Newly released documents from the U.S. Department of Justice show that one of the prison guards responsible for monitoring Jeffrey Epstein searched for news about him online minutes before his body was discovered in 2019.
The guard, Tova Noel, was on duty at the Metropolitan Correctional Center when Epstein was found dead in his jail cell on Aug. 10, 2019.
According to an Federal Bureau of Investigation forensic report examining prison computer records, Noel searched “latest on Epstein in jail” at 5:42 a.m. and again at 5:52 a.m. That was less than 40 minutes before fellow correctional officer Michael Thomas discovered Epstein hanging in his cell around 6:30 a.m.
Investigators previously accused Noel and Thomas of failing to perform mandatory security checks every 30 minutes during their overnight shift. Prosecutors said both guards also falsified records to indicate that the checks had been completed.
Both employees were later fired from their positions, though the criminal charges filed against them were eventually dropped.
During questioning by investigators in 2021, Noel denied remembering the internet searches and suggested the FBI’s computer records might be inaccurate.
“I don’t remember doing that,” she said in a sworn statement, according to transcripts.
The DOJ documents also reveal financial activity that raised questions during the investigation. Records show that Chase Bank filed a suspicious activity report after detecting a series of cash deposits into Noel’s bank account.
According to the bank’s report, a total of 12 deposits were made starting in April 2018. The largest — a $5,000 deposit — occurred on July 30, 2019, just 10 days before Epstein’s death.
Earlier reports from a 2023 inspector general review had referenced unidentified correctional officers connected to suspicious activity, but the newly released FBI documents appear to be the first to publicly name Noel in connection with the findings.
Epstein, a financier accused of running a large sex trafficking operation involving underage girls, was being held in federal custody while awaiting trial at the time of his death. Authorities ruled the death a suicide, though the circumstances surrounding it have remained the subject of ongoing scrutiny and public debate.
