Tovar Noel, one of Jeffrey Epsteinprison guard, Google search minutes before he was found dead. Ten days before the convicted child sex offender allegedly committed suicide in her jail cell, she made a mysterious $5,000 cash deposit. New Justice Department documents reveal those details.
Noel reportedly searched Google for “latest news on Epstein in prison” at 5:42 a.m. and 5:52 a.m., less than 40 minutes before her colleague, Michael Thomas, found Epstein hanging in his cell at 6:30 a.m. FBI A record of that night.
According to an FBI memo, which is also included in documents released by the Justice Department, they believe Noel is the mysterious orange object seen on grainy surveillance video near Epstein’s cell around 10:40 that night.
“At approximately 10:40 p.m., a correctional officer believed to be Tova Noel moved linens or inmate clothing to Level L, the only entrance to the SHU level that correctional officers last had access to,” the agency wrote. Notably, there has been considerable interest in the identity of the orange blob since the video surfaced. Now, FBI documents appear to list the names of those seen in the clip. Here’s everything you need to know about Tova Noel.
Tovar Noel: 5 things to know
- Noel was charged with falsifying records Aug. 9 and 10 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. “On August 10, 2019, NOEL and THOMAS repeatedly failed to complete the mandated count of inmates under their care in MCC’s Special Housing Unit (“SHU”). Instead, for the majority of their shift, NOEL and THOMAS sat at their desks, browsed the Internet, and moved around the common areas of the SHU. In order to conceal the fact that they failed to perform their duties, NOEL and THOMAS Inmates repeatedly signed false certifications that they were conducting multiple counts and failed to do so,” a Department of Justice press release about the incident stated.
- Noel is approximately 38 years old and has been working as a correctional officer at MCC since approximately 2016. Both she and Thomas were regularly assigned to shifts at MCC’s Special Housing Unit (SHU), where Epstein was also located.
- Tova Noel was on duty in the SHU from 4:00 pm on August 9, 2019, to 8:00 am on August 10, 2019. “In fact, NOEL, then NOEL and THOMAS, repeatedly failed to complete required counts in the SHU. NOEL and THOMAS sat at their desks browsing the Internet for most of the 12:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. shift, during which time Noel and Thomas were the only correctional officers assigned to the SHU,” DOJ documents state. It added that Noel “signed false certifications stating that he conducted inmate counts at 4:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.”
- Chase noted that there had been “suspicious activity” in Noel’s bank account starting in April 2018. According to records, there were 12 deposits in total, with the largest deposit reaching $5,000 on July 30, 2019. The documents reportedly showed seven cash deposits totaling $11,880.
- Since then, Noel has become a medical office assistant at the Einstein Senior Care Center in Montefiore, where she was charged in connection with the alleged assault.
In 2021, Noel denied searching for Epstein on Google when questioned by the Justice Department. “I don’t remember doing this,” she claimed. She also claims everyone failed to do ward rounds and falsified records. She said in a sworn statement that she saw Epstein alive somewhere “around ten o’clock” and that “the sheets were never handed out.” She also denied any involvement in Epstein’s death.
