Weeks before Jeffrey Epstein in a decrepit Manhattan jail in 2019, he was found on the floor of his cell, alive but with marks on his neck.
He later made a startling allegation: According to a jail officer, Epstein said his cellmate, , tried to kill him.
Epstein soon recanted, but not before Tartaglione became a central figure in the mystery surrounding the ex-financier鈥檚 injuries.
Tartaglione, a former police officer then awaiting trial in a quadruple murder case, had a different version of events. He told his lawyer Epstein had tucked a suicide note inside a book.
Tartaglione handed the note over to his legal team, but its existence got scant mention in the years after 鈥� even after Epstein’s subsequent suicide, which drew scrutiny from federal investigators and a skeptical public.
On Wednesday the note Tartaglione said he found , unsealed by a judge after being locked in a courthouse vault for years as part of an unrelated legal dispute.
It is not clear whether the note is authentic, when exactly it was written or whether its cryptic language amounts to a suicide message, as Tartaglione claims.
Here is what to know about Tartaglione, why the note stayed out of public view for so long and how its release is reverberating now:
Who is Nicholas Tartaglione?
Tartaglione retired on a disability pension in 2008. Authorities say he turned to dealing drugs and eventually orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of four men in 2016.
Tartaglione believed that one of the men stole money from him that was meant to be used to buy cocaine, according to prosecutors. The burly former police officer lured the man to a bar, tortured him in an effort to locate the money and ultimately strangled him with a zip tie, authorities said.
Three of the man’s friends and relatives who were there were shot in the head, and all four were buried on Tartaglione鈥檚 property, according to prosecutors.
Tartaglione was arrested in December 2016. He was still awaiting trial three years later when he found himself sharing a cell with Epstein at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
Tartaglione was ultimately convicted in 2023 and later sentenced to four consecutive life terms.
What happened during Epstein’s first suspected suicide attempt?
Epstein was found in the cell with Tartaglione around 1:30 a.m. on July 23, 2019, according to jail records. Epstein was then placed on suicide watch elsewhere in the jail. That’s when, the officer said, he sat up and accused Tartaglione of trying to kill him, adding that he tried to extort money and threatened to beat Epstein up.
Epstein鈥檚 claim of an attack quickly became public, and within a day NBC News reported that jail officials questioned Tartaglione and were investigating whether Epstein had been assaulted.
In an interview with jail staff a week later, however, Epstein said he never had any issues with Tartaglione, was not threatened by him and did not 鈥渨ant to make up something that isn鈥檛 there,鈥� records show. He said he was not suicidal.
After 31 hours on suicide watch, Epstein was downgraded to psychiatric observation. He was without a cellmate when he was found dead on Aug. 10, 2019. Officials said they found a handwritten note in his cell but it appeared not to be a suicide note so much as a list of grievances about filthy conditions at the jail, which .
Authorities concluded that Epstein killed himself and that the first incident was likely a missed opportunity to take steps to prevent a second suicide attempt.
When did the note first emerge 鈥� and why was it only released this week?
A chronology included in recently released Justice Department files about Epstein’s case said Tartaglione told his lawyer about the note four days after the suspected July 23 suicide attempt.
Jail staff made no mention of the note in a report recounting an interview with Tartaglione late that month. 鈥淭artaglione stated he does not understand Epstein鈥檚 motive and what he is trying to do,鈥� the report said. Tartaglione said he thought Epstein was having a heart attack.
The note was later submitted as evidence in Tartaglione鈥檚 drug murder case and placed under seal amid a dispute over his legal representation.
Tartaglione mentioned it last year in a podcast interview from prison as he sought to dispel persistent conspiracy theories that Epstein did not kill himself. 鈥淚t was in my book. When I got back into the cell, I opened my book to read, and there it was,鈥� Tartaglione said.
The brief note itself is hard to parse.
鈥淭hey investigated me for month 鈥� found nothing!!!鈥� it says.
鈥淚t is a treat to be able to choose鈥� the 鈥渢ime to say goodbye,鈥� it continues. 鈥淲atcha want me to do 鈥� Bust out cryin!!鈥�
How do Epstein’s accusers feel about this?
After seven years of startling turns and unanswered questions, the document only adds to uncertainty and frustration for some of his accusers.
鈥淚t is hurtful to me because I don鈥檛 know if Jeffrey Epstein really wrote it, and if he did, when he wrote it,鈥� said actor and model Alicia Arden, who filed a that went nowhere.
Arden also wonders why the note is just being released now. Her lawyer, Gloria Allred, said Epstein’s victims want truth and transparency but the note 鈥渟imply deepens the mystery.鈥�
Jennifer Freeman, another attorney for survivors, said the document distracts from their push to scrutinize the government’s handling of Epstein’s case and hold accountable anyone who enabled him.
鈥淲e cannot allow the narrative to become muddied by speculation over whether this note is real,鈥� Freeman said.
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