- Politics is fast. We’re faster. Sign up to the DC Insider newsletter for a front-row seat to Washington… and unlock 3 FREE months of DailyMail+ HERE
By VICTORIA CHURCHILL, US POLITICAL REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
The last person to see Jeffrey Epstein alive has arrived for closed-door testimony onCapitolHill.
Tova Noel, a former prison guard at the Manhattan jail where Jeffrey Epstein was held awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.
Justice Department records show that Noel, who was assigned to monitor the section of the facility where Epstein was housed, searched online for updates about the disgraced financier less than an hour before he was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019.
Noel, one of two guards overseeing Epstein at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, allegedly Googled ‘latest on epstein in jail’ at 5:42 am and again at 5:52 am on August 10, 2019.
Epstein was discovered hanging in his cell at approximately 6:30 am by fellow officer Michael Thomas.
The documents also detailed additional searches conducted by Noel that morning, including inquiries involving inmates Kenyatta Taiste and Omar Amanat, as well as searches for ‘law enforcement discounts’ shortly before Epstein’s body was found.
During questioning in 2021, Noel denied intentionally searching for Epstein online, telling investigators: ‘I don’t remember doing that.’
The records further revealed a series of unexplained cash deposits into Noel’s bank account in the months before Epstein’s death. A $5,000 deposit on July 30, 2019 – just ten days before Epstein’s death – was among roughly 12 such payments between December 2018 and August 2019, totalling $11,880.
Former prison guard Tova Noel (C) arrives to testify at a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill on May 18, 2026, in Washington, DC. Noel, a former guard at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, is believed to have been among the last people to see convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before his death in 2019
This March 28, 2017, photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein
Epstein, who was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges at the time of his death, was officially ruled to have died by suicide.
However, the circumstances surrounding his death have remained the subject of intense public scrutiny and conspiracy theories for years.
The DOJ released a video last July showing the outside of Epstein’s cell at the Manhattan jail, where he allegedly hanged himself.
A transcript of Noel’s testimony is expected to be released by the Oversight Committee within the coming days.