DOJ
(New York, NY) — Newly released Department of Justice documents reveal that one of the correctional officers responsible for monitoring Jeffrey Epstein searched his name online just minutes before his body was discovered inside his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019.
According to the records, correctional officer Tova Noel conducted Google searches for “latest on Epstein in jail” at 5:42 a.m. and again at 5:52 a.m. on August 10, 2019. Less than 40 minutes later, Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center after apparently hanging himself. The discovery was made around 6:30 a.m. by Noel and fellow officer Michael Thomas while delivering breakfast.
The documents were part of a broader forensic examination of Bureau of Prisons computers used by staff on duty that night. The FBI highlighted Noel’s early-morning searches as part of the review of activity leading up to Epstein’s death.
Noel and Thomas were previously accused of falsifying prison logs to indicate they had conducted routine security checks on Epstein throughout the night. Prosecutors alleged the guards instead spent time browsing the internet and sleeping while failing to perform the required 30-minute inmate checks. Both officers were later fired, though criminal charges against them were dismissed by a federal judge in 2021.
In a sworn statement to investigators, Noel denied searching for Epstein online, saying she did not recall performing the Google searches and questioned the accuracy of the FBI’s records.
Separate DOJ files also revealed that Chase Bank flagged a series of cash deposits into Noel’s account in a suspicious activity report sent to the FBI in November 2019. Records show multiple deposits beginning in 2018, including a $5,000 cash deposit made on July 30, 2019, just days before Epstein’s death.
Investigators also reviewed surveillance footage showing an unidentified correctional officer carrying linens toward the tier where Epstein was housed around 10:40 p.m. the night before he died. An internal FBI briefing suggested the figure may have been Noel, though the video remains blurry and the identity of the person in the footage has long been debated.
Epstein had been held at the Manhattan facility following his July 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges. His death in custody sparked widespread scrutiny of conditions inside the prison and fueled ongoing questions about how the high-profile inmate was being monitored.
