NEW YORK — A message recovered by a former cellmate following Jeffrey Epstein's first alleged suicide attempt in jail was "almost certainly written by the same person" as a note found by authorities in the rich sex offender's cell after he killed himself, handwriting experts believe.
Three forensic document examiners who studied the notes at the request of The Associated Press said they have or appear to have common authorship, with common features such as the same spacing, letter shapes, use of capital letters and distinctive punctuation.
In the first message, released this week, the writer says: “They investigated me for month — found nothing!!!” and speaks of being allowed to choose the “time to say goodbye.” The other note, which has been public for years, is a litany of complains regarding facilities at the jail including bathing, food and “Giant Bugs.”
No one has clearly confirmed Mr. Epstein wrote the notes, but they reflect his dismal attitude before his death and echo some of the frustrations he expressed to jail authorities about being confined in the deteriorating Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan after living in luxury for decades. They also contain phrases he had used before.
Both letters, written in ink on notepad paper, contain the underlined text “NO FUN” and end with double exclamation points — the first of which is bowed slightly with identical curvature. The opening words of each note are larger than the others, and each succeeding line tapers off away from the left margin.
"These are the types of things that would indicate that we are dealing with the same writer," said Thomas Vastrick, head of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners.
“They are written by the same person,” says Bart Baggett, founder of Handwriting Experts Inc., a forensic analysis organization, and an expert witness who has testified in court over 130 times.
