Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged suicide note remained sealed in court for nearly 7 years

A handwritten note believed to have been written by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein before his death has remained sealed in a federal courthouse for nearly seven years, according to a new report that is renewing scrutiny over one of America’s most controversial jailhouse deaths.

The New York Times reported that the alleged suicide note was discovered in July 2019 by Epstein’s former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, after Epstein was found unconscious in his Manhattan jail cell during what authorities later described as an earlier suicide attempt.

Tartaglione claimed the message, hidden inside a graphic novel, ended with the chilling words, “Time to say goodbye.”

According to court records, Tartaglione’s lawyers later had the note authenticated by handwriting experts before handing it over to a federal judge.

However, the document became trapped in a legal dispute tied to Tartaglione’s own criminal case and was sealed under attorney-client privilege, leaving it unseen by Justice Department investigators and absent from the government’s 2023 Inspector General review.

The New York Times has now formally petitioned for the note to be unsealed, arguing the public deserves access to potentially critical evidence.

Epstein died in August 2019 inside a New York federal detention center while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Though his death was officially ruled a suicide, persistent questions surrounding surveillance failures, prison oversight and missing records have fueled years of public suspicion.