A newly unsealed document, purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein shortly before his death, offers a cryptic and defiant farewell – “NO FUN – IT’S NOT WORTH IT!!” – as the US justice department begins publishing millions of pages related to the disgraced financier.
“They are looking for me and have found nothing”
A federal judge has unsealed a purported suicide note written by Jeffrey Epstein, with the document made public for the first time on Wednesday.
The court’s disclosure of the note came after the US Department of Justice announced it had released millions of pages in its possession relating to Epstein.
Nicholas Tartaglione, Epstein’s cellmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in New York, has claimed that he found the note following Epstein’s failed suicide attempt in July 2019 – just weeks before the paedophile was found dead in his prison cell.
“They are looking for me and have found NOTHING!!!” the note reads. “It is nice to be able to choose the moment to say goodbye. What do you expect from me – not to cry!! NO FUN – IT’S NOT WORTH IT!!”
The note is unsigned. There is no confirmation that the letter was written by Epstein. The Department of Justice has not yet responded to a request for comment.
How the note came to light — and why it was sealed
The note was unsealed after the New York Times published an article last week detailing its existence and petitioned a court in White Plains, New York, to make it public.
Tartaglione, a former police officer serving a life sentence for four counts of murder – a conviction he is appealing – found Epstein unconscious in their cell, according to federal records. Following the incident, Epstein told prison officials that Tartaglione had attacked him. In the weeks before his death, Epstein had insisted that he was not suicidal.
After the alleged note came into Tartaglione’s possession, he passed it to his legal team as potential defence against any future assault charges brought by Epstein. The lawyers then enlisted “handwriting experts” to identify the author.
The apparent suicide note had been kept under seal as part of Tartaglione’s appeal proceedings, owing to legal privilege.
Unanswered questions and conspiracy theories
In July 2019, prison staff were uncertain whether the injuries Epstein had sustained – which were not severe – were self-inflicted or the result of an assault, sources told CNN at the time. Epstein told authorities that he had been beaten and called a child molester, sources said.
A New York medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide in 2019. Nevertheless, Epstein’s close ties to powerful and wealthy individuals continue to fuel credible conspiracy theories about the circumstances of his death.
