A US federal judge releases a document described as a suicide note connected to Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail in 2019. Multiple outlets report that the note had been sealed for several years and is now made public as part of court proceedings. The document is portrayed as having been found by Epstein’s former cellmate, who has said the message was located in a graphic novel. The New York Times reports on steps three of its reporters take to determine whether the note is authentic, noting that the newspaper has not verified that Epstein wrote it.

The releases come after the New York Times petitioned to unseal the document, following public discussion by the cellmate about the note’s contents. Other coverage describes the judge’s action as an unsealing of a purported note, while reflecting that it remains an allegation rather than confirmed authorship. The reporting collectively focuses on the court’s decision to release the document and the ongoing questions about whether it was actually written by Epstein.