Epstein Guard Testifies She Was Not Orange Figure Seen Approaching Cell Tier Before His Death, Admits Failing to Perform Required Rounds
Tova Noel told House Oversight Committee members she did not appear in surveillance video the night before Jeffrey Epstein's death and had no role in it.
M. on August 9, 2019. A transcript of that testimony was released June 4.
Noel said she had never gone back to the tier that night, had never carried anything orange, and had never issued orange items to anyone in the Special Housing Unit. "To be very honest, I don't know what it is, who it is, because I never went back to the tier, and I was never carrying anything orange at all, and I never issued anything orange to anyone in the SHU -- not just only Epstein, just anyone," Noel said.
Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell in the Special Housing Unit of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan on August 10, 2019.
His death was ruled a suicide. The orange figure sighting was the last time anyone was seen approaching Epstein's cell tier that night. A hard drive failure caused most cameras to stream but not record during the overnight hours.
The only available view of the L tier came from a camera across the common area that showed a partial view of the stairs, according to the Justice Department's 2023 Inspector General report. Noel acknowledged she failed to conduct required inmate rounds and counts that night.
She said she had recently returned from a workplace injury and was working mandatory overtime on her first overnight shift in the unit.
Noel, an Antigua-born former National Guard member who served in Kuwait during Operation Enduring Freedom, testified she did not know who Epstein was when he arrived and was unaware he required a cellmate. She said she had not seen a posted notice, printed on orange paper, that required 30-minute rounds for him.
She said she first spoke with Epstein on August 9, 2019, when she and another officer delivered his dinner but did not enter the cell.
She learned of his prior alleged suicide attempt the next day from his cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, and had never seen a note connected to that incident. Investigators had identified 12 cash deposits into Noel's account beginning in April 2018. Noel said the deposits came from her personal savings and had no connection to Epstein.
"Like, I deposited my money into my bank account. And that's from my personal savings plan. And no one has ever approached me about money or given me money in reference to Mr. Epstein at all, ever," she said.
Noel denied intentionally searching for information about Epstein on a prison computer, saying she clicked a news link that appeared on a homepage. She said she never entered Epstein's cell after his death, saw only his feet while Michael Thomas performed CPR, and first saw the body when it was removed on a stretcher.
She recalled inmates chanting "Y'all in so much trouble" after Epstein was found.
When asked about a Justice Department email alleging she and Thomas were paid $6,500 to allow a man named Michael Rose to enter the cell and kill Epstein, Noel said she had no knowledge of Rose and rejected the claim. Noel's attorney said she voluntarily appeared before the committee to provide clarity to Epstein's victims, ensure lawmakers had facts rather than speculation, and bring closure to her involvement.
CBS News was the first to report the orange figure on the footage and the failure of the FBI and Justice Department Inspector General to question Noel about it.
The Inspector General's report said the figure was likely Noel but offered no evidence. An FBI log noted it was possibly an inmate, which would have been highly unusual at that hour.
