US court releases purported Epstein suicide note

WASHINGTON: A US judge on Wednesday released a suicide note purportedly written by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein weeks before his death in a New York jailhouse.

Epstein's cellmate has said that he found the letter in a book following a failed suicide attempt by the disgraced financier, several weeks before his eventual August 2019 death.

"They investigated me for months — Found NOTHING!!!" the text of the letter, written on lined paper, reads. "It is a treat to be able to choose one's time to say goodbye."

The text concludes with, "Watcha want me to do — Bust out cryin!! No fun — NOT WORTH IT!!"

The letter had been sealed for years as part of the cellmate's criminal proceedings, but was released by Judge Kenneth Karas of the US District Court for Southern New York after a request by the New York Times.

While the document has not been authenticated, its release comes as questions continue to swirl about the well-connected financier's death while awaiting sex trafficking charges.

His death was ruled a suicide, but numerous security lapses at the jail and missing CCTV footage have led to persistent doubts about the official account.

Epstein was found injured in his cell in late July 2019, in what officials said was a failed suicide attempt.

It was ahead of this earlier incident that the letter was purported to be written and stuffed into a graphic novel.

The Epstein saga has continued to roil American and British politics, as documents related to the expansive investigation into the financier's life have been released in previous months.