Epstein’s cellmate accused of trying to murder him days before death, newly released memos show

Newly released records depict Jeffrey Epstein describing to federal corrections staff that his cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, a former Westchester County police officer turned convict, tried to strangle him in his Metropolitan Correctional Center cell on July 23, 2019—just 18 days before Epstein was found dead in his cell. The disclosures add a troubling layer to the final weeks of Epstein’s life and to the broader questions about security in a high-profile inmate’s environment.

Transcripts from former Attorney General Bill Barr’s closed-door testimony indicate Barr acknowledged knowledge of the incident but attributed Epstein’s death to a suicide attempt, saying it reflected the financier’s state of mind before he died. Separate corrections-officer memos obtained by CBS News describe Epstein telling staff that Tartaglione had threatened him and had allegedly tried to extort him, with Epstein claiming he did not feel safe reporting the threats because of his own charges. The documents also suggest Epstein doubted whether the injuries he sustained could have been self-inflicted, and they describe contemporaneous observations by other inmates who questioned the suicide narrative surrounding the death.

According to the memos, Epstein said Tartaglione attacked him in their shared cell in the late hours of July 23, after allegedly finding a copy of the New York Daily News and reacting with anger at descriptions of Epstein’s wealth and connections to powerful people. Witnesses said Tartaglione shouted that Epstein had assaulted him during the exchange and that he moved his own mattress to the floor, claiming the bottom bunk because Epstein was older. In one account, a corrections officer reported that Tartaglione screamed, “I did nothing, I banged on my door to get him out of my cell,” when staff entered the room.

As the night progressed, Epstein reportedly woke for a drink of water around 1 a.m., and the next memory was corrections officers rushing into the cell about half an hour later. The memo notes Epstein told a different corrections officer that Tartaglione had found the newspaper and “flew into a rage” upon reading a story about Epstein’s crimes, an incident that the financier connected to a broader sense of danger in the jail. Epstein reportedly told staff that Tartaglione had threatened him because of his charges and suggested Tartaglione might extort him for money, a claim Epstein said made him reluctant to report the threats for fear that his own charges would be used against him.

The recordings also include Epstein’s assertion that he was not suicidal at the time and that he had “positive future plans and reasons to live,” a sentiment later reflected in a separate August 1 memorandum. An officer noted Epstein said he would never have killed himself and described him as reporting “not hopeless” and “looking forward.” Those statements stood in contrast to the subsequent suicide that occurred on August 10, 2019, at MCC New York, leading to renewed scrutiny of monitoring and suicide-prevention procedures in the facility.

Tartaglione, 57, a hulking former New York City–area police officer turned convicted killer, has a long criminal history, including a 2016 case in which he was convicted of kidnapping and murder in connection with the deaths of four men. He has denied Epstein’s allegations that he attacked him and said he tried to save Epstein instead. In a separate podcast interview with House Inhabit, Tartaglione said Epstein had offered him money to kill him, a claim he said he refused. He later characterized Epstein’s accusations as inconsistent with what he had witnessed in the cell and stressed that he did not intend to harm Epstein.

The Epstein death prompted a Department of Justice inspector general review, which released a 2023 report indicating Epstein repeatedly asserted that he was not suicidal. The inspector general’s findings highlighted questions about the timing of suicide-watch changes the day of Epstein’s death and the overall procedures for monitoring high-risk inmates. While Barr’s testimony and the new memos do not resolve the broader debate about Epstein’s death, they illuminate tensions between Epstein’s reported state of mind, the perceptions of prison staff, and the security measures in place at the time.

The newly released documents come amid enduring public interest in Epstein’s associations with powerful figures and the circumstances surrounding his death. They underscore ongoing concerns about the safety of inmates connected to high-profile investigations and the ways in which warnings from inside the jail are acted upon, particularly when the subject has his own legal vulnerabilities and social connections that complicate reporting and response.

As authorities continue to review the episodes surrounding Epstein’s final weeks, the new details may influence how federal facilities assess threats among inmates who are perceived to have access to influential networks or resources. The material released through the Barr testimony, along with corrections staff memos obtained by CBS News, provides a snapshot of disputed narratives within MCC New York in the days leading up to Epstein’s death and the persistent questions about whether more could have been done to safeguard him.