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Topics: Jeffrey Epstein, US News, New York
Phoebe Tonks
Topics: Jeffrey Epstein, US News, New York
A suicide note that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein allegedly wrote before his death has been sealed from public view.
The New York Times first noted the existence of a possible note, and cited a claim made by Nicholas Tartaglione, Epstein's cellmate, which was found in a chronology of the disgraced financier's death.
The sizeable chronology was found in a raft of materials related to the ongoing Epstein investigation, which included a number of documents, photos and emails, the majority of which have been heavily redacted.
According to an investigation conducted by the Times, no suicide note has been released as part of this trove of files, however the chronology does appear to report that Tartaglione, referred to by his initials NT, told investigators that Epstein had left him a note.
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Speaking from prison in California, Tartaglione allegedly recalled parts of the note to the publication, which included some insight into where Epstein’s mind was at in the days leading up to his death.
“What do you want me to do, bust out crying? Time to say goodbye,” the note said, per the Times.
The report also highlighted how the note had initially been unsuccessfully authenticated, until Tartaglione’s own attorney confirmed its veracity, although how this was done was not reported in the chronology.
In a further twist to the case, the judge overseeing Tartaglione’s own murder case, ordered his attorneys to surrender the note to a federal court in White Plains, New York, where it has since been sealed alongside other documents in order to protect attorney-client privilege.
Tartaglione, a former police officer, is currently serving a life sentence for the murders of four people in 2016, crimes he strongly denies.
In the weeks leading up to his death, Epstein was discovered on the floor of his cell with injuries to his neck, which were initially blamed on an attack from Tartaglione.
According to a Bureau of Prisons memo in the Epstein Files, Epstein had stated that his cellmate had tried to kill him, however he later withdrew this allegation one week later, when he told authorities that he had 'never had any issues’ with Tartaglione and felt safe being housed with him.
With the incident then branded a ‘suicide attempt’, Epstein was moved to a different part of the prison where he was briefly placed on suicide watch.
It was during his absence, that Tartaglione claims he found the note left behind, tucked inside a graphic novel.
“I opened the book to read and there it was,” Mr. Tartaglione said: a piece of yellow paper ripped from a legal pad.
As per his account, the note said that investigators had looked into Epstein for many months and ‘found nothing,’ He then said the message continued along the lines of: “What do you want me to do, bust out crying? Time to say goodbye.”
A court spokesperson declined to confirm if the note existed, per the Times.
On Aug. 10, just over two weeks after the incident, Epstein died in his cell in what was officially ruled a suicide, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.