Tova Noel, a former guard in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York—and most likely the last person to see Jeffrey Epstein alive—has been called to sit for a transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee on Thursday.
Noel and fellow guard Michael Thomas were both charged with falsifying records stating that they had completed their required rounds on August 9 and August 10, 2019. Federal prosecutors alleged that Noel and Thomas had spent a large part of their shifts that night at their desk and failed to conduct prison counts in the SHU from approximately 10:30 p.m. on August 9 until about 6:30 a.m. on August 10, when they found Epstein unresponsive in his cell.
Noel told the Justice Department’s inspector general in a sworn 2021 interview that she believed she was the last person to see Epstein alive, at around 10 p.m. on August 9, but that she did not give him the linen he used to hang himself from his bed.
However, the inspector general’s 2023 report on Epstein’s death found that surveillance video seemed to cast doubt on this claim. The footage showed a person, believed to be Noel, carrying linen or inmate clothing up to the tier where Epstein’s cell was located at approximately 10:40 p.m. on August 9.
In part because of these kinds of discrepancies, the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death have been the subject of wide-ranging conspiracy theories, including those that suggest he was murdered or that he somehow escaped and is still alive. Such theories have only been further fueled by the release of the DOJ’s Epstein files, which show that Noel made a $5,000 cash deposit 10 days before Epstein’s suicide and that Chase Bank flagged 12 cash deposits in Noel’s bank account, beginning in April 2018 and totaling more than $10,000, in a “suspicious activity report.” (Vanity Fairhas reached out to Noel’s lawyer for comment.) Noel, an MCC employee since 2016, had reportedly only started working at the facility’s Special Housing Unit on July 7, 2019—one day after Epstein’s arrest at Teterboro Airport on federal sex trafficking charges and just a month before his death.
Tova Noel (center), a former guard at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, is likely the last person to see Jeffrey Epstein alive.
What’s more, an FBI record also shows that Noel googled “latest on epstein in jail” at 5:42 a.m. and again at 5:52 a.m. “I don’t remember doing that,” she told the DOJ, alleging that the FBI’s records were not “accurate” and adding, “I don’t recall looking him up.”
Noel and Thomas were both fired, and federal charges were dropped as part of a deal with prosecutors in which they admitted to falsifying records, were given 100 hours of community service instead of jail time, and agreed to cooperate with law enforcement’s investigation into Epstein’s death.
But now members of the House of Representatives’ main investigative body, the Oversight Committee, hope Noel can provide clarity around what exactly happened during those fateful hours. Ahead of her interview, here’s everything we currently know about the night Epstein died, piecing together news reports, documents released by the DOJ, court records, and video footage from the few working cameras in the SHU.
July 6, 2019 —Jeffrey Epstein is arrested on federal sex trafficking charges at Teterboro Airport and brought to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.
July 7 —Epstein is assigned to the prison’s Special Housing Unit (SHU) due to the intense media interest in the case and his notoriety within the prison.
July 8—Epstein pleads not guilty to sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors.
July 18 —Afederal judge denies Epstein bail.
On July 6, 2019, Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges and brought to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.
July 23— Epstein is found to have attempted suicide with a bedsheet. He is transferred to the MCC’s hospital wing, spending about 24 hours on suicide watch and then six days under psychological observation before being transferred back to the SHU on July 30. He is placed in the cell closest to the prison guards’ desk and required to have an “appropriate” cellmate.
