New Delhi:
A suicide note – allegedly written by Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced American financier and convicted child sex offender – before he died in his prison cell in August 2019, has been kept sealed and confidential for the past seven years, The New York Times said this week.
The note was reportedly first found by Epstein’s cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer convicted of multiple murders and running drugs. This was in July 2019, days after Epstein’s first attempt to die by suicide; he was found unconscious with cloth around his neck.
Tartaglione said he found the note inside a graphic novel in their shared cell. It was written on a piece of yellow paper torn from a legal pad, and had the phrase ‘time to say goodbye’.
Tartaglione gave the note to his own lawyers – who claimed to have authenticated it, though it is unclear how they did so – instead of prison authorities. He later said this was because he feared Epstein might accuse him of trying to stage an attack on him and make it look like a suicide.
According to The Times, the federal judge hearing Tartaglione’s case then sealed the note.
It is important to note that neither the Justice Department nor investigators into Epstein’s death have examined the note so far. In fact, it hasn’t even been released yet.
The Times has requested the judge in the Tartaglione case to make the note public, reasoning it has nothing to do with the former police officer’s case but is a critical part of the inquiry into Epstein’s life and death, and could throw light on his mental condition in his final days.
The discovery of this note comes amid scrutiny over a mountain of documents, letters, photographs, and other files related to Epstein, his sexual abuse and trafficking network, and his connections to some of the richest and most powerful men and women in the world.
Epstein was sent to jail twice. The second time was on July 6, a little over a month from when he would die, on federal sex trafficking charges. He died behind bars waiting for that trial.
His death raised questions about security lapses inside the Manhattan Correctional Center, which has now been shut down, including appearances of red marks on his neck that were seen as his first suicide attempt. Epstein had then told authorities he was attacked by Tartaglione.
Tartaglione – who is currently serving four life sentences – has always denied the allegation.