Camilla Jessen
Prison guard searched Jeffrey Epstein online minutes before body was found, documents say.
Newly released U.S. Justice Department documents reveal that a prison guard allegedly searched for news about Jeffrey Epstein just minutes before his body was discovered in a New York jail cell in 2019.
The details have emerged years after the financier’s death, which occurred while he was awaiting trial on federal trafficking charges.
Early morning search
According to the documents, correctional officer Tova Noel carried out two internet searches shortly before Epstein was found dead.
Records show she searched “latest on Epstein in jail” at 5:42 a.m. and again at 5:52 a.m.
Epstein’s body was discovered at around 6:30 a.m. on August 10, 2019, hanging from the side of his bed in a cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.
When questioned about the searches, Noel reportedly told investigators: “I don’t remember doing that.”
She also said the FBI’s internet history records were “not accurate.”
Questions over guard actions
Noel and fellow correctional officer Michael Thomas were responsible for monitoring Epstein the night he died.
CCTV footage later showed that the guards did not check on his cell for roughly eight hours, despite prison rules requiring regular checks.
Both guards were later accused of falsifying records to claim they had carried out the required inspections.
However, criminal charges against Noel and Thomas were eventually dropped.
Financial transaction
The Justice Department documents also note that Noel deposited $5,000 in cash into her bank account on July 30, about ten days before Epstein’s death.
According to reports, investigators did not question her about the deposit during her DOJ interview.
Noel has since faced a separate lawsuit related to an alleged assault at a later job.
Surveillance footage
Investigators also reviewed security footage from the night Epstein died.
The FBI believed Noel may have been the “orange shape” seen in a blurry surveillance video near the prison’s Special Housing Unit at about 10:40 p.m.
“At approximately 10:40 pm, a correctional officer, believed to be Tova Noel, carried linen or inmate clothing up to the L-Tier,” investigators wrote.
In a sworn statement, Noel said the last time she saw Epstein alive was “somewhere around after 10.”
She also said she did not know why he had extra linen in his cell.
Security footage from the prison that night reportedly also contained a missing minute between 11:58:58 p.m. and midnight.
Sources: U.S. Department of Justice documents, FBI records, LadBible
