione’s criminal case. He stated that no party involved had presented sufficient legal justification to keep the material sealed from public view.

In his written order, the judge stressed that the court was not determining whether the note was genuine. He also said the origins and handling of the document were not relevant to the question of public access.

The note, written on a yellow legal pad, includes several emotional and defensive statements attributed to Epstein. One line reads: “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye.” Another passage complains about investigations into his conduct and references charges dating back years.

Court records show Tartaglione and Epstein shared a jail cell for approximately two weeks in July 2019 at a federal detention centre in Manhattan. The alleged note reportedly emerged after an earlier incident in which Epstein was found injured in his cell with marks around his neck, an episode authorities later described as an apparent suicide attempt.

Epstein died weeks later, on August 10, 2019, in a separate incident that investigators concluded was suicide by hanging.

The financier’s criminal history had already drawn widespread outrage years earlier. In 2008, Epstein reached a controversial plea agreement in Florida after pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. The deal, which resulted in a reduced sentence, faced criticism for being overly lenient.

More than a decade later, federal prosecutors arrested him again on allegations that he operated a sex trafficking network involving underage girls in both New York and Florida. His death before trial prevented the case from proceeding in court.

The newly released note remained largely unknown to the public until Tartaglione referred to it during a podcast appearance last year. Interest intensified after The New York Times reported last week that the document had not appeared in millions of pages tied to Epstein investigations released by the US Justice Department in recent years.

Judge Karas also dismissed concerns surrounding privacy, noting that Epstein was deceased and that discussion of the alleged note had already entered the public domain.