Epstein’s ‘secret suicide note’ reportedly had chilling message | US | News
It is claimed that the suicide note written by Jeffrey Epstein while he was in custody has been kept secret for approximately seven years.
The disgraced financier’s letter is said to be locked in a safe in a New York courthouse.
A cellmate claimed to have found the note in July 2019 after Epstein was found unresponsive with a rag around his neck.
Epstein survived the incident but was found dead in prison weeks later.
His cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, claimed Thursday that The New York Times had petitioned the judge to unseal the note saying “it was time to say goodbye.”
The note was sealed by a federal judge as part of the cellmate’s own criminal case, according to documents and interviews.
This meant detectives investigating Epstein’s high-profile death were denied potentially crucial evidence.
According to reports, the two-page document in the records details how the scribbled message became involved in Tartaglione’s legal proceedings Mirror.
Tartaglione’s lawyers reportedly confirmed the memo, but there was no explanation as to how this was accomplished.
Tartaglione referenced the memo in a podcast last year, but the contents of the message were never disclosed, despite widespread calls for transparency about the investigation.
Since December, the Justice Department has released millions of pages of documents linked to Epstein.
Tartaglione, a former police officer, is currently serving four consecutive life sentences for the murders of four people.
Jail records reveal that a week after Epstein accused his cellmate of assaulting him in July 2019, he changed his position and claimed they “had no problems.”
A Justice Department spokesperson told the New York Times that the agency did not review it and that the department “made a comprehensive effort to collect all records available to it,” including those from the Bureau of Prisons and the Office of Inspector General.
Tartaglione claimed that he found the note hidden in a comic book after Epstein was transferred to a different part of the prison.
The memo allegedly stated that investigators “found nothing” in their investigation of the sex offender, Tartaglione recalled.
She said the message read: “What do you want me to do, stop crying? Time to say goodbye.”
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal prison in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was officially ruled a suicide.
