WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A US federal judge has unsealed a handwritten note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein after his first suspected suicide attempt in July 2019. US District Judge Kenneth Karas ordered the release of the unsigned document this week following a legal request by The New York Times to unseal records in a case involving Epstein’s former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione. The note expresses defiance against federal investigators and mentions the ability to "choose one's time to say goodbye."

The document was allegedly discovered by Tartaglione, a former police officer, in a book after Epstein was found on the floor of a Manhattan federal jail with a strip of bedsheet around his neck on July 23, 2019. The text, which is barely legible, claims authorities "found nothing" despite months of investigation and questions the validity of the sex-trafficking charges brought against him. This incident occurred approximately three weeks before Epstein was found dead in his cell in what authorities ruled a suicide.

Federal authorities have not confirmed the legitimacy of the note, with the Justice Department stating in court filings that it has no knowledge regarding the accuracy of the narrative. The document was notably absent from previous comprehensive government reports examining the circumstances of Epstein’s death and had been under seal for nearly seven years due to its involvement in Tartaglione’s separate criminal proceedings.

Jail records included in the unsealed files indicate that Epstein initially denied attempting self-harm to psychologists, claiming suicide was against his religion. He was placed on suicide watch for 31 hours following the July incident before being downgraded to psychiatric observation. The court's decision to release the note concludes the current legal effort to bring these specific jailhouse documents into the public record as part of the broader investigation into the financier's death.