An attorney representing Jeffrey Epstein’s cellmate, who said he found the financier’s suicide note in his book after an unsuccessful attempt, says it was
FILE PHOTO: Jeffrey Epstein is seen in this image released by the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. , U.S., on December 19, 2025 as part of a new trove of documents from its investigations into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
’s cellmate, who said he found the financier’s suicide note in his book after an unsuccessful attempt, says it was written with language identical to a note found after Epstein’s death. Bruce Barket, who represented Nicholas Tartaglione, who bunked with Epstein in the weeks before the apparent suicide, said he did not seek to authenticate the handwriting through formal tests, but used other means to show it was the real thing.
Judge Kenneth M. Karas of Federal District Court in White Plains ordered the note to be unsealed on May 6 after a request from“We came to the conclusion that it was authentic for various reasons,” said Barket, a founding partner at Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco and a former prosecutor now a defense attorney.
“It was found in a book that belonged to Mr. Tartaglione,” Barket told amNewYork. “Only one other person had access to it. That was Epstein. ” Epstein scribbled on yellow paper what appeared to be a disjointed suicide note, including “They investigated me for a month — FOUND NOTHING!!!
” It then refers to old charges in nearly illegible letters, before saying, “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye. ” The note continues, “Watcha want me to do — Bust out cryin!! ” before stating “NO FUN — NOT WORTH IT!! ” Barket said similar writing, also on a yellow pad, was found in Epstein’s cell after he killed himself, including identical language.
“You have two pieces of paper in a cell that only Epstein has access to,” he said. “It was just some scribbles on a piece of paper, not a suicide note. It gave everyone confidence it was the same style, same phrasing, same handwriting. ”The New York City medical examiner concluded Epstein committed suicide, amid theories that he might have been murdered to silence him.
A document including the line “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye. ”, described as a suicide note purportedly written by the late Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker who was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 in what was ruled a suicide, is seen after its release by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas in New York City, U.S. May 6, 2026.
Still others have suggested insufficient efforts were taken to protect and prevent what appears to be two suicide attempts. The note found after Epstein’s death, included in a 60 Minutes investigation, says a guard “kept me in a locked shower stall for 1 hour” and another “sent me burnt food,” along with the words “Giant bugs crawling over my hands” before the words “No fun!! ” which appear on the first note.
Epstein was found dead on Aug. 10, 2019 at age 66 in a cell at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center . His first suicide attempt occurred on July 23, 2019 after which he was put on suicide watch for about a week and removed a little less than two weeks before his death “I opened the book to read,” Tartaglione told The New York Times of that first note.
“And there it was. ” Epstein denied he was suicidal, even though he had marks around his neck, which are at best self-explanatory, and said he wanted to live, according to documents.
“I can’t speak for the Bureau of Prisons as to why they put Epstein with Nick,” Barket noted, indicating his client never harmed Epstein. Epstein initially said Tartaglia attacked him, causing the marks, although he later indicated he had never been a threat or attacked him.
“Nick was an avid reader of novels, historical fiction, non-fiction,” Barket said of the book in the cell. “He wrote the note, put it in Nick’s book, tried to kill himself, got moved out of Nick’s sell and killed himself. ” Epstein wasn’t on suicide watch when he wrote the first note, which became part of Tartaglia’s case, seeking to show Tartaglia had not attacked him.
“I was focused on representing Nick,” Barket said of the note. “To me, the note was a potentially beneficial piece of evidence for Nick. ” Barket said the note was turned over to the court handling Tartaglia’s case around 2021, where it remained under seal. He doesn’t believe awareness of the note would have changed how Epstein was handled, since he had been found unresponsive with a strip of cloth and marks around his neck after an attempted suicide.
“Some scribble on a legal pad would have led them more cautious than finding him with a noose around his neck? ” Barket asked.
“He wasn’t on suicide watch when he wrote the note. He wrote the note, tried to kill himself, and got moved out of the cell. ”against Black woman by selling to white man instead of her at last minuteOG Anunoby injury latest: Knicks holding breath with status unknownFeathers, beads and big Hearts: Jody Morlock’s masked ball in the East Village is a wild night for animalsJaden Pierre in Roy Wilkins Park moments before youngster was murdered: DAinvestigating
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