A New York judge has released a note said to have been found after Jeffrey Epstein’s first suspected suicide attempt in jail in July 2019.

US District Judge Kenneth Karas ordered the document unsealed after a request from The New York Times, according to the Associated Press. The note had been kept under seal in a separate legal dispute involving Epstein’s former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione.

The document has not been confirmed as being written by Epstein. It is undated and unsigned. That matters, because the note is now part of a long-running public debate about Epstein’s final weeks in federal custody.

Found After July 2019 Jail Incident

Tartaglione, a former police officer, said he found the note inside a book after Epstein was found semi-conscious with a bedsheet around his neck on 23 July 2019. Epstein died weeks later, on 10 August 2019. His death was ruled a suicide.

The note reportedly includes emotional and cryptic language. It appears to refer to investigators and to the pressure around the criminal case Epstein was facing at the time.

Epstein had been awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving minors. Federal prosecutors had accused him of sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of minor girls at properties in New York and Florida, according to ABC News.

Authorship Still Unclear

The release does not settle questions about the note. The Associated Press reported that its authorship remains unclear and that it was not previously disclosed in federal investigations into Epstein’s death.

Tartaglione was later convicted in a separate quadruple murder case. His lawyers submitted the note during legal proceedings and it was sealed for years.

Epstein’s death continues to draw scrutiny because of major security failures at the jail where he was held. Reports found that jail staff failed to follow key procedures at the time, including required checks.

For now, the note adds one more disputed document to a case that remains deeply controversial. It gives the public a new piece of evidence, but not a final answer.