Jeffrey Epstein Prison Guard Googled Him Minutes Before Death And Made $5K Cash Deposit Days Earlier, DOJ Records Show
A prison guard searched Jeffrey Epstein online minutes before he was found dead, while a $5K cash deposit also raised questions.
March 7 2026, Published 5:40 p.m. ET
Newly released Department of Justice records are raising fresh questions about the night Jeffrey Epstein died behind bars, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Documents reviewed from the DOJ reveal that one of the guards responsible for monitoring the disgraced financier searched for updates about him online just minutes before he was discovered dead inside his Manhattan jail cell.
Googling Jeffrey Epstein
Newly released DOJ records revealed a prison guard searched for updates about Jeffrey Epstein minutes before he was found dead.
Tova Noel, a correctional officer at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, was one of two guards previously accused of falsifying records to claim they conducted routine checks on Epstein during the night shift leading up to his August 10, 2019, death, according to documents seen by The New York Post.
Prosecutors had alleged that Noel and fellow guard Michael Thomas failed to perform the required 30-minute checks while the convicted sex offender was being held in the Special Housing Unit.
According to an FBI forensic review of prison computer activity, Noel searched "latest on Epstein in jail" at 5:42 a.m. and again at 5:52 a.m. on the morning of Epstein's death. Less than 40 minutes later, Thomas reportedly found the 66-year-old financier hanging in his cell at 6:30 a.m.
The FBI flagged the searches in a 66-page forensic examination of Bureau of Prisons desktop computers used by the two guards. The search for Epstein was the only internet activity highlighted in the report.
Earlier during the shift, investigators said Noel spent time browsing furniture online while Thomas looked at motorcycles instead of carrying out the mandatory inmate checks.
When Noel was questioned under oath by the Department of Justice in 2021, she denied looking up Epstein online.
"I don't remember doing that," she said during the interview, according to the transcript.
She also challenged the accuracy of the records. "I don't recall looking him up," Noel insisted, adding that the FBI's computer data was not "accurate."
Strange Deposits
Guard Tova Noel reportedly Googled 'latest on Epstein in jail' less than 40 minutes before his body was discovered.
The documents also revealed financial activity that caught investigators' attention. Chase Bank filed a "suspicious activity report" with the FBI in November 2019 after noticing a pattern of cash deposits into Noel's account.
Bank records showed 12 deposits beginning in April 2018, with the largest — $5,000 — made on July 30, 2019, just 10 days before Epstein's death.
Available records show seven deposits totaling $11,880 between December 2018 and the time of Epstein’s suicide.
Noel had begun working in the Special Housing Unit, where Epstein was being held, on July 7, 2019, only weeks before the financier died.
The DOJ files indicate Noel was not questioned about the deposits during her interview with investigators. Records also noted that she drove a $62,000 2019 Land Rover Range Rover at the time.
Odd Orange-Colored Blob
Investigators also flagged a mysterious $5,000 cash deposit made into Noel's bank account days before Epstein's death.
Another newly released internal FBI briefing sheds light on a mysterious figure captured in blurry surveillance footage outside the Special Housing Unit on the night Epstein died.
Investigators said the figure — described as an orange-colored shape moving through the hallway around 10:40 p.m. — was likely Noel.
"At approximately 10:40 pm, a correctional officer, believed to be Tova Noel, carried linen or inmate clothing up to the L-Tier, last time any correctional officer approached the only entrance to the SHU tier," the FBI wrote in the briefing.
Epstein later died by hanging, using strips of orange cloth.
The identity of the figure in the video has fueled speculation since the footage surfaced publicly last year.
An earlier inspector general report released in 2023 described the individual only as "unidentified correctional officers," making the FBI briefing the first time Noel's name has been linked to the person seen on camera.
During her sworn interview, Noel said she last saw Epstein alive "somewhere around after 10."
She also denied providing the inmate with linens or clothing that night.
"I never gave out linen — ever," Noel told investigators, explaining that distributing linens was normally done during an earlier shift.
Tova Noel's Denial
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Noel denied making the search when questioned under oath by the Department of Justice.
Noel also claimed that skipping rounds and falsifying log entries was common practice at the facility.
"I've never worked in the Special Housing Unit and actually done rounds every 30 minutes," she said.
According to Noel's testimony, the other guard assigned to the unit was asleep for part of the night between 10 p.m. and midnight.
Correctional staff have said that entering the area of Epstein's cell alone would violate prison policy.
When asked directly whether she played any role in Epstein's death, Noel responded simply: "No."
Noel and Thomas were both charged in 2019 with falsifying prison records related to the monitoring of Epstein. However, the criminal case against them was later dropped, and both guards were fired from the Bureau of Prisons.
