Purported Jeffrey Epstein Suicide Note Unsealed: "It is a Treat to Choose One's Time"

NEW YORK, NY — A long-shrouded piece of the Jeffrey Epstein saga was brought into the light Wednesday as a federal judge unsealed a handwritten note purportedly authored by the late convicted sex offender. The document, which had been locked in a courthouse vault for nearly seven years, offers a cryptic and defiant glimpse into Epstein’s mindset during his final weeks at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC).

The release follows a legal petition by The New York Times, which argued that the public interest in the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death outweighed the reasons for keeping the document under seal. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas ordered the unsealing after the Justice Department indicated it did not oppose the transparency.

The Contents of the Note

The unverified and undated note is written on lined paper and appears to have been drafted following Epstein’s first, unsuccessful suicide attempt in July 2019. In the scrawled text, the author expresses frustration with the federal investigation and a dark resignation regarding his future.

The note reads, in part:

“They investigated me for month – found NOTHING!!!”

“It is a treat to be able to chose ones time to say goodbye.”

“NO FUN – NOT WORTH IT!!”

While the note was not signed, its discovery has reignited discussions about the security lapses and internal culture of the MCC in the weeks leading up to Epstein's death on August 10, 2019.

Discovery by a Former Cellmate

The note’s existence was first brought to public attention by Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer and Epstein’s cellmate in July 2019. Tartaglione, who is currently serving a life sentence for a quadruple murder, has claimed for years that he discovered the note tucked inside a book after he discovered Epstein unresponsive in their cell and revived him using CPR.

"Jeffrey Epstein tried killing himself when he was in the cell with me," Tartaglione stated in a podcast interview last year. "And to prove this point, Jeffrey Epstein wrote a suicide note."

Tartaglione’s lawyers previously claimed to have had the note authenticated by handwriting experts, though the Justice Department has not vouched for its legitimacy. The DOJ noted on Monday that it has "no knowledge" as to the accuracy of the factual narrative surrounding the note's creation.

Conflicting Accounts and Lingering Questions

The note adds another layer of complexity to the conflicting records of July 2019. At the time of the initial incident, Epstein reportedly told jail officials he had been assaulted by Tartaglione and called a "child predator." However, records from a "Post Suicide Watch Report" show that Epstein later told a prison psychologist he had "no interest in killing myself" and no memory of the incident.

"I am too vested in my case to fight it, I have a life and I want to go back to living my life," Epstein told the psychologist on July 25, 2019, according to released files.

Despite these assertions, Epstein was later found dead in his cell three weeks later. While the medical examiner ruled the death a suicide, the discovery of a concealed note from weeks prior suggests that the internal investigation into Epstein's mental state and the jail's oversight may have been more fractured than previously understood.

The Department of Justice maintained in a memo last year that there is no evidence Epstein was murdered, pointing to 10 hours of security footage showing no unauthorized entry into his cell on the day he died.

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