Jeffrey Epstein's cellmate has claimed he discovered a suicide note from the disgraced financier hidden inside a graphic novel, but the document remains locked in a court vault, adding another layer of mystery to one of the most notorious deaths in recent history.
The Discovery of the Note
Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer charged with quadruple homicide, said he found the note in July 2019, shortly after Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. Epstein had a strip of cloth around his neck but survived that incident. Tartaglione told authorities that the note was tucked inside a graphic novel in their shared cell.
'I opened the book to read and there it was,' Tartaglione recalled in recent interviews from a federal prison in California. He described the note as a piece of yellow paper torn from a legal pad. The message reportedly read: 'What do you want me to do, bust out crying? Time to say goodbye.'
Context of Epstein's Final Days
Epstein was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges when he died on August 10, 2019. In the month before his death, he was moved to a different part of the jail and briefly placed on suicide watch. After the July incident, Epstein told jail officials that Tartaglione had attacked him and that he was not suicidal. Tartaglione has consistently denied assaulting Epstein.
The note, if verified, could provide insight into Epstein's state of mind. Tartaglione recalled that the note also stated that investigators had looked into Epstein for months and 'found nothing.' His lawyers at the time had handwriting experts examine the note to ensure he did not write it himself.
The Note's Whereabouts
The note is now reportedly sealed in a court vault, entangled in Tartaglione's own legal proceedings. A court spokesman declined to comment on the existence of any sealed document, noting that such records are placed in vaults for safekeeping. Metro has not seen the note and could not find it in the Epstein files. A Justice Department spokeswoman told the New York Times that the agency had not seen it.
Controversy Surrounding Epstein's Death
Epstein's brother Mark has long claimed that Jeffrey was murdered and that the death was covered up. An expert hired by Mark to attend the autopsy said the death looked 'more consistent with homicidal strangulation.' Documents and reports have shown that prison guards failed to conduct required checks on the night of Epstein's death, and the camera system in the unit was down. Guard Tova Noel reportedly slept on the job, browsed furniture online, and searched 'latest on Epstein in jail' less than an hour before his suicide.
In an FBI interview published in the Epstein Files, an inmate recalled a guard saying, 'If he is dead, we're going to cover it up and he's going to have an alibi,' according to the Detroit News. Mark told Metro: 'It all just bolsters the argument against suicide. If this was a suicide why all the shenanigans, and covert ops. Makes no sense.'
Related Incident in Norway
In a related development, a man who inherited $5 million from Epstein also died by suicide in Norway. Edward Juul Rod-Larsen, 25, was found dead in Oslo on Wednesday, days after Norwegian and French police launched a joint investigation into his parents, diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen and Mona Juul, a former ambassador. Edward and his sister were never accused of wrongdoing. Their legal team wrote to Norwegian outlet VG: 'It stands in the shadow of months of a public spotlight that has long since ceased to be critical, and has instead become suspicious, speculative and at times limitless. A spotlight that has not only affected two parents, but has also drawn their children involuntarily into the relentless machinery of the public.'
