A note allegedly penned by Jeffrey Epstein weeks before his death sat hidden inside a sealed court file for years — and the federal investigators tasked with examining his death never had access to it, according to a Thursday report from The New York Times.
The document surfaced not through any government investigation, but through the account of a convicted murderer who shared a cell with the disgraced financier at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan.
Epstein was found on July 23, 2019, with a homemade noose fashioned around his neck, according to a Bureau of Prisons incident report. He survived that incident. Weeks later, he did not.
Nicholas Tartaglione, a former Briarcliff Manor, New York police officer, occupied the same cell as Epstein during that period. Tartaglione said he discovered the note tucked inside a book in Epstein’s cell.
“I opened the book to read and there it was,” Tartaglione told the Times.
According to Tartaglione, the note read something like: “FBI, you know, looked into me for months and found nothing.” Epstein then wrote, “What do you want me to do? Cry about it?” before drawing a smiley face and writing “time to say goodbye.”
Tartaglione’s reason for holding onto the note was rooted in self-preservation. He believed it could bolster his defense if Epstein accused him of trying to cause harm.
That concern proved well-founded. When jail officials questioned Epstein about marks on his neck following the July incident, he claimed Tartaglione had attacked him and maintained he was not suicidal.
Epstein’s story, however, shifted. Bureau of Prisons records show that a week after making that accusation, Epstein told officials he had “never had any issues” with Tartaglione and felt safe sharing the cell with him.
A suicide risk assessment conducted after the July incident recorded Epstein denying any history of suicidal behavior. “He stated he lives to have fun, to enjoy life, and to learn.
He said his future plans include fighting his case and going back to his normal life,” the evaluation stated. He was removed from suicide watch the following day, July 24, 2019, but remained under psychological observation.
Epstein was found dead on August 10, 2019. The New York Medical Examiner ruled his death a suicide by hanging, a conclusion the Department of Justice supported.
The note, rather than becoming part of the official record surrounding Epstein’s death, became buried inside Tartaglione’s own criminal proceedings.
A two-page chronology discovered within the Epstein files describes how the alleged note became entangled in Tartaglione’s case.
It states that Tartaglione’s attorneys authenticated the letter in January 2020, though it does not explain the method used, and notes prior concerns about the document’s authenticity.
Tartaglione’s attorney, Bruce Barket, declined to comment when reached by ABC News Thursday, citing the sealed nature of the proceedings.
“The entire Epstein affair, as it relates to Nick, is under seal, not just the supposed note, if there is one,” Barket said.
Tartaglione was convicted in 2023 on 17 counts — 11 for murder, four for kidnapping resulting in death, and one each for kidnapping conspiracy and narcotics conspiracy. He is currently serving four consecutive life sentences while pursuing an appeal and maintaining his innocence.
The note was absent from the millions of Epstein-related files the DOJ released following a bipartisan law passed late last year requiring the disclosure of government records tied to the case.
A DOJ spokesperson stated: “It is difficult to comment on something neither the New York Times, nor we, have seen. The Department underwent an exhaustive effort to collect all records in its possession responsive to the Act. This included collecting records from the Bureau of Prisons and Office of Inspector General.”
Federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York were reportedly unaware of any suicide note written by Epstein, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Tartaglione had referenced the note’s existence publicly on a podcast in 2025. The physical document, however, has never been seen outside of sealed legal proceedings.
The Times petitioned U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas to unseal the note, arguing Tartaglione had already discussed it publicly and that a related chronology appeared in the Justice Department’s recent Epstein disclosures.
Judge Karas ordered all parties to respond to the unsealing request by May 4.
