A document purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein, described as a suicide note and discovered in a Manhattan jail cell, has remained sealed for nearly seven years within a New York courthouse. This note’s existence and content have been largely hidden from public scrutiny, even as extensive investigations into Epstein’s death and related activities have unfolded.

The note was reportedly found in July 2019 by Nicholas Tartaglione, Epstein’s cellmate at the time. This discovery occurred shortly after Epstein was found unresponsive with a strip of cloth around his neck in an apparent suicide attempt. While Epstein survived that initial incident, he was found dead weeks later in the same jail, a death subsequently ruled a suicide by the New York City medical examiner.

Following its discovery, the purported note was sealed by a federal judge as part of Mr. Tartaglione’s own criminal proceedings. This decision meant that investigators tasked with scrutinizing Epstein’s high-profile death did not have access to what could have been a critical piece of evidence regarding his state of mind.

On Thursday, The New York Times formally petitioned the federal judge to unseal the note. According to Mr. Tartaglione, the message included the phrase, “time to say goodbye.” Although Mr. Tartaglione previously mentioned the note on a podcast last year, the physical message itself has remained inaccessible to the public. This secrecy contrasts with a recent push for transparency surrounding government investigations into Epstein, which has seen the Justice Department release millions of pages of related documents since December.

The New York Times has not seen the physical note, nor could it be located within the extensive Epstein files made public. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department also confirmed that the agency had not seen the document. However, a cryptic two-page chronology found within the released records details the note’s entanglement in Mr. Tartaglione’s complex legal case. This chronology indicates that Mr. Tartaglione’s lawyers authenticated the note, though the precise method of authentication is not explained. If genuinely authored by Epstein, the note could offer significant insights into his mental state during the weeks leading up to his death by hanging.

The Justice Department spokeswoman clarified that in compliance with a federal law demanding the release of government records pertaining to Epstein, the agency undertook “an exhaustive effort to collect all records in its possession,” which included documents from the Bureau of Prisons and the Office of the Inspector General. The absence of this purported suicide note from these comprehensive releases raises questions about its handling and why it was not considered part of the broader collection of records relevant to Epstein’s death.

Jeffrey Epstein’s death at the age of 66, while officially ruled a suicide, has been surrounded by controversy. Revelations of severe security lapses and operational failures within the Manhattan Correctional Center (MCC), which has since been shuttered, have fueled numerous theories regarding the circumstances of his death, including speculation of foul play. Following the July 2019 incident where Epstein was found injured, he reportedly informed jail officials that Mr. Tartaglione had attacked him and denied being suicidal. This accusation complicated the narrative surrounding both his initial injury and subsequent death.

Mr. Tartaglione, a former police officer who was charged with a quadruple homicide, consistently denied assaulting Epstein. Bureau of Prisons records contradict Epstein’s initial accusation, showing that approximately a week after the alleged incident, Epstein informed officials that he had “never had any issues” with Mr. Tartaglione and felt secure being housed with him. Mr. Tartaglione was convicted in 2023 and is currently serving four life sentences, maintaining his innocence and pursuing an appeal.

In recent phone interviews conducted from a federal prison in California, Mr. Tartaglione recounted his version of events regarding the discovery of the note. He stated that after the July incident, Epstein was relocated to a different section of the jail and briefly placed on suicide watch. Around that time, Mr. Tartaglione claims he found the note tucked into a graphic novel within his cell. “I opened the book to read and there it was,” Mr. Tartaglione recalled, describing it as a piece of yellow paper torn from a legal pad.

Mr. Tartaglione further recalled that the note stated investigators had probed Epstein for an extended period and “found nothing.” The message, as he remembered, continued with a sentiment akin to: “What do you want me to do, bust out crying? Time to say goodbye.” He explained that he gave the note to his lawyers, believing it could serve as exculpatory evidence if Epstein continued to claim Mr. Tartaglione had attempted to harm him.

Notably, the existence of this note was not mentioned in the official investigations into Epstein’s death, including a comprehensive 2023 report issued by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The OIG declined to comment on the matter. However, the timeline document, part of the recently released Epstein files, summarizes the note’s progression through the justice system. The purpose or authorship of this document, titled “Chronology” and referring to inmates and lawyers by their initials, remains unspecified.

According to the timeline, on July 27, 2019, four days after Epstein’s initial apparent suicide attempt, Mr. Tartaglione met with “BB,” identified as his lead lawyer, Bruce Barket. During this meeting, Mr. Tartaglione informed Mr. Barket about finding the note. When a guard prevented Mr. Tartaglione from returning to his cell to retrieve the note, Mr. Barket instructed his client to hand it over to the next lawyer who visited. Subsequently, Mr. Barket contacted “JW,” another lawyer, John Wieder, and requested he pick up the note from their client.

The chronology indicates that Mr. Tartaglione’s lawyers attempted to authenticate the note twice in the subsequent days without success. They eventually achieved authentication in late 2019 or early 2020. Mr. Barket declined to comment for this article. Mr. Tartaglione elaborated in a July 2023 podcast interview that his lawyers sought “handwriting experts” to confirm he had not written the note. Judge Kenneth M. Karas, who presides over Mr. Tartaglione’s case in the federal district courthouse in White Plains, eventually ordered the note to be submitted to the court, as confirmed by both Mr. Tartaglione and Mr. Wieder. Mr. Wieder, in an interview, stated that he personally delivered the note to a court clerk but could not recall its specific contents.

The note reportedly became embroiled in a prolonged dispute among Mr. Tartaglione’s legal counsel, leading Judge Karas to appoint an independent lawyer to investigate the conflict. Public filings indicate that documents related to this dispute were sealed to protect attorney-client privilege. The judge subsequently issued a brief order disqualifying Mr. Wieder from the case, referencing a separate, sealed order that purportedly explained the rationale. Mr. Wieder declined to comment on his disqualification. A court spokesman declined to comment on the existence of any sealed document, noting that such records are securely stored in court vaults.

Seamus Hughes contributed reporting.