A federal judge has unsealed a document purportedly authored by Jeffrey Epstein during his time at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. The note, which contains the phrase “No fun. Not worth it,” was recovered by Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer and convicted murderer who shared a cell with Epstein in 2019.
The release follows a ruling by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas, who determined the document is a matter of public record.
Karas explicitly declined to authenticate the note or verify its chain of custody, stating that such factors did not outweigh the public's right to access judicial filings.
The text on the yellow legal pad reads: “No fun. Not worth it. Watcha want me to do - Bust out cryin!!”
Disputed Origins and Chain of Custody
The note stems from a period of time weeks prior to Epstein’s confirmed death, coinciding with an earlier incident where he was found semi-conscious in his cell. Tartaglione alleges he discovered the note inside a book and surrendered it to his legal team, intending to use it to refute Epstein’s claims that Tartaglione had physically assaulted him.
| Fact Check | Status |
|---|---|
| Document Authenticity | Unverified |
| Source | Nicholas Tartaglione (via counsel) |
| Official DOJ Stance | No evidence of foul play in 2019 death |
The note remained suppressed for years due to a complex legal battle involving attorney-client privilege and Tartaglione’s own criminal appeals. Throughout the proceedings, the Department of Justice has maintained that its own investigation—supported by 10 hours of surveillance footage—shows no entry into the cell during the incident, casting doubt on conspiracy theories regarding Epstein's ultimate demise.
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Contextual Discrepancies
The document enters the public sphere as a fragmented remnant of a chaotic period within the federal jail system. While the court has permitted the disclosure of the note as a Judicial Document, its presence in the record is entirely dependent on the testimony of Tartaglione, a man currently serving four life sentences for homicide.
The Bureau of Prisons never recorded the note in its official internal logs.
Attorneys for Tartaglione assert the note was found in a book, yet the physical movement of the item prior to its submission remains largely opaque.
Media organizations, including The New York Times, petitioned for the release, arguing that the Public Right of Access outweighed private assertions of privilege.
The court's decision to unseal the document marks the end of a long-standing Legal Dispute regarding whether personal papers of deceased detainees held within a third-party's legal filings constitute public property. The note serves more as a relic of a controversial Criminal Case than a definitive account of the circumstances surrounding the financier's life in custody.
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