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New York Times pushes for release of purported Epstein suicide note

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by Ryan Mancini - 05/01/26 7:06 PM ET

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by Ryan Mancini - 05/01/26 7:06 PM ET

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The New York Times on Thursday called on a New York courthouse for the release of an alleged suicide note written by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The outlet petitioned the courthouse’s judge to unseal the note, which Epstein’s cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione said he found in July 2019, one month before Epstein’s death. The note became part of Tartaglione’s criminal case, before a federal judge later sealed the note as part of the case.

The Times stipulated in a report titled “Jeffrey Epstein’s Possible Suicide Note Hidden From Public View” that if the note were uncovered, it “could provide insights into his state of mind” leading up to his death, which was ruled a suicide.

A Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesperson told the Times that the department had not seen any note.

Tartaglione, a former police officer serving four life sentences in federal prison in California, told the Times that he came upon the note after Epstein was moved to a different part of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, where he was briefly put on suicide watch. The former police officer found the note between the pages of a graphic novel in his cell.

“I opened the book to read and there it was,” he told the outlet, referring to a piece of paper torn from a legal pad.

He said the note stated that investigators “found nothing” by looking into Epstein, later stating: “What do you want me to do, bust out crying? Time to say goodbye.” Tartaglione gave the note to his lawyers as something that could help him if Epstein claimed that Tartaglione attempted to hurt him.

A guard said Tartaglione was not permitted to go to his cell to retrieve the note. Tartaglione’s lawyer, Bruce Barket, told his client to give it to the next lawyer who visited him. That second lawyer, John Wieder, and Barket tried to authenticate the note, the Times wrote. Barket declined to speak to the outlet.

“My lawyers at the time wanted to make sure, you know, I didn’t write it,” Tartaglione said in a July 2025 podcast interview.

Tartaglione’s lawyers authenticated the note, but it is unclear how, the Times reported. A two-page document in the DOJ’s online collection of documents related to Epstein shows that Tartaglione, referred to as “NT,” found the note “Sometime between 7/23 and 7/27.”

It is unclear why the two-page document, titled “Chronology,” was written, who wrote it and why Tartaglione and Epstein are referred to by their initials.

The document was not part of the collection of documents since released after President Trump, who previously had a relationship with Epstein, signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law last year. Trump has denied any wrongdoing connected to Epstein’s dealings.

The DOJ’s release of the Epstein files under former Attorney General Pam Bondi was heavily scrutinized, with members of Congress accusing her of hiding information amid pages and pages of redactions, leaving the names of victims unredacted, and for not complying with the law in releasing all documents and materials related to Epstein within the law’s established time frame.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee confirmed that Bondi will testify before Congress about the files on May 29. Democrats previously introduced a resolution to hold her in contempt after she failed to appear for a previously scheduled deposition.

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