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Amy Robach
This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed human. If audiobooks are your thing or you've been meaning to listen to more of them, you should check out a podcast called earsay, the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club. Hosted by Cal Penn.
TJ Holmes
Each episode spotlights standout audiobooks on Audible across all kinds of genres Sci fi, comedy, romance, thrillers and more. With Cal talking to guests who help break down what makes each story worth listening to.
Amy Robach
It's a fun, easy way to discover your next great, great audiobook.
TJ Holmes
Check out Earsay on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Bowen Yang
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Jana Kramer
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Amy Robach
A legacy is a beautiful thing, but
Bowen Yang
only if it survives.
TJ Holmes
I'm a real. Hey there folks. It is Thursday, May 7, and are we closer to ending any controversy over how Jeffrey Epstein died now that a suicide note purportedly from Jeffrey Epstein has been made public? And there are plenty of reasons in there to believe it is authentic. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and tj. First things first. Ropes does this now not gonna say it ends it, but does this get closer to leaning in that direction in this conversation to say, okay, yes, this man killed himself?
Amy Robach
I think so. I think for people who were on the fence and I think I might have been in that category and just leaving space open for the fact that I don't know. We don't know. There are just a lot of questions surrounding his death and given what information he probably had that could have come out in trial, it makes sense. Those conspiracy theories are still alive and have been for seven years now, nearly. But this note does to me make it seem highly likely that yes, he tried it once and then he was successful a few weeks later. Because this note looks like his handwriting and sounds like the other bits of writing we've seen from him. How he talks, how he texts.
TJ Holmes
All right, we're going to read you the text of this note. Ropes. Let's go. You know what, this was in 2019 when he died. Usually let's not set this up. We're going to let you hear it and then we'll break it down. But Robes, this, of course 2019 is when he died. There was, he did have a cellmate who was a quadruple murderer who's been convicted. And this is the guy we're getting all this information from. He said he found this note, but it's been under seal all of these years. We'll get into why it came out, why it came out now. And we had been talking about this, but Robes, here it is. Let folks hear first what this note actually says. Again from Jeffrey Epstein. Apparently a suicide note in 2019.
Amy Robach
Yeah, this is scrawled in handwriting on a yellow lined piece of paper. They investigated me for a month, found nothing. Nothing is in all caps with three exclamation points. So 16 year old charges. It is a treat to be able to choose one's time to say goodbye. What you want me to do, burst out crying all in Caps. Next. No fun, not worth it. Two exclamation points. Look, it's not signed, it's not dated, but it certainly sounds like. Look, we have gotten from the Epstein files dump a lot of his writings and a lot of the way he speaks, when he writes things out and what his handwriting looks like. Doesn't this sound familiar based on all of those other documents that you've seen and read?
TJ Holmes
No, no, not for me. Now others who have been studying those longer tell me that those are phrases that he used consistently. What? Bust out crying. That's a strange thing. You wouldn't hear a 60 year old man necessarily using that. That's unique fun. Just throwing fun in the way. What's the phrase? How do you.
Amy Robach
No fun, not worth it.
TJ Holmes
Okay, that's not. Again, that 60 year old dude. You don't necessarily think it would stand out if you heard somebody is a talking like this. Now other folks who have been going through the Epstein files and the Epstein dump for months recognize those phrases. Yes, and they say absolutely that. I, I don't think that's like a coincidence. Bros. That's not just a common phrase folks just throw around.
Amy Robach
No. And look, his cell cellmate claims that his lawyers had handwriting experts authenticate the note. And there's a reason why his cellmate had a vested interest in this note. And we can explain all of that and how it came about. So this federal judge unsealed and released this unverified alleged Jeffrey Epstein suicide note because the New York Times asked this judge to. The New York Times asked this judge to do so because of two things. Yes, they heard what his former cellmate had said on a podcast. And they say in that DOJ document dump with millions of documents, they saw a reference, a veiled reference is how they described it to a possible suicide note. So with those two references, they went to the judge to ask for this note to be unsealed.
TJ Holmes
So these documents, the Epstein documents started being released at the end of last year. Millions of stuff coming out publicly from the doj. But the DOJ said what? There's a suicide note. Robes. That was wild. To me that they are after all this back and forth, one of the biggest centers of the controversy, one of the biggest questions is whether or not he had actually killed himself and the doj. And all of this time, what? There's a suicide note. That's wild.
Amy Robach
It's. It's disturbing is what it is. The DOJ spokesperson told the New York Times that they had never seen this note before.
TJ Holmes
That's Crazy.
Amy Robach
That is crazy. So how did this suicide note end up in Nicholas Tartaglion? Is that how you say his name? Tarta? I used Tartaglioni. That's how it is. Nicholas Tartaglioni. How did it end up in his case file? Sealed. Well, because Tartaglioni says he found the note in his graphic novel.
TJ Holmes
He said, you just love that detail for some reason.
Amy Robach
Yeah, because of course he put it in a graphic novel. Isn't that also part of, I guess, its authenticity, that that's exactly where Jeffrey Epstein would put an alleged suicide note. But look, this is what his cellmate said on the podcast. He said, Jeffrey Epstein tried killing himself. When he was in the cell with me. I woke up, I brought him back with cpr. And to prove this point, Jeffrey Epstein wrote a suicide note. It was in my book. Yeah. When I got back into the cell, I opened my book to read, and there it was. And he wrote it and stuck it in the book. So this is what he says on the podcast. And he says he gave the note to his lawyers in case Epstein continued to claim that he attacked him. Because that is what Epstein initially said when he was found in his jail cell with a. It was described as a homemade looking noose around his neck and fetal position with a mark around his neck. He claimed initially that his cellmate tried to attack him.
TJ Holmes
So this is where the problem lies. Why is this guy, who essentially has nothing to do with Epstein's case and all this has been going on nationally, why is he holding the cards, if you will, for a note that is quite relevant, Robes, to the whole Epstein discussion? Well, once he handed it to his attorney, you have attorney client privilege. Therein lies the issue. So it's in his file. It has been closed. It has been sealed, because it is considered a part of an attorney client privilege. And it just sat there. It's been sitting for seven years as we've been arguing over whether or not this man killed himself. The note is sitting there. This. This story will never end.
Amy Robach
I mean, I'm shaking my head. I know you can't see it, because the idea that this back and forth over whether or not Jeffrey Epstein actually died by suicide, knowing this entire time that there was a suicide note from a suicide attempt that happened approximately two weeks, give or take, before Jeffrey Epstein actually did die by suicide. The relevance of that is enormous. And the fact that the DOJ didn't even know it existed is kind of hard to even get our heads around.
TJ Holmes
Because you ask Robes, what else? Because this is Significant like this is not some just random new little nugget that came out. What else do we not know?
Amy Robach
Robes?
TJ Holmes
I know it seems impossible this is one of these centerpieces of the controversy. Obviously somebody killed him because these powerful men are protecting their secrets. So somebody killed him. Then you had the. The worst prison workers ever. No offense to them, but robes that night they were. Didn't they missed some of their duties. They were googling some random stuff and. And you put that together and say wow, on the night that he died they just so happened to have their heads turned. That will make you question.
Amy Robach
Absolutely.
TJ Holmes
But it's also possible they were bad employees. He did die by suicide. It's possible. All these things happen.
Amy Robach
Yes. And it was also noted that when the judge asked for responses from basically the cellmates lawyers and the DOJ whether or not he should release them released this possible note. The lawyers for the cellmate said hell yeah, this is exactly what you know. He's already made statements to this actually just bolsters his claims that this note does in fact exist. The DOJ's response was interesting. They said there appears to be strong public interest in the circumstances surrounding Epstein's death as described in the unsealing motion. That said, because the government has no knowledge as to the accuracy of the factual narrative described in the unsealing motion, the government defers to the court. It was a very passive statement by the government.
TJ Holmes
Okay. They could have sum that up just by saying whatever and going on. Okay, fine. But nobody objected. There was no pushback to this ropes.
Amy Robach
Yes. And so that is why the judge finally released this and unsealed it and released this possible suicide now note for everyone now to say Holy hell, cannot believe this was here the entire time.
TJ Holmes
And we are look, we've put piecing together what his some of the phrases again it. You could say it looks like yes, this is an authentic note. We have to say though Robes, nobody has independently authentic.
Amy Robach
Authenticated yes.
TJ Holmes
This note to say yes for sure looks like by the layperson's test, just the eyeball test looks like the handwriting.
Amy Robach
Yes. And we'll. We'll hear maybe more from the cellmates lawyers who claim that they did have a handwriting expert authenticated for his case just in case this needed to come up again. So it'll be interesting to hear from them and certainly we'll have some folks be analyzing this in the days to come to see if I don't know how you officially authenticate it. I guess some official, well respected expert could possibly say yes. Or no. And then we could maybe say we feel beyond a reasonable doubt that this in fact was from Jeffrey Epstein. Well, when we come back, we're going to talk about the questions surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's first suicide attempt that this note depicts. There are a lot of interesting details surrounding what happened on July 23, 2019. If you're always on the lookout for a great audiobook or just want help figuring out what to listen to next, there's a podcast you should know about.
TJ Holmes
It's called earsay, the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club, hosted by Cal Penn.
Amy Robach
Each episode takes a closer look at some of the most talked about new audiobooks on Audible, spanning a wide range of gen, from sci fi and literary fiction to rom coms, thrillers and comedy.
TJ Holmes
Kyle is joined by guests who dig into what these stories are about, what makes them stand out as audiobooks, and why they're connecting with listeners right now.
Amy Robach
If you're looking for your next listen, this is a great place to start.
TJ Holmes
Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Bowen Yang
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Jana Kramer
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Amy Robach
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TJ Holmes
I don't know. Well, I actually just wrote that note down to ask you. This is fairly new. It came out last night. The news and the notes started getting around. I haven't seen a whole lot of reaction. Maybe there isn't a lot yet. But are people already pushing back and saying this isn't authentic or they're calling this note into question?
Amy Robach
I everyone that I, every publication that I have read so far, it all is reading as though this does seem fairly legit. So it'll be interesting to see what this does to the conspiracy theorists out there and the reason why there are still so many conspiracy theories beyond just the obvious that we've stated that yes, he had information about powerful men and women who wouldn't have wanted him to live to see a court date. But beyond that, the incident surrounding July 23rd, this purported first suicide attempt. Yes, we mentioned he was found in fetal position with a homemade fashion noose around his neck. But because of Epstein's own words in the day after and the days that followed, it made it seem as though he didn't try to kill himself. He told a psychologist initially, yes, he said that his roommate or his cellmate tried to kill him, but he pretty quickly recanted that. Told a psychologist the next day that Tartaglioni didn't threatened to harm him. And then he just started saying, I have no recollection of the incident. And so that caused some questions. He then went further and said, I have no interest in killing myself. Point blank told a psychologist this. He said, I am too vested in my case to not fight it. I have a life and I want to go back to living my life. So when you hear those types of comments that are in a report from a notable psychologist that fuels the theory that, no, see, he didn't. He didn't try to die. He didn't want to die. He wanted to fight. He wanted to maybe call out all these other people who had been a part of his life. So that. That adds to the speculation, obviously.
TJ Holmes
But a doctor, should we try. A doctor would know if somebody was just BSing him because this could also just sound like a guy who is trying to get a doctor off his back and make sure they don't put him on suicide watch. It could easily be dismissed as that. But yes, that does fly in the face of the story. Everything. There's no consistency of the narrative. He tried to kill himself. He didn't want to kill himself. He's writing a note that says he wants to die. He's telling a doctor he doesn't wants to die. The guy assaulted me, did all the back. Nothing is a consistent theme. So that, yes, the doubts will continue to be there. This is the closest I have seen robes to putting a button on the question about the suicide.
Amy Robach
Yeah. And I think for a lot of folks, like I said, who were on the fence but leaning towards just where the evidence is pointing, I think this note, especially if it can be officially authenticated, will. Will put a lot of those theories to rest or to bed for a lot of people. There will always be people who will never believe that he died by suicide. That's true. But I do think that a large group of people who might were who maybe were waiting to see or not necessarily having a formid opinion. This might be the smoking gun they were looking.
TJ Holmes
We'll see probably more and more the to the authenticating the note.
Bowen Yang
It.
TJ Holmes
They put it out immediately. Everybody has access to it. There are handwriting experts working on it this morning and they will be on podcasts and they will be confirming or not confirming all of that stuff will be out probably today and ropes on with that. Why. Why hold on to it? Their attorneys knew good and hell well all the debate going on in the country about Epstein and they. Did they not realize or forget they were holding on?
Amy Robach
I was just gonna imagine. Well, maybe they forgot. Really? You're gonna forget about having seen and having given the court this document that you know, would have been of incredible interest and would have been real possible information in all the speculation that's been going on now for seven years?
TJ Holmes
So you're saying it's not possible they forgot about it?
Amy Robach
I just can't imagine. But I don't know why they wouldn't have brought attention to it. I'm not sure. It's unclear. I mean, maybe they did just get
TJ Holmes
really busy and maybe they just don't give a damn. It's not there. The Epstein stuff is not in their lane. I don't know if they were holding on, but it's possible. The document that was in the Epstein files, who the one that timeline, that chronology that mentioned that there was a note. Where did that come from? Whose was that?
Amy Robach
That was in the Department of Justice's documents. But I think the point being that there were so many millions of these docum that it slipped by or it went unnoticed by DOJ folks. And it took the New York Times, who was painstakingly going through all of these documents, to put together this podcast interview that his cellmate, by the way, gave at the end of last year, but put it together with this one document that they said made a veiled reference to a suicide note and then had the wherewithal to say, let me go after this case file and see if we can find it. So good. On the New York Times, we now have more information, which is always a good thing in a case that has fascinated this country and frankly, this world now for quite some time. I'm sure it's not over yet. And with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk to you soon. If audiobooks are your thing or you've been meaning to listen to more of them, you should check out a podcast called earsay, the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club, hosted by Cal Penn.
TJ Holmes
Each episode spotlights standout audiobooks on Audible across all kinds of genres. Sci fi, comedy, romance, thrillers and more. With Cal talking to guests who help break down what makes each story worth listening.
Amy Robach
Fun, easy way to discover your next great audiobook.
TJ Holmes
Check out Earsay on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts hot take.
Amy Robach
You can disagree with someone and not hate them. I know really groundbreaking stuff. But lately that line seems blurry because hate is rising across communities in all kinds of ways, and Jewish communities are getting a lot of it right now. You don't have to agree with people, you just have to not be awful. The blue square is a simple way to say I'm with you. And I don't tolerate hate of any kind. Go to bluesquarealliance.org, get a pin, share it and stand up.
Bowen Yang
This is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture Resource with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang we all know the feeling when life gets really busy. Taking care of yourself can feel impossible. That's why Premier protein shakes are my go to. They have 30 grams of protein, 160 calories, no added sugar, and they taste amazing. So they're a healthy choice you'll actually want to make. It's not just for fitness, it's for getting after life. The 30 grams of protein gives you the fuel you need. It's not just for intense gym sessions, it's just for life. With the wide variety of flavors, from cafe latte to cake batter, it never feels boring. There's a flavor for everyone. I personally love the peaches and cream, but maybe you're a root beer floater cinnamon roll kind of person. Premier Protein powers me to say yes to more Find your favorite flavor@premierprotein.com that's P R E M I E R protein.com or at Amazon, Walmart, and other major retailers.
TJ Holmes
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Amy Robach
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
Date: May 7, 2026
Host: iHeartPodcasts
In this episode, Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes dive into the newly unsealed suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein, found in his cell after his initial suicide attempt in July 2019, two weeks before his death. They break down the note's content and authenticity, discuss the unusual chain of custody that kept it hidden for years, and ponder how—or whether—this revelation affects longstanding conspiracy theories about Epstein's alleged suicide. The hosts scrutinize institutional failures, media investigation, and the ongoing fascination with the Epstein case.
Amy Robach:
“This note looks like his handwriting and sounds like the other bits of writing we’ve seen from him. How he talks, how he texts.” ([03:51])
TJ Holmes:
“Why is this guy, who essentially has nothing to do with Epstein’s case and all this has been going on nationally, why is he holding the cards, if you will, for a note that is quite relevant, Robes, to the whole Epstein discussion?” ([09:46])
Amy Robach:
“The relevance of that is enormous. And the fact that the DOJ didn’t even know it existed is kind of hard to even get our heads around.” ([10:30])
TJ Holmes:
“Nothing is a consistent theme. So that, yes, the doubts will continue to be there. This is the closest I have seen, Robes, to putting a button on the question about the suicide.” ([19:28])
Amy Robach:
“There will always be people who will never believe that he died by suicide. That’s true. But I do think that a large group of people... this might be the smoking gun they were looking [for].” ([20:08])
Casual but analytical; Amy and TJ freely trade skepticism, astonishment, and frustration about institutions and the handling of explosive evidence. They also maintain a skeptical but fair tone toward conspiracy theorists and the unanswered questions that continue to swirl around the case.
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes guide listeners through the shocking release of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged 2019 suicide note—its authenticity, why it took seven years for the public to see it, and whether it’s likely to resolve (or reignite) the endless debate about Epstein’s death. The episode spotlights both the power and shortcomings of institutions, as well as the persistence of journalistic investigation in bringing new evidence to light. For many, the note may point toward suicide; for others, especially conspiracy theorists, the questions will continue. The story’s latest twist underscores just how many secrets still linger.