Judge Releases Alleged Epstein Suicide Note
'No fun — not worth it'
Priest breaks hip — now Canada apparently wants him dead
Rev. Lawrence Holland fell in his bathroom on Christmas Day and suffered a hip fracture. While the 79-year-old Catholic priest went to a nearby hospital in search of help, health care workers at the facility apparently had a final solution in mind: state-facilitated suicide.
Since the Canadian federal government under ex-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau legalized medically assisted suicide nationwide in 2016, the so-called Medical Assistance in Dying program has been grossly liberalized.
'The moment you lose hope, the devil comes in.'
Initially, MAID applicants had to be 18 or older and suffering from a "grievous and irremediable medical condition" causing "enduring physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable" to them. Now, persons struggling with anxiety, autism, depression, economic hardship, PTSD, and other survivable issues appear to be fair game.
Next year, persons suffering solely from a mental illness will also be eligible.
MAID — which Canada's Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer boasted in October 2020 would, with expanded access, "result in a net reduction in health care costs for the provincial governments" — is now among the leading causes of death in Canada, accounting for over 5% of all deaths in Canada in 2024.
"It's a false compassion," Rev. Holland told the B.C. Catholic, the Archdiocese of Vancouver's biweekly publication.
The hobbled priest claimed that a doctor and a nurse at Vancouver General Hospital, directly affiliated with the British Columbia Ministry of Health, offered him MAID while he was recovering from his hip fracture, which is hardly a terminal condition. The priest further claimed that both medical professionals knew he is a Catholic priest.
"I think I was very shocked," said Holland. "It is such a sensitive subject."
Rev. Larry Lynn, pro-life chaplain for the Archdiocese of Vancouver, said, "This must surely be among the most appalling examples of Canada’s coercive and insensitive euthanasia regime."
RELATED: Euthanasia and the lie of the 'good death'
Although he was left "kind of silent" for a moment when the topic of assisted suicide was first apparently broached, Rev. Holland emphasized to the doctor that he, a Catholic priest, was morally opposed to the practice.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that direct euthanasia is "morally unacceptable"; that such actions constitute "a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator; and that "even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted."
The Catholic Church has long campaigned against assisted suicide.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops noted in 2023, for instance, that "euthanasia and assisted suicide (MAID) have always been, and will always be, morally unacceptable because they are affronts to human dignity and violations of natural and divine law."
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has similarly and repeatedly condemned the practice, affirming that "we are dealing here with 'a violation of the divine law, an offense against the dignity of the human person, a crime against life, and an attack on humanity.'"
Just last month, Catholic bishops in New York published a guidebook reiterating the church's moral teaching "that this practice is objectively immoral and must be avoided, despite the false veil of compassion with which it is sold." The state was apparently in need of a reminder given its recent adoption of a law legalizing doctor-assisted suicide.
Even when dealing with a patient from a "faith community" that's opposed to MAID, the Canadian Association of MAID Assessors and Providers still recommends that Canadian health care professionals make the pitch for assisted suicide.
After informing his doctor that he was opposed to assisted suicide, Rev. Holland recalled the doctor explaining that he "just wanted to make sure that, if a [terminal] diagnosis came up or not ... I knew the different services I had access to."
Rev. Holland told the B.C. Catholic that weeks later, a nurse also raised the matter of MAID with him.
A spokesman for Vancouver Coastal Health, which runs the hospital, told the B.C. Catholic that "staff may consider bringing up MAID based on their clinical judgment, provided they possess the necessary knowledge and skills to do so."
Staff are also "responsible for answering questions when patients bring up the topic of MAID," added the spokesman.
Rev. Ronald Sequeria, the Catholic chaplain serving at Vancouver General Hospital, suggested there was something demonic about how MAID-pushers prey on suffering patients' despair — especially when suffering can be redemptive.
"The moment you lose hope, the devil comes in, in different personalities, and says, 'Do you want MAID? I don’t want people to suffer,'" said Rev. Sequeira.
"God makes us more pure, more strong, through the suffering when we offer it up," said the chaplain. "So we give hope — help them not to lose hope."
Rev. Holland drove home this point, stressing that enduring pain "can encourage growth."
"It can motivate you, it can open up new worlds, new vistas, new opportunities," added the priest.
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Camp Hope offers Christ-centered healing to America’s veterans
It’s been roughly five decades since the term “post-traumatic stress disorder” emerged and gained traction, driven largely by the experiences of Vietnam War veterans. Forty-six years have passed since it became an official psychiatric diagnosis.
In that span of time, PTSD research has substantially advanced our understanding of its underlying neurobiology, led to the development of a wide range of evidence-based treatments, and significantly improved access to specialized care for traumatized individuals.
‘I want to show the VA that spends $571 million a year on suicide prevention that what we’re doing here at Camp Hope actually works.’
In other words, American vets today have access to more knowledge and resources than ever before.
And yet, some would argue that mainstream PTSD care is not treating the full person.
Chris Knight is the president of the PTSD Foundation of America — a nonprofit that takes a Christ-centered approach to helping veterans heal from combat-related trauma.
Rather than relying solely on mainstream treatments, the organization integrates professional counseling and therapy with intensive peer mentorship and a Christ-centered approach that places Jesus at the heart of the healing journey.
In a conversation that was as enlightening as it was encouraging, Chris gave me the ins and outs of the organization and shared testimonies of veterans who entered the program broken, addicted, and haunted by the horrors of their past and emerged healed, confident, and rooted in God’s grace.
A different path to healing
While the foundation provides a broad range of services — including outreach, peer support groups, advocacy, a 24/7 combat trauma helpline, and resources for veterans and families nationwide — its flagship program, Camp Hope, is where the deep transformation happens.
Camp Hope is a six-to-nine-month interim transitional housing and intensive peer-mentoring program located on a 5-acre campus in Houston, Texas. Its mission is simple but profound: Save lives by saving souls.
The program includes four progressive phases: The black phase (the first 30 days, more or less) is a strict “blackout” period with no electronics, outside distractions, or family visits, allowing veterans to focus on stabilization and daily routines. The red phase (minimum three months) emphasizes breaking old habits, emotional regulation, and trauma work. The yellow phase focuses on practical reintegration skills — vocational training, job readiness, financial literacy, and family relationships — while the optional green phase offers a supported transition back into civilian life.
The deepest reality
In these six to nine months, veterans receive the kind of comprehensive care for body, mind, and spirit that typical VA and secular PTSD programs simply can’t offer, according to Chris, because they miss the deepest reality: Only an identity rooted in Christ can truly sustain a person.
As a combat veteran with over 20 years of service, Chris intimately understands the painful challenge of shifting an identity once defined by the military to one centered on Jesus.
“The military is our life. It’s our culture. It’s ultimately our identity, and when we get out, we don’t know how to function. That’s why our identity must be placed in Christ,” he said.
This reorientation of selfhood is crucial in the healing process. While Camp Hope includes on-site psychotherapy provided by licensed mental health clinicians who specialize in trauma and addiction, these traditional counseling tools play a supporting role to the program’s core: intensive peer-to-peer mentoring.
It’s in these intimate relationships that veterans are able to fully overcome something Chris calls “moral injury” — the layered trauma that results from actions (or inaction) that violate one’s own deeply held moral beliefs and values.
He gave the following heartbreaking example:
During the Iraq War, insurgents employed a tactic where they would push women and children in front of American convoys to stop or slow the advancement, allowing for an ambush. Many American troops died because of this, so eventually a gut-wrenching decision was made: Keep driving no matter what. This put the soldiers in the driver’s seat in a moral dilemma where all paths led to violating their deepest held beliefs.
Chris explained that professional therapy and counseling are effective at addressing the psychological aspect of a moral injury, such as the one mentioned above, but to overcome the spiritual wounds, it takes the power of Christ and a healed brother who can both empathize with the pain and attest to the healing available.
“We walk them through where God was when their trauma occurred, why God allows horrible things to happen, and then through forgiveness, grace, and mercy,” Chris said. “In order for them to forgive themselves, we have to point them back to the highest power that died for us and forgives us of our darkest sins.”
Medication, counseling, and therapy only go so far, he told me, because “they don’t address the heart, which is why PTSD Foundation of America and Camp Hope are Christ-based.”
The results speak for themselves. Hundreds of combat veterans have completed the program, many of whom return to be staff members.
Here are some of their stories.
Alex Yutzey
Immediately following high school graduation, Alex joined the military, where for the next six years he served as an airborne infantryman. In that span of time, he would deploy to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
In these combat zones, Alex watched many of his brothers die. But to fulfill his sworn duties, he did what all military personnel are forced to do amid tragedy: Shove the pain down and keep moving forward.
While repression kept him alive in war, the same tactic deeply failed him in the real world. When Alex returned home, death came with him. In the years following his homecoming, he watched many more brothers die from suicide.
Emotional suppression continued to be Alex’s sole coping mechanism until one final death broke him: his grandmother’s.
Finally, the pain Alex had bottled up for years demanded to be felt, but he didn’t know how to confront such overwhelming heartache. PTSD and drug addiction defined the next several years of his life.
But Alex’s story was far from over. His wife found out about Camp Hope and relocated their family to Houston to create space for Alex to enroll in the program.
The treatment, mentorship, and hope he found completely transformed his entire life. His marriage, his future, and ultimately his life were saved.
After graduating the program, Alex stayed on at Camp Hope to be a driver. Over the next several years, he worked his way up and today serves as the director of the program, where he continues to live out his life’s mission to end veteran suicide, confront suffering in the veteran community, and guide his brothers and sisters toward healing, recovery, and a better way of life.
Nicholas Eckley
Nicholas entered the military already carrying emotional baggage from his difficult home life. For years, he walked a wayward path fueled by anger. After several bad decisions, he decided to make a drastic change and enroll himself in the United States Marine Corps.
The structure, identity, and brotherhood proved immediately beneficial. Nicholas grew from a broken young man into a courageous leader who eventually became a platoon sergeant. He led a team of men who would do anything for each other, and these bonds were life-giving.
But his deployment to Afghanistan changed things. Combat was brutal and tragic, but the worst part was that Nicholas couldn’t escape it when he came home. The memories permeated every area of his life — from his thoughts and reactions to his quality of sleep and relationships with others.
But these invisible wounds were only half of Nicholas’ suffering. He also returned from war with a physical injury from an IED blast. Like many wounded veterans, he was prescribed opioids, which led to a crippling addiction. It wasn’t long before the discipline and strength he had developed in the military gave way to isolation, frustration, and hopelessness.
His wife and children were the people who suffered the most from this change. Nicholas, unable to cope with the fact that he was hurting the people he loved most, attempted to take his own life.
This dark night of the soul, however, ultimately became the catalyst for change. He found his way to Camp Hope, bonded with other veterans who had walked similar paths, and reconnected with his faith in God.
In his testimony, Nicholas wrote, “Rebuilding my relationship with God wasn’t a single moment, it was a process. A daily decision. A willingness to surrender control and trust in something greater than myself. Through that process, I began to find peace where there had once been chaos, pain, and anger.”
Over time, Nicholas rebuilt his relationships with his wife and kids. Today, he is a proud husband, father, teacher, and coach who works with troubled students who need support, guidance, and someone who believes in them.
His testimony culminates in this powerful declaration: “I didn’t just survive what I went through. I was rebuilt because of it.”
Sam Kauahquo
Sam was 18 years old when he became a United States Marine. His two deployments to Iraq were a testament to his skill and courage. In just three years, he was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon, a Purple Heart, and received a combat meritorious mast.
He returned home proud of his accomplishments but deeply traumatized by the combat he’d experienced. His PTSD was so severe, it wrecked his life and his will to live.
He wrote, “I lost nearly everything and found myself battling suicidal thoughts that led to three attempts on my life, each one resulting in hospitalization. My darkest moment came during my final attempt, when I tried to end my life through self-asphyxiation.”
After this final suicide attempt, a fellow marine he had served with reached out and told him about Camp Hope.
Out of options, Sam enrolled in the program. Over the next several months, he found healing, purpose, and a renewed sense of direction.
By graduation, he was so radically changed that he decided to work for the PTSD Foundation of America for the next four years, helping fellow wounded veterans find the path to recovery.
Today, Sam is a husband, a father, and a college graduate who is currently building a nonprofit that integrates the game of golf with life lessons, faith, and structure to help people struggling with mental health issues.
“Camp Hope didn’t just save my life; it gave me a future. And today, I live that future with purpose, gratitude, and a commitment to helping others find their way out of the darkness with life lessons, God, and purpose,” he wrote.
A vision for the future
In our conversation, Chris painted a vivid picture of his dreams for Camp Hope. As successful as the program is, it has several limitations that he is eager to resolve.
“Camp Hope has been so successful that we’ve had to be very careful about spreading too much awareness because we only have so many spots. Our most immediate need is funding for expansion. When we have to turn a vet away, it’s just heartbreaking,” he told me.
His other vision for the future involves building transitional housing that would serve as an in-between place for veterans who have graduated the program but still need more time to transition back into everyday life.
Lastly, Chris dreams of opening Camp Hope to women. Currently, the program only serves men, but Chris is keenly aware of female combat veterans’ need for support and care.
Opening the program to women is a challenge, he admitted, because women have unique physical and psychological needs.
“Women come with children,” he said, “and because it’s difficult to find a place that accommodates children, female combat veterans will often neglect to get the care they need. Our goal is to build a facility that meets the needs of these women and their children.”
This project, he explained, will involve tailoring counseling and therapies specifically to women and their children, implementing an education system, providing child care, and building living facilities.
But Chris’ boldest vision expands far beyond the 5-acre boundaries of Camp Hope.
“Ultimately, I want to change how the nation treats trauma,” he said, “and that begins with something we call a COIN operation in the military. It means winning the hearts and minds of those we serve. I want to show the VA that spends $571 million a year on suicide prevention that what we’re doing here at Camp Hope actually works.”
In a system that continues to lose veterans every day despite allocating hundreds of millions each year, Camp Hope stands as living proof that real, lasting healing is possible when the heart is addressed along with the mind through the transforming power of Christ.
More than 76,000 Canadians have been killed through MAID. One province has had enough.
The Canadian federal government under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau legalized medically assisted suicide nationwide in 2016.
As critics predicted, the state-facilitated suicide program — referred to as medical assistance in dying — was grossly liberalized in a short of period of time, maximizing both the number of accepted rationales and the number of those killed.
The province of Alberta appears keen to rein in Canada's sick experiment and protect its would-be victims, especially ahead of the Carney government's planned MAID eligibility expansion next year.
Background
In its first year, MAID offed 1,108 Canadians. That number tripled the following year, and by 2021, the number of Canadians killed by their government had climbed to over 10,000 in a single year.
'MAID should not be a substitute for robust health care.'
The Canadian government revealed in its latest MAID report that a total of 16,499 people were euthanized under the program in 2024, accounting for over 5% of all deaths in Canada that year. Of those euthanized, at least 4.4% nationally were not terminally ill. In Alberta, the number was 4.6%.
By the end of 2024, the number of Canadians who have died through MAID crested 76,000.
Originally, MAID applicants had to be 18 or older and suffering from a "grievous and irremediable medical condition" causing "enduring physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable" to them.
Within years, the country's eugenicist-founded health care system had given the green light to effectively execute those struggling with anxiety, autism, depression, economic hardship, PTSD, and other survivable issues.
RELATED: Canada’s conservative challenger Pierre Poilievre wins big on Joe Rogan's podcast
Persons suffering solely from a mental illness will be eligible for MAID beginning March 17, 2027.
Alberta takes action
Alberta Attorney General Mickey Amery, who is also the justice minister of the ruling United Conservative government, introduced legislation last month — the Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act — that would "increase oversight, introduce necessary safeguards, and provide greater clarity around eligibility requirements for medical assistance in dying ... in the province."
The bill would, among other things, prohibit MAID in Alberta for: persons under 18; persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness; individuals lacking the capacity to make their own health care decisions; and advance requests.
It would also prohibit euthanasia for individuals whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable; restrict the display of MAID propaganda; empower health practitioners and institutions to refuse participation in the euthanasia regime; and bar Alberta health professionals from referring individuals for MAID eligibility assessments outside the province.
The legislation would also introduce penalties for doctors and nurses who violate the proposed provincial rules.
"Canada has the fastest growing death rates in the world when it comes to MAID. Far from being an option of last resort, MAID is now the fifth leading cause of death in Canada," Amery told the Alberta Legislature last week. "The country is currently projected to reach its 100,000th death by MAID in June, becoming the first nation in the modern era to measure its total assisted deaths in the six figures, more than the totals of any other jurisdiction with some form of legal, doctor-assisted death."
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a statement, "Those struggling with severe mental health challenges need treatment, compassion and support, not a path to end their life at what may be their lowest moment. In Alberta, a patient whose sole underlying condition is mental illness will not be eligible for MAID."
'The state refusing to fund and provide a killing service is the baseline.'
Rebecca Vachon, health program director for the Canadian think tank Cardus, said in a statement, "We support the adoption of these enhanced protections for Albertans and urge all legislators to work collaboratively to implement them."
While the Catholic Bishops of Alberta underscored that "the Church teaches that 'euthanasia and assisted suicide are always the wrong choice,'" they similarly characterized the bill as an important step in the right direction, stating, "A just society is one that protects the vulnerable, upholds the dignity of every person, and chooses to accompany them in times of illness and dying. The Alberta government is taking some significant steps that respect these necessary values."
Gabrielle Peters, a disabled writer and co-founder of Disability Filibuster, recently noted in a piece for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute,
The state refusing to fund and provide a killing service is the baseline we build from. Without that, there is simply no foundation. If disability — and only disability — makes one killable, then why would a state build the infrastructure, policies, and programs necessary to support disabled life? Particularly when one is an expense and the other represents considerable cost-saving?
Some euthanasia advocates have joined state media in framing the life-affirming legislation in negative terms.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, for instance, suggested that the legislation "would significantly restrict access to medical assistance in dying ... and undermine constitutionally protected rights."
Michael Trew, Alberta's former chief addiction and mental health officer, recently wrote that the bill "amounts to taking away choice from many who are fully competent" and that "this loss of choice INCREASES pain and suffering."
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The Supreme Court has reminded the country that no school bureaucracy can override parents' fundamental rights.Cheerleading trip to Las Vegas ends in 'unimaginable loss' as court docs reveal Utah mom's dark past before murder-suicide
A Utah mother murdered her 11-year-old daughter in a Las Vegas hotel room, then committed suicide during a cheerleading competition trip, according to authorities.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that officers were dispatched for a welfare check of a mother and daughter at 10:43 a.m. Sunday at the Rio Hotel & Casino.
'There are no words for the loss we all feel. Our hearts are completely shattered for the family and friends of Addi.'
Police officers knocked on the hotel room door several times but did not get a response; they left the hotel because "there was no belief that either was in danger" based on the details at the time.
"As the day progressed, security personnel got additional requests to check on the mother and daughter," according to the press release.
Police said "security personnel" from the hotel entered the room at approximately 2:27 p.m., and they "located the two females unresponsive."
The news release said the mother and daughter were "both suffering from apparent gunshot wounds."
Both were pronounced dead at the crime scene when police arrived, according to the statement.
Police stated, "Based on the preliminary evidence at the scene, detectives were able to determine the mother shot her daughter before shooting herself."
Police Lt. Robert Price revealed there was a note left in the room but did not specify what the note said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Price added, "This is a sad and tragic incident, and our hearts go out to the family."
According to KSNV-TV, the Clark County Coroner's Office confirmed the identities of the deceased as 34-year-old Tawnia McGeehan and 11-year-old Addilyn Smith — also known as Addi.
A spokesperson for the Rio Hotel & Casino told KTNV-TV, "We are aware of the incident that occurred at the resort."
The New York Post, citing court documents from McGeehan's divorce, reported that the girl's parents "went through an ugly custody dispute" in 2015.
Court docs added that McGeehan and her ex-husband, Brad Smith, spent nine years fighting for custody of Addi after their divorce.
The couple were "ordered to park their cars five spaces apart during custody handovers at Addi’s school, and she was made to walk between the parents’ vehicles by herself," the Post reported.
When Addi didn't go to school, both parents went to the Herriman Police Department in Utah to exchange the child, according to court documents.
The Review-Journal in a separate story citing Provo District Court records reported that Addi's parents had "disputed about a number of things, including custody, child support, and where the girl would attend school."
The situation escalated in 2020 when a judge granted Smith sole custody of Addi after revelations that McGeehan had "committed domestic abuse in the presence of the minor child" and was "subjecting the child to behavior on the spectrum of parental alienation," court records said.
According to the Review-Journal, "A year later, the court required that McGeehan’s visits be supervised by friends and relatives."
The paper noted, "Much of the case file is sealed from public view, making it unclear which parent had physical custody of Addi at the time of her death."
Addi was a cheerleader for Utah Xtreme Cheer, which was "heartbroken" over the "devastating news."
Utah Xtreme Cheer released a statement:
With the heaviest hearts, we share the devastating news that our sweet athlete Addi has passed away. We are completely heartbroken. No words do the situation justice. She was so beyond loved, and she will always be a part of the UXC family. Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers and continue to send them love as they navigate this unimaginable loss. We ask that you respect their privacy during this time. Addi, we love you tremendously.
The cheerleading group also noted that all classes and open gyms "will be cancelled for the remainder of the week" as they attempt to "navigate through this difficult time."
The Black Diamond Gym said on social media:
There are no words for the loss we all feel. Our hearts are completely shattered for the family and friends of Addi. The cheer world will never be the same, the hole in our hearts will never be filled, we are absolutely devastated by this loss. Addi was a longtime athlete of Fusion and current athlete of UXC, I can’t imagine what they are going through. We love you so much and are so sorry for your loss.
The Salem Police Department in Utah said in a press release that Addi was the niece of one of its sergeants.
"While the details of this loss are difficult to process, we are coming together as a department to support Sergeant Smith and his family during this unimaginable time," the statement read.
A GoFundMe campaign was launched by Addi's uncle to help pay for funeral expenses.
"My brother Brad is facing an unimaginable loss after his daughter Addi was tragically taken from our family," the crowdfunding page said.
"This heartbreaking event has left the family in deep shock and grief, struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss of Addi in such a way," the GoFundMe campaign stated.
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Why are so many people all of a sudden saying Epstein is alive?
The Department of Justice's publication last month of over 3 million additional pages, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images from the Jeffrey Epstein files provided the public with new insights into the child sex offender, his degeneracy, his business dealings, and his international network of affluent friends.
The files, which are replete with odd and in many cases damning communications — already triggering at least one criminal investigation in the United Kingdom — have prompted renewed interest in a number of theories about Epstein.
While many sleuths poring over the files have zeroed in on references to cannibalism and accusations of Epstein and his inner circle allegedly engaging in "ritualistic sacrifice," others appear more focused on what the files have to say about the sex offender's reported death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City.
Citing discrepancies in the official narrative, admissions about falsified records, and viral claims on social media, skeptics have long theorized that Epstein did not kill himself but was murdered or possibly even secreted away in August 2019.
Despite the newly available autopsy photos and details, these theories are enjoying a second life due in part to certain details in the new files, a viral image of a bearded look-alike, and signs of activity on a video game account name associated with the sex offender.
Epstein in Tel Aviv
An image went viral earlier this month purportedly showing a bearded Jeffrey Epstein alive and well in Israel. On closer examination, however, the image — which was popularized in part by a self-described "unapologetic Muslim Palestinian" and by a Middle Eastern-based news account — showed signs of AI manipulation and/or generation.
For starters, the wording on the street signs is reportedly "gibberish," providing not only incorrect Hebrew and Arabic lettering but in one case referencing a road that doesn't appear to exist.
The supposed photograph of Epstein in Tel Aviv also appears to be a cropped version of an image that appeared days earlier bearing a Gemini AI watermark on the subreddit r/hardaiimages — a destination for AI-generated images designed to give viewers pause.
The pre-emptive death notice
In line with the official narrative, the newly released FBI New York Field Office report regarding Epstein's death — which includes images of paramedics apparently attempting to revive the sex offender, an image of his corpse without his arm tattoo visible, images of his broken hyoid bone and breaks in his thyroid cartilage, and images of his apparent scene of death — asserts that Epstein was found unresponsive and died as the result of an apparent suicide on the morning of Aug. 10, 2019.
However, one of the other newly released files suggested that Epstein died a day earlier.
In the document, which is dated Aug. 9, 2019, then-U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman stated, "Earlier this morning, the Manhattan Correctional Center confirmed that Jeffrey Epstein, who faced charges brought by this Office of engaging in the sex trafficking of minors, had been found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead shortly thereafter."
'Someone's been having fun renaming their Fortnite account.'
"Today's events are disturbing, and we are deeply aware of their potential to present yet another hurdle to giving Epstein's many victims their day in Court," Berman added.
The date on the release as it appears now with an "updated" note on the Justice Department website is Aug. 10, 2019.
The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
While the incorrect date might simply be a typo in a draft release, many online have speculated it is an indication of foreknowledge of Epstein's real or faked death.
Gaming from beyond the grave
Some sleuths who dug into the new trove of Epstein files found mention of the child sex offender's YouTube username, "littlestjeff1." They also found possible evidence that Epstein was active in the video gaming ecosystem after his permanent ban from Xbox live in the form of a May 7, 2019, email highlighting a $25.95 charge for the virtual currency in the game Fortnite.
In a massively viral and widely shared tweet, the X user @Truthpole noted that some individuals "matched this exact username to a Fortnite profile on Fortnite Tracker ... which showed stats like Silver 1 rank in Chapter 5 Season 1 (post-2019), wins into 2025, and past activity flagged in Israel."
The suggestion that Epstein may have been active on Fortnite after his supposed death was not only advanced in viral posts by other accounts on X but on other social media platforms, including Instagram.
The claim was all the more provocative after littlestjeff1's stats were set to private earlier this month, according to archived page captures highlighted by Snopes.
Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Fornite's developer and publisher Epic Games, weighed in on Feb. 6 to pour cold water on this particular theory, writing, "Someone's been having fun renaming their Fortnite account, but it's recent and not connected to the email addresses in the archive."
The official Fortnite Status account similarly piped up, stating, "This was a ruse by a Fortnite player."
"A few days ago, an existing Fortnite account owner changed their username from something totally unrelated to littlestjeff1, following the revelation of littlestjeff1 as a name on YouTube," the official Fortnite account said. "These Fortnite trackers only display your current name, not any prior changes to it."
The Fortnite Status account noted further, "We have no record of the subject's email addresses referenced in the public document existing in the Epic account system. Since the public document releases, people have created Fortnite accounts with similar-looking email addresses and user names."
When challenged on this explanation and prompted to account for why the apparent Epstein handle appeared to be associated with the game user in a third-party, year-end recap detailing player results in 2025, Fornite Status noted, "Fortnite gg Wrapped shows the account's current name with stats from 2025."
Skepticism still abounds about the explanation from Epic Games, given the mention of the digital Fortnite currency purchase in the Epstein emails; however, in that email, both the sender and the recipient's addresses were redacted. Snopes suggested that other correspondences in the files indicate the game currency purchase pertained to a mother and her child.
Besides eyebrow-raising video game activity, fake sightings, and a questionable DOJ memo, skeptics have also raised questions about other findings in the files, including the mention in an FBI memorandum of a "flash of orange" spotted on surveillance footage heading toward the isolated prison tier where Epstein was housed the night before his body was reportedly found.
A 2023 report on Epstein's death released by the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General identified the "orange shape" as a corrections officer carrying linen or inmate clothing.
Video forensic experts expressed to CBS News in August that they were "skeptical about that interpretation and suggested that the shape could be a person dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit climbing the stairs."
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