A possible suicide note, found by Jeffrey Epstein's former cellmate weeks before his death, has been hidden from the public for nearly seven years — and even the Department of Justice says it's never seen it, according to a report Thursday.
But the note is mentioned in a "cryptic" chronology of events that was made public by the DOJ as part of its release of the so-called Epstein files, The New York Times reports.
The document has reportedly been stored in a courthouse vault since a federal judge ordered it sealed during a dispute between lawyers for ex-cop Nicholas Tartaglione, who was Epstein's cellmate in New York City's Metropolitan Correctional Center after the financier was arrested on child sex-trafficking charges in July 2019.
Tartaglione, who's serving four life sentences in a drug-related quadruple murder in upstate New York, told The NYT he discovered the note between the pages of a graphic novel sometime in late July 2019, following an apparent suicide attempt by Epstein.
The NYT said it petitioned U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas, who sits in White Plains, New York, Thursday to unseal the note.
The development is certain to renew speculation regarding Epstein's Aug. 10, 2019 death, which was ruled a suicide, by the New York City Medical Examiner's Office.
Two polls last year found that around half of American adults surveyed thought that Epstein was murdered, with as few as 14 percent believing he died by suicide.
During a series of interviews from a federal prison in California, Tartaglione told The NYT that the note he found was written on a piece of yellow paper from a note pad and that in it, Epstein wrote that investigators had "found nothing" after looking into him for months.
Tartaglione said Epstein wrote, in essence, "What do you want me to do, bust out crying? Time to say goodbye.”
The NYT reports it couldn't find the note in the DOJ's online repository of documents related to Epstein and a department spokeswoman told the outlet that it hadn't seen the note.
The spokeswoman also toldThe NYT that the DOJ "underwent an exhaustive effort to collect all records in its possession,” including from the Bureau of Prisons and the Office of the Inspector General, in response to last year's Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The DOJ has said it compiled about 6 million documents and posted more than nearly 3.5 million online, with the rest withheld because those documents contain child pornography or information that's legally privileged, duplicative or unrelated to Epstein.
The note Tartaglione said he found hasn't been mentioned in the official investigations into Epstein's death, including a 2023 report by the DOJ's Office of the Inspector General, which declined to comment, according to The NYT.
But the two-page timeline posted on the DOJ website details events surrounding a note between around July 23, 2019, and Jan. 5, 2020. The document, titled "Chronology," identifies various individuals, including Epstein and Tartaglione, by their initials.
Others mentioned include Tartaglione defense lawyers Bruce Barket and John Wieder, according to The NYT.
Barket had the note authenticated in late 2019 or early 2020, according to the timeline. The NYT said he declined to comment.
Karas, the judge who oversaw Tartaglione's case, ordered the note turned over to the court, Tartaglione and Wieder told The NYT.
Wieder told the outlet he drove the note to the courthouse in White Plains and gave it to a clerk, but didn't remember what it said.
When the note apparently became part of a dispute between Tartaglione's lawyers, Karas appointed an outside lawyer to look into the matter and ordered all related documents sealed on grounds of attorney-client privilege, according to The NYT.
The judge later disqualified Wieder from the case in a brief order that cited a separate, sealed order, the outlet reports, adding that Wieder declined to comment on his removal.
A court spokesman declined to comment on the existence of any sealed document but said such records are placed in courthouse vaults for safekeeping, The NYT reports.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
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