- Epstein's death on Aug. 10, 2019, remains controversial amid conspiracy theories.
- Prison guard Tova Noel's testimony to the House Oversight Committee was postponed.
- DOJ files reveal camera failures and Noel's suspicious online searches before Epstein's death.
NEW YORK CITY — In the years since disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead from what was ruled a suicide in his prison cell on August 10, 2019, conspiracy theories have abounded about whether the convicted sex offender actually killed himself.
That speculation is likely to get new life now that Tova Noel, one of the prison guards on duty the night of Epstein's death, has been asked to testify before the House Oversight Committee. Her testimony had been scheduled for Thursday, but has been postponed due to scheduling issues.
Noel, an Army veteran who started working in the Special Housing Unit of New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center in early July 2019 – the same week Epstein was arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges and incarcerated there – was supposed to be making checks on Epstein every 30 minutes that night along with her colleague, Michael Thomas.
The DOJ's recent release of millions of documents relating to Epstein has shed new light on his final hours and what prison guards were doing at the time. But they've done little to dispel conspiracy theories about the nature of Epstein's death.
Security cameras positioned near Epstein's cell that night in the Special Housing Unit failed to record, the result of a long-term problem with the facility's cameras, detailed in a 2023 DOJ report. Noel and Thomas were also accused of sleeping on the job at the time of Epstein's death.
The materials released in the files have only raised more questions, including new details about cash deposits Noel made in the months surrounding Epstein's death. The files also show Noel Googled "latest on Epstein in jail" less than an hour before his body was found in his jail cell at around 6:30 a.m.
The files also include allegations from an inmate who reported that prison officials were shredding documents relating to Epstein in the days after his death.
In 2019, both Noel and Thomas were charged with conspiracy and falsifying records, indicating they had checked on Epstein every 30 minutes as required that night.
Both were fired, but the federal criminal charges were later dropped under the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement that required community service and cooperation with a Justice Department inspector general review of the circumstances surrounding Epstein's death.
CNN has reached out to attorneys for both Noel and Thomas for comment.
According to the inspector general report released by the DOJ in 2023, half of the security cameras in the prison weren't functional. As a result, there was a significant lack of video footage for the FBI and OIG to review in their investigations — a detail that has fueled speculation that Epstein, who was in close contact with many influential people, including royalty, politicians and celebrities, could have been killed by someone wanting to keep him quiet.
It was announced in 2021 that the Metropolitan Correctional Center would be temporarily closed to address issues that long plagued the facility, including lax security and crumbling infrastructure. It remains closed today.
'No interest' in killing himself
Epstein was placed on suicide watch after prison officials determined he tried to kill himself on July 23, 2019. But what actually occurred was unclear, as Epstein then accused his cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer facing murder charges, of trying to kill him. Epstein then recanted that story; in the days after, he told a prison psychologist that Tartaglione had not threatened to harm him and that he had no recollection of the incident, according to a document labeled "Post Suicide Watch Report."
A report from the incident included in the released files said Epstein was found "lying in the fetal position on the floor with a homemade noose around his neck."
Epstein stated, "I have no interest in killing myself," on July 24, the day after his reported suicide attempt, according to the psychologist's report.
He reiterated that during an examination again the next day. "I am too vested in my case to fight it, I have a life and I want to go back to living my life," he told the psychologist, the report said.
Searching Epstein online
Records indicate that Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell at 6:30 a.m. on August 10 after an apparent suicide by hanging. But less than an hour earlier, Noel had searched on Google, "latest on Epstein in jail," according to a 66-page forensic examination of the Bureau of Prisons desktop computers of Noel and Thomas. The search was highlighted by investigators. Noel had also searched for furniture and "law enforcement discounts," according to the examination.
When she was questioned by the DOJ's Office of the Inspector General in 2021, Noel repeatedly said she did not recall googling Epstein, adding it "wouldn't be accurate."
Epstein was also found to have extra clothing and linen in his cell and apparently hung himself with strips of orange cloth. In the sworn statement to the DOJ, Noel, who was working a double shift that day, said she last saw Epstein alive "somewhere around after 10" and that she "never gave out linen" to inmates because that's done the shift before. Each inmate should have had just one set, she said, exchanging the old for the new whenever there would be a change.
She also told investigators she was not aware that cameras weren't working while she was on duty the night of Epstein's death and had no way of monitoring a camera feed while on shift.
Noel said she and other guards counted giving out toilet paper and food or picking up trays as doing a round of checks on inmates, but the strict 30-minute checks they were supposed to do didn't occur.
"I've never worked in the Special Housing Unit and actually done rounds every 30 minutes," she told investigators.
