A federal judge ordered the release of a document purportedly made by Jeffrey EpsteinNearly five years after the disgraced financier died in a Manhattan jail cell, authorities ruled he committed suicide.The note read: “It is a pleasure to be able to choose the time when someone says goodbye,” written on a yellow legal pad. The note was said to have been discovered by Epstein’s former cellmate, convicted murderer and former police officer Nicholas Tartaglione.U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas unsealed the document at the request of The New York Times, which first reported its existence last week. Callas ruled that the note qualified as a judicial document because it related to Tartaglione’s criminal case. He said there was no legal reason to seal it.“Either party found that there were any competing considerations that justified sealing the note,” Karas ruled.However, the judge did not confirm whether the note was authentic or check its chain of custody, saying those issues were irrelevant to the decision to unseal the note.“They investigated me for a month – found nothing! So 15 year old charges were filed against me,” the note read. “Being able to choose your own time to say goodbye is such a treat. Watcha wanted me to – for crying out loud!! No fun – not worth it!!”The note surfaced after Epstein was found injured in his Manhattan jail cell on July 23, 2019, in what authorities later described as an apparent suicide attempt. According to Tartaglione’s public account, the note was tucked into a book in the cell they shared.Prison records say Epstein suffered rub marks and skin irritation on his neck during the incident. He was breathing heavily but was responsive, police reports said. An official later wrote in a Justice Department memo that Epstein claimed Tartaglione had tried to kill him.The pair were interviewed by prison officials on July 31, 2019.Epstein told investigators he never had any problems with Tartaglione and did not feel threatened by him. Tartaglione also said there are no issues between them and they keep conversations to a minimum. He said he believed Epstein suffered a heart attack on July 23 because his eyes were open and he appeared to be snoring.Epstein and Tartaglione spent about two weeks in a cell after Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019. Epstein is accused of recruiting and abusing underage girls in New York and Florida. In 2008, he pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting a minor for prostitution.After the July 23 incident, prison officials placed Epstein on suicide watch for 31 hours before transferring him to psychiatric observation. Epstein denied attempting suicide and told a prison psychologist that suicide violated his Jewish religion and that he was a “coward” who didn’t like pain, according to prison records.Epstein died on August 10, 2019, while incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. At the time of his death, he no longer had any cellmates. Authorities later cited lapses by prison staff — including officers sleeping and browsing the Internet instead of monitoring inmates — as factors that led to his suicide.Officials also said they found another handwritten note in Epstein’s cell after his death, but said it appeared to be a list of complaints about prison conditions, including food, showers and bugs, rather than a suicide note.Tartaglione publicly discussed the note in a podcast interview last year. He first notified his attorney of the incident on July 23, four days after it occurred, according to court records. The note was later submitted as evidence in his criminal case and was sealed during a dispute over his legal representation.
