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A federal judge ordered the release of a handwritten note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein, nearly five years after the disgraced financier died in a Manhattan jail cell in what authorities ruled a suicide.The note included the line, “It is a treat to be able to choose ones time to say goodbye,” written on a yellow legal pad. The note was said to have been discovered by Epstein’s former jail cellmate, convicted murderer and former police officer Nicholas Tartaglione.
US District Judge Kenneth Karas unsealed the document after a request by The New York Times, which first reported its existence last week. Karas ruled that the note qualified as a judicial document because it had been submitted in connection with Tartaglione’s criminal case. He said there was no legal reason to keep it sealed.“No party has identified any competing consideration that would justify sealing the Note,” Karas ruled.The judge, however, did not confirm whether the note was authentic or examine its chain of custody, saying those questions were not relevant to the decision to unseal it.“They investigated me for month – Found NOTHING!!! So 15 year old charges resulted,” the note read. “It is a treat to be able to choose ones time to say goodbye. Watcha want me to do – Burst out cryin!! NO FUN – NOT WORTH IT!!”The note surfaced after Epstein was found injured in his Manhattan jail cell on July 23, 2019, in what authorities later described as an apparent suicide attempt. According to public descriptions by Tartaglione, the note had been tucked inside a book in their shared cell.Jail records said Epstein suffered friction marks and skin irritation on his neck during the incident. Officers reported that he was breathing heavily but responsive. One officer later wrote in a Justice Department memo that Epstein claimed Tartaglione had tried to kill him.Both men were interviewed by jail officials on July 31, 2019.Epstein told investigators he had never had any issues with Tartaglione and did not feel threatened by him. Tartaglione also said there were no problems between them and that they kept conversations to a minimum. He said he believed Epstein was having a heart attack on July 23 because his eyes were open and he appeared to be snoring.Epstein and Tartaglione had shared a cell for about two weeks following Epstein’s arrest on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019. Epstein was accused of recruiting and abusing underage girls in New York and Florida. He had earlier pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor.After the July 23 incident, jail officials placed Epstein on suicide watch for 31 hours before moving him to psychiatric observation. According to jail records, Epstein denied attempting suicide and told a jail psychologist that suicide was against his Jewish religion and that he was a “coward” who didn’t like pain.Epstein died on August 10, 2019, while being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. At the time of his death, he no longer had a cellmate. Authorities later pointed to several failures by jail staff — including officers sleeping and browsing the internet instead of monitoring inmates — as factors that allowed him to take his own life.Officials also said they found another handwritten note in Epstein’s cell after his death, but said it appeared to be a list of complaints about jail conditions, including food, showers and bugs, rather than a suicide note.Tartaglione discussed the note publicly during a podcast interview last year. According to court records, he first informed his lawyer about it four days after the July 23 incident. The note was later submitted as evidence in his criminal case and kept under seal during a dispute over his legal representation.
