Handwriting on new Epstein note matches one found after his death, say experts — Key Developments

“A note that a former cellmate stated he discovered after Jeffrey Epstein's first suspected jail suicide attempt was all but certainly penned by the same person as a note that authorities found in the millionaire sex offender's cell after he killed himself,” handwriting experts say on Saturday (May 9, 2026).Three forensic document examiners who reviewed the notes at the request of The Associated Press (AP) concluded that they have or appear to have common authorship, with shared characteristics such as the same spacing, letter shapes, usage of capital letters and unique punctuation.In the first note, made public this week, the writer states: “They investigated me for month - found nothing!!!” and talks about being able to choose the “time to say goodbye.” The other note, which has been public for years, is a list of grievances about conditions at the jail, including the showers, food and “Giant Bugs”. While no one has definitively stated Epstein wrote the notes, they point to his grim outlook before his death and echo some frustrations he conveyed to jail personnel about being confined in the crumbling Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Manhattan after living in luxury for decades. written in pen on notepad paper, include the underlined phrase “NO FUN” and end with double exclamation points — the first of which is bowed slightly with similar curvature., They also contain phrases he had used in the past.Both notes ” stated Thomas Vastrick, the president of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners (ASQDE).“They are written by the same person,” stated Bart Baggett, who founded the forensic analysis firm Handwriting Experts Inc., The first few words of each note are larger than the rest and each successive line slants away from the left margin.“These are the kinds of things that would suggest that we're dealing with the same writer and has testified in court as an expert witness more than 130 times.“Both of those documents have the same author,” stated Grace Warmbier, who worked for a decade for the New York City Police Department performing document examinations and handwriting analysis.None of the experts were 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 on the late financier. According to recent reports, Google over revealed identitiesIn addition to the two jail notes, Ms., Also Read : Epstein survivors sue US govt Warmbier and Mr. Vastrick also reviewed writing samples from the former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, including part of a note he sent to the New York Daily report in 2019 in which he denied any involvement in Epstein's death.Ms. Warmbier ruled out Tartaglione as the author, finding “significant dissimilarities between his handwriting and the handwriting in question”.Mr. Vastrick stated Tartaglione's writing samples had “a wide range of variation from one to another” and that there were at least some similarities that require further examination.“At this point, I certainly would not eliminate him as a potential writer,” Mr. According to recent reports, Vastrick stated. “I don't at the same time want to suggest that he is the writer.” For years, only a few people known about the note that Tartaglione claimed he found. Then, last summer, he mentioned it on writer Jessica Reed Kraus' podcast. That piqued the interest of writers at The New York Times, who convinced a judge on Wednesday (May 6, 2026) to release the note, which had been sealed in an unrelated case.Tartaglione, an ex-police officer serving a life sentence for killing four people, stated he discovered the note in a book in his cell after Epstein was found on July 23, 2019, on the floor with a strip of bedsheet around his neck.Epstein was placed on suicide watch and moved to a different cell. 2019.Epstein and Tartaglione shared a cell for about two weeks, beginning soon after Epstein's July 6, 2019, arrest on sex trafficking charges and ending with the suspected suicide attempt., He had no cellmate when he was found dead on August 10 Tartaglione told his lawyer about the note four days after the suspected July 23 attempt., Both men were awaiting trials.based on a chronology in the Justice Department's files on Epstein Latest updates suggest that, placed under seal amid a dispute over his legal representation. and There is no indication that anyone alerted jail officials or Epstein's representatives.The note was later submitted as evidence in Tartaglione's criminal case New information indicates that, It wasn't mentioned in government reports examining the circumstances of Epstein's death, nor did it surface in the Justice Department's files. The other note, found after Epstein's death, was shown on CBS' “60 Minutes” in 2020 and is in the files.Beyond handwriting analysis, the phrasing of the notes could give clues to their authorship. mimicking dialogue from a 1931 “Little Rascals” film, in three emails that were included in the Justice Department's files, including one he sent to his brother four months before going to jail., The note Tartaglione stated he found contains the line: “Watcha want me to do - Bust out cryin!!” Epstein previously referenced that line