A guard manning Jeffrey Epstein‘s cell in Manhattan was found to have Googled the convicted sex offender just minutes before he was found dead, as mysterious cash deposits appeared in her bank in the days beforehand.
Tova Noel, 37, was one of two Metropolitan Correctional Center officers charged with overseeing Epstein’s jail cell in the days leading up to his trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Noel’s coworker, Michael Thomas, discovered that Epstein had died in his cell by hanging at 6.30am on August 10, 2019.
Around 40 minutes before Epstein was discovered, Noel was revealed to have Google searched ‘latest on epstein in jail,’ according to documents released on Thursday by the Department of Justice, first reported by the NYPost.
The entries at 5.42am and 5.52am were included in searches on two other inmates held in the prison, Kenyatta Taiste and Omar Amanat, as well as a search for ‘law enforcement discounts’ at 6.17am and 6.19am, documents show.
Noel denied Googling Epstein in questioning in 2021, and said: ‘I don’t remember doing that.’
The documents also revealed a mysterious $5,000 cash deposit into Noel’s bank account on July 30, 2019, just ten days before Epstein was found dead.
Around 12 deposits were made in total dating from December 2018, totaling $11,880.
Tova Noel, 37, was one of two Metropolitan Correctional Center officers charged with overseeing Epstein’s jail cell in the days leading up to his death
Noel’s coworker, Michael Thomas, discovered that Epstein had died in his cell by hanging at 6.30am on August 10, 2019
Noel was previously accused of falsifying records, but charges were dropped. The new information that has come to light does not assume any guilt in connection to Epstein and his death.
Noel was believed to have been the last correctional officer to have visited the SHU on the night prior to Epstein’s death.
An internal FBI briefing heard that at around 10.40pm an officer, believed to be Noel, ‘carried linen or inmate clothing up to the L-Tier’.
This was allegedly the ‘last time any correctional officer approached the only entrance to the SHU tier’, the briefing heard.
Epstein hanged himself with strips of orange cloth, New York City Chief Medical Examiner found at the time.
Noel said in a sworn statement that she had last seen Epstein alive ‘somewhere around after ten’, but said she ‘never gave out linen, ever’ or any clothing. She claimed that those responsibilities were done in the shift before.
Around 40 minutes before Epstein was discovered, Noel was revealed to have Google searched ‘latest on epstein in jail,’ and ten days prior she had deposited $5,000 in cash
She told investigators that she didn’t know why Epstein had access to extra linen in his cell, and that the other guard had been asleep between 10pm and midnight.
According to her statement, neglecting to do rounds in the prison’s Special Housing Unit [SHU] was a common practice.
‘I’ve never worked in the Special Housing Unit and actually done rounds every 30 minutes,’ she told investigators, according to documents.
Noel denied any involvement in Epstein’s death.
Both Noel and Thomas were fired from the facility after they were accused of falsifying records that show the pair had check on Epstein in his cell during the night, the Post reported. Charges against both guards were dropped.
The Daily Mail reached out to Noel’s lawyers for comment.
