Federal Judge Kenneth Karas of the US District Court in White Plains, New York, has released a suicide note purportedly written by financier Jeffrey Epstein. The document was published by The New York Times.
The note reads:
“They investigated me for month — FOUND NOTHING!!!
(further in the note, it says the result was charges going back many years)
It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye.
Watcha want me to do — Bust out cryin!!
NO FUN. NOT WORTH IT!!”
According to the newspaper, the note was allegedly discovered in July 2019 by Epstein’s cellmate, former police officer Nicholas Tartaglione. The discovery came after Epstein was found unconscious in his cell with a strip of cloth wrapped around his neck. He survived that incident, but a month later he was found dead in a New York prison. Tartaglione said the note had been hidden inside a book.
The New York Times notes that it cannot verify the authenticity of the document. At the same time, the newspaper points out that the phrase “Bust out cryin” had previously appeared in Epstein’s emails. The note also contains the expression “NO FUN,” which had surfaced both in the financier’s correspondence and in another note found after his death.
The newspaper also reports that the document remained sealed for several years as part of the criminal case against Tartaglione. It was not included among the millions of pages of Epstein case materials previously released by the US Department of Justice. A department spokesperson told The New York Times that the Justice Department had never seen the note.
Jeffrey Epstein first appeared in court in 2008 in a prostitution-related case. After reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors, he served 13 months in prison. The financier was arrested again on July 7, 2019, on charges of sex trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Prosecutors alleged that Epstein obtained sexual services from underage girls and supplied them to influential associates. On August 10, 2019, one month after his arrest, he was found dead in a New York prison.
In November 2025, the House Oversight Committee of the US Congress released Epstein’s electronic archive—a collection of the financier’s correspondence from 2011 to 2019. The materials made it possible to trace his network of contacts, including relationships maintained after his first criminal case and conviction.