STORY: A U.S. federal judge on Wednesday (May 6) released a document described as a suicide note allegedly written by Jeffrey Epstein.
The handwritten note includes the line, quote, "It is a treat to be able to choose one's time to say goodbye."
A judge ordered the document unsealed after a request by The New York Times, ruling that it qualifies as a judicial document subject to the public's right of access.
He added that there was no legal reason to keep the document sealed, though he did not verify the note's authenticity or its chain of custody.
In the note, Epstein appears to reference charges against him, writing investigators "found nothing."
The late financier and sex offender was found dead in his cell in August 2019 in a death ruled a suicide.
The note surfaced weeks before his death, after an earlier incident authorities described as a possible suicide attempt.
In ordering the unsealing, the judge rejected privacy concerns, noting Epstein's death and the widespread public discussion of the purported note.
