A correctional officer assigned to monitor Jeffrey Epstein searched for the latest information on him in jail twice on a Bureau of Prisons computer less than forty minutes before his body was discovered hanging in his cell. Tova Noel conducted the Google searches at 5:42 a.m. and 5:52 a.m. Eastern Time on August 10 2019 while on duty at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. Her colleague Michael Thomas discovered the body at approximately 6:30 a.m. that morning according to forensic analysis in official federal documents released this week. These records also identify Noel in surveillance footage from the night before carrying linen toward the area where Epstein was housed.
Ten days earlier on July 30 2019 Noel deposited five thousand dollars in cash into her Chase bank account. This deposit formed part of a pattern of twelve cash deposits totaling more than eleven thousand dollars over 2018 and 2019 that prompted the bank to file a suspicious activity report with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Noel earned about sixty thousand dollars per year as a correctional officer at the time which made the cash transactions stand out to federal investigators. The activity occurred shortly after she began working in the special housing unit where Epstein was held.
Surveillance footage from the evening prior captured a figure wearing an orange uniform believed to be Noel approaching the area of Epsteins cell while carrying what appeared to be linen or inmate clothing. Epstein was found using strips of orange material in what officials ruled a suicide. Noel denied both providing any linen to the area and recalling the computer searches during a sworn interview with authorities. The same records note that she and Thomas had been on a double shift and did not perform the required checks on inmates.
Noel and her colleague Thomas were charged in 2019 with falsifying records after failing to complete required thirty minute checks on inmates. The charges were dropped in 2021 after the pair agreed to complete community service and cooperate with investigators. Broader problems at the jail including broken cameras and the removal of Epstein from suicide watch following an earlier incident contributed to the documented lapses in protocol. These details appear in the FBI forensic examination report and related federal charging documents from 2019.
These latest disclosures from the Department of Justice add important context to the ongoing questions surrounding the death of Epstein who was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges at the time. The combination of the searches the financial deposits and the surveillance details highlights significant shortcomings in how the federal prison system handled this prominent detainee. Continued review of all available records remains crucial to address public concerns and prevent similar failures in the future. The official determination by the New York City medical examiner and subsequent federal reviews has not changed.
