Jeffrey Epstein's possible suicide note released by judge
An apparent suicide note written in 2019 by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was released Wednesday.
A U.S. district judge ordered the release of the document at the request of The New York Times.
The note had been submitted to the court in May 2021 as part of the criminal murder case for Nicholas Tartaglione, a former cellmate of Epstein. Tartaglione has previously claimed that the note was written by Epstein after a failed suicide attempt less than a month before his death.
Tartaglione claimed in a podcast interview that he found the note in a book the morning after Epstein's death, and he gave it to his lawyers, who included it in his appeal. The note was not mentioned in Bureau of Prisons records.
CBS News has not independently verified the note. CBS News has reached out to the FBI and Justice Department for comment.
The scrawled note appears to read: "They investigated me for month — found nothing!!! So 15 year old charges resulted."
The note also includes the phrases "time to say goodbye" and "No fun — not worth it!!"
CBS News previously reported that on July 23, 2019, 18 days before he died, Epstein claimed that he was attacked by Tartaglione in the cell they shared. However, former Attorney General Bill Barr later testified before the House Oversight Committee that the July 23 incident was "viewed as an attempted suicide."
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting prostitution in exchange for having a federal case against him dropped. He served 13 months in county jail and had to register as a sex offender.
Then, in July 2019, a New York federal grand jury indicted him on child sex trafficking charges. On Aug. 10, 2019, Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. His death was ruled a suicide.
Epstein's connection to the rich and powerful has come under renewed scrutiny amid the recent release by the Justice Department of millions of documents related to the investigation, some of which showed his links to prominent figures.