Fresh questions have emerged about the death of Jeffrey Epstein after a former prison guard told congressional investigators that she was not the unidentified figure seen approaching his cell block on the night before he died.
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Tova Noel is a former correctional officer at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan who testified before the House Oversight Committee that she could not explain the orange-coloured figure captured on surveillance footage near Epstein's housing unit on the evening of August 9, 2019.
The figure was seen moving up a staircase towards Epstein's cell tier at about 10.39pm, making it the last known person or object recorded approaching the area before the convicted sex offender was found dead the following morning.
“To be very honest, I don’t know what it is, who it is, because I never went back to the tier, and I was never carrying anything orange at all, and I never issued anything orange to anyone in the SHU—not just only Epstein, just anyone,” Noel told investigators, referring to the Special Housing Unit where Epstein was being held.
The testimony has added another layer of uncertainty to a case that has attracted years of conspiracy theories. Epstein's death in August 2019 was officially ruled a suicide, but questions have continued to surround the circumstances inside the prison on the night he died.
According to previous findings, neither the FBI nor the Justice Department ever questioned Noel about the mysterious figure. The DOJ Inspector General's report suggested the shape was likely Noel, although no evidence was publicly presented to support that conclusion. An FBI log also raised the possibility that the figure could have been another inmate, a scenario that would have been highly unusual.
Investigators have long faced challenges due to technical failures inside the jail. Most of the facility's surveillance cameras were not recording that night because of a hard drive malfunction. The only available footage came from a camera positioned in a common area, offering only a limited view of the staircase leading towards Epstein's unit.
During her testimony, Noel admitted she failed to carry out mandatory inmate checks that night. However, she denied any involvement in Epstein's death. She also said she did not know who Epstein was when he arrived at the unit and was unaware of any special restrictions or monitoring requirements linked to his detention.
Lawmakers also questioned Noel about a series of 12 cash deposits made into her bank account beginning in 2018. She declined to identify the source of the money but rejected any suggestion that the deposits were connected to Epstein.
Noel also denied any knowledge of allegations that she and another officer received a $6,500 payment to allow a man named Michael Rose access to Epstein's cell in order to kill him. Her lawyer said Noel chose to testify voluntarily because she wanted to help provide answers in the high-profile case.
