Epstein Death Mystery: Lawmakers Interview Alleged Last Person to See Him Alive Behind Closed Doors

The prison guard who was on duty when Jeffrey Epstein died has testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Tova Noel appeared for a closed-door interview with the committee on May 18.

Noel was supposedly the last person to see Epstein alive before he was found hanging in his prison cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York City on August 9, 2019.

Although his death was ruled a suicide, questions continued to linger about how a high-profile inmate was able to take his own life. Meanwhile, Noel came back under scrutiny following the Department of Justice (DOJ) release of the Epstein Files.

While the interview transcript has not yet been released, lawmakers who attended the testimony spoke to the media about what happened.Democratic leader and Virginia rep. Suhas Subramanyam stated that Noel’s testimony reaffirms that Epstein died by suicide.

“It was clear incompetence and just a lack of oversight over Jeffrey Epstein that led to him being able to commit suicide. I do believe he did commit suicide,” Subramanyam said. However, the congressman acknowledged Epstein received preferential treatment in prison, including extra linen that he used to hang himself.

“I do think [Epstein] was treated differently from the other inmates. Jeffrey Epstein got special treatment in that facility. Why was he given special treatment, like extra linens that he used to hang himself ... when he had just tried to commit suicide a month earlier? Those are the questions we need to answer,” he added.

Noel was on duty along with Michael Thomas the morning Epstein died. According to standard procedure, the two were supposed to check on the inmate every 30 minutes. Investigators determined that they instead spent the night browsing the internet and sleeping.

Following Epstein’s death, both Noel and Thomas were fired from their jobs and charged with falsifying records to hide their incompetence. The charges were later dropped. Epstein Files disclosed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had interrogated Noel in 2021.

“I’ve never worked in the Special Housing Unit and actually done rounds every 30 minutes,” she told investigators at the time. The documents also revealed that Noel searched for Epstein on Google just minutes before his death. Additionally, she received cash deposits totaling $12,000 in the months leading up to the incident. $5,000 was deposited just 10 days before Epstein’s death.

During her testimony, Noel said she earned the money by working overtime, and it had nothing to do with Epstein. Democratic rep. from New Mexico, Melanie Stansbury, highlighted that Noel was questioned about the deposits during the interview.

“She said the financial transfers have nothing to do with Epstein. I think the only maybe new piece of information is that she does feel like her termination was unfair, and that had it not been Jeffrey Epstein, she would not have been fired,” Stansbury said.

The interview lasted about 4 hours. Notably, only a few committee members attended the hearing, while others skipped it for various reasons. The committee’s chairman and Republican rep. from Kentucky, James Comer, reportedly remained absent from the testimony due to family matters.