Purported Epstein Suicide Note Is Released After Federal Judge Orders Unsealing
A federal judge in New York has ordered the release of a handwritten document described as a purported suicide note from Jeffrey Epstein, making public a record that had been sealed in the criminal case of Nicholas Tartaglione, Epstein’s former cellmate.
The document was released after a request connected to The New York Times. Tartaglione, a former police officer, is serving life sentences for murders. He has said he found the note after Epstein’s first suspected suicide attempt in July 2019. Epstein later died in federal custody in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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The release does not prove Epstein wrote the note, and Judge Kenneth Karas did not authenticate it. That distinction matters.
The practical effect is narrower but still important: the document adds to the public record around Epstein’s jail custody and may renew scrutiny over why some materials were sealed, omitted from prior releases or held in separate court files.
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