Judge Kenneth Karas Unseals Jeffrey Epstein Purported Suicide Note From Nicholas Tartaglione Case
Image: The Times

Judge Kenneth Karas Unseals Jeffrey Epstein Purported Suicide Note From Nicholas Tartaglione Case

08 May, 2026.Crime.16 sources

The story in 15 seconds

  • Judge Karas unsealed Epstein suicide note from his cell, drawn from Tartaglione's court records.
  • Handwriting analysts say the notes share distinctive similarities, indicating same author.
  • Authenticity remains unconfirmed; authorities have not established whether Epstein authored the note.

The divide · 1 of 3

Whether the purported suicide note is authentic or a fake

Turns on whether language similarities prove authorship or enable easy imitation.

Who skipped what

How each outlet frames it

Every outlet we compared, the headline it ran, and a link to the original article.

Source Diversity
16 sources
Western Mainstream
7
Local Western
4
Other
3
Western Tabloid
1
Western Alternative
1

Western Mainstream

Associated Press
Associated Press

Handwriting on newly released note matches one found after Epstein’s death, experts tell AP

09 May, 2026

BBC
BBC

US judge releases Jeffrey Epstein's purported suicide note

08 May, 2026

Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times

Purported Jeffrey Epstein suicide note had echoes of messages he had sent earlier

09 May, 2026

NBC News
NBC News

Analyzing Jeffrey Epstein’s purported suicide note

08 May, 2026

Politico
Politico

Judge releases note purportedly left in cell by Jeffrey Epstein

08 May, 2026

The New York Times
The New York Times

Compare the Purported Epstein Suicide Note to His Writings

09 May, 2026

The Times
The Times

Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘suicide note’ released by judge

08 May, 2026

Local Western

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Chattanooga Times Free Press

Handwriting on newly released note matches one found after Epstein's death, experts tell AP

09 May, 2026

Just The News
Just The News

Newly released suicide note matches Epstein's handwriting, experts say

09 May, 2026

MS NOW
MS NOW

Opinion | The crucial details to pay attention to in Epstein’s purported suicide note

09 May, 2026

Standard Democrat
Standard Democrat

Handwriting on newly released note matches one found after E...

09 May, 2026

Other

Corrections1
Corrections1

Former Epstein cellmate says he found handwritten note after 2019 jail suicide attempt

09 May, 2026

N+
N+

FBI Confirma que Supuesta Carta de Epstein a Larry Nassar es Falsa: "Escritura No Coincide"

10 May, 2026

Telemundo Sacramento
Telemundo Sacramento

The President, the Plane, and the Prince: Key Conclusions from Epstein's Files.

10 May, 2026

Western Tabloid

Daily Express US
Daily Express US

Newly released Epstein 'suicide note' matches handwriting of one found after his death

09 May, 2026

Western Alternative

The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast

Jeffrey Epstein’s Brother Raises New Questions About Suicide Note

09 May, 2026

Full story

Unsealed Note Dispute

A federal judge unsealed a suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein in July 2019, after it had been kept for years under seal as part of a separate criminal case involving Nicholas Tartaglione.

The note was made public on Wednesday by Judge Kenneth Karas

The TimesThe Times

The note, handwritten in barely legible scrawls on lined paper, was allegedly found by Tartaglione after Epstein was found unresponsive with a strip of cloth wrapped around his neck, and it was made public on Wednesday by Judge Kenneth Karas of the federal district court in White Plains, New York.

Image from Associated Press
Associated PressAssociated Press

The Times reported that the note’s authenticity has not been assessed by federal investigations, while it said the handwriting appears to resemble examples of notes written by Epstein in the Epstein files released earlier this year by the US Justice Department.

The note itself says, “They investigated me for months — FOUND NOTHING!!!” and continues with “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!!”

SourcesThe TimesThe Times

Handwriting Experts Weigh In

Handwriting experts consulted by The Associated Press reviewed two jail notes tied to Epstein and concluded they have or appear to have common authorship, citing shared characteristics like spacing, letter shapes, usage of capital letters and unique punctuation.

Thomas Vastrick, president of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, said, “These are the kinds of things that would suggest that we're dealing with the same writer,” while Bart Baggett said, “They are written by the same person.”

Image from BBC
BBCBBC

The experts told AP they were not able to say definitively that Epstein wrote the notes, in part because there are few if any confirmed examples of his handwriting in the millions of pages of records the Justice Department recently released.

The AP reporting also described how Warmbier ruled out Nicholas Tartaglione as the author, finding “significant dissimilarities between his handwriting and the handwriting in question,” while Vastrick said he would not eliminate Tartaglione as a potential writer.

FBI Says Another Letter Fake

Separately from the unsealed suicide note, the FBI confirmed that a purported letter sent by Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar is false, with the Department of Justice saying the writing “parece no coincidir” with Epstein’s.

la escritura "parece no coincidir" con la de Jeffrey Epstein

N+N+

The N+ report said the DOJ added that the letter was matasellada three days after Epstein’s death, procedente del norte de Virginia, and that the sender address did not include the jail where Epstein was detained or his inmate number needed for outgoing mail.

It also quoted the DOJ warning that a DOJ document release does not mean the accusations or claims inside it are veraces, even as the FBI concluded the letter itself was not genuine.

In the same N+ account, the DOJ said it was investigating the validity of the letter that allegedly mentioned the “presidente,” without explicitly naming Donald Trump, before the FBI’s confirmation.

SourcesN+N+

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