Overview
- The New York Times–led reporting published Tuesday said a former cellmate told investigators Epstein tried to kill himself at least two additional times before he was found dead on August 10, 2019.
- An evidence photo from Department of Justice files shows piles of linens and several nooses or fabric strips in Epstein’s cell after his death, which prison records did not document.
- Cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione told reporters he found Epstein motionless with an orange fabric noose on July 22, 2019, cut him down and alerted guards who later cleared Tartaglione in an internal probe.
- Notes attributed to Epstein that were unsealed by a federal judge include a short possible suicide note and show he considered offering prosecutors information about President Donald Trump but contained no clear or substantive claims.
- The newly public documents and testimony have renewed scrutiny of Metropolitan Correctional Center practices, record-keeping and previous transparency gaps since Congress passed the Epstein Files release law in November 2025.