Document #EFTA00098091: The Officer Who Said ‘You Killed That Dude’ After Jeffrey Epstein Died

A newly released FBI document shows that an inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center overheard a prison guard say “you killed that dude” on the morning Jeffrey Epstein was found dead, then heard a female voice say that if he was dead, it would be covered up and officers would be given an alibi.

The Miami Herald, which first reported on the document, says the inmate identified that female voice as Tova Noel, one of the 2 guards assigned to monitor Epstein’s cell that night.

The full 5-page handwritten FBI interview summary is published below. Before that, some context on who Noel is and what else the released files show about her.

Noel was 30 years old and had been working in Epstein’s Special Housing Unit for 23 days when Epstein died. She and fellow officer Michael Thomas were the 2 guards assigned to monitor his cell that night. Federal investigators determined neither of them performed the required 30-minute checks. They had been sleeping and browsing the internet for hours. They falsified the log records to show they had made their rounds.

Those were the basis for their criminal charges. Both were later dropped after Noel completed 100 hours of community service and cooperated with a DOJ inspector general investigation.

The released files go further than what the charges covered.

FBI records show Noel searched “latest on epstein in jail” at 5:42am on August 10, 2019, then again at 5:52am. Epstein’s body was found at 6:30am. In a 2021 sworn statement to DOJ investigators, she said she didn’t remember the searches and questioned whether the digital logs were accurate.

In November 2019, Chase Bank filed a suspicious activity report with the FBI flagging 12 cash deposits in Noel’s personal account dating back to April 2018. The largest, $5,000 in cash, arrived on July 30, 2019, 10 days before Epstein’s death. The total flagged deposits came to more than $11,880. Noel was also making payments on a $62,000 2019 Land Rover Range Rover. She was never asked about the deposits in her DOJ interview. The source of the cash has never been publicly explained.

An internal FBI document identified Noel as the figure seen on surveillance video carrying linen toward Epstein’s cell at approximately 10:40pm the night before his death. That was the last time any correctional officer was recorded approaching the entrance to his tier. Noel said in her sworn statement that she never gave out linen to inmates. Epstein was found hanged with strips of orange cloth. The 2 cameras directly outside his cell produced no usable footage. The MCC’s recording system had malfunctioned on July 29 and was never repaired.

The New York City Chief Medical Examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide by hanging. The FBI and a 2023 DOJ Inspector General report found no evidence of criminal involvement beyond the falsified records. Noel has denied any involvement in Epstein’s death and has not been charged with any crime related to it.

Document EFTA00098091: Full Transcript

He’d been in custody at MDC since April 2019 and moved to H-tier at MCC in mid to late July, a few weeks before Epstein died. His cell was the first one on the right. From it he could see the microwaves, the rec deck, and the visit room. He could hear what guards were saying, including at their desk. He was there when Noel served dinner on the night of August 9. He was there when the food cart came through the next morning. He was there when the voices started.

His name hasn’t appeared in any reporting. He gave this account to an FBI agent 18 days after Epstein died and, as far as the public record shows, that was it.

What the FBI wrote down is document EFTA00098091. It’s a handwritten summary, not a word-for-word transcript. The agent recorded his account in note form, moving between topics, sometimes without clear transitions between who said what. Most names in the document are redacted.

The full text is below. Where names are blacked out in the original, this transcript notes [redacted]. Statements in quotation marks reflect language that appears in the document itself.

Interview Date: August 28, 2019 Subject: Inmate 5 [name redacted] Location: Metropolitan Correctional Center, H-Tier Pages: 5

Page 1 of 5

• In custody since 4/16/19 at MDC, on H-tier approximately 6 weeks. First cell on the right.
• Can see microwaves, rec deck, visit room from cell. Can hear what guards are saying, including at desk.
• Counts supposed to be at 4, 10, 12, 3, 5 on weekdays; 10am on weekends.
• Officers just walk by cell, sometimes don’t even look in. Some officers don’t do overnight counts.

Prior housing:

• Was on 6-tier (single cells) from 6/8 through mid-July.
• Arrived at MCC on 6/13. Was sent to suicide watch because he asked for blankets and cleaning supplies. There were dead mice on the floor of his cell. Guards wouldn’t bring anything. Covered window with a sheet and was then taken to suicide watch for approximately 1 day.
• Returned to 6-tier. Given a blanket and soap. Still did not have cleaning supplies.
• No one came to 6-tier, not even counselors. An officer said “I thought you were famous up here.” Only time he saw anyone was when a lieutenant was feeding. Some days officers do the count, some days they don’t even check on you. Only way to get legal calls is when the lieutenant walks by.

Move to H-Tier:

• Mid to late July, moved to H-tier. Kids with behavioral problems were flooding cells and were moved down to H-tier and other tiers.
• Does not have a cellmate.
• Only time he saw officers on H-tier before Epstein died was when food came. Breakfast at 6am. Lunch supposed to be 11am, came at 1-2pm. Dinner supposed to come at 5pm, sometimes 6:30-7pm.

Page 2 of 5

• Eats cold food every day.
• Normally after the 10pm count, officers ask to turn off the lights. Usually watches everyone at the door because his is the first cell. Otherwise listens to radio, works out, reads a book.
• Usually sleeps from 12-3am, works out at 3am, then stays up.
• Has an open hole underneath sink with waterbugs and mice coming through.
• Never saw rounds after midnight before Epstein died.

Officer descriptions (several names redacted):

• Officer [redacted] (female)
• Officer [redacted] (short hair, tall, older, light-skinned): always does counts and rounds
• [Redacted]: does the 5pm count but not after that. Reported for beating people.
• Noel [redacted]: does not do rounds. Usually comes in at 2, works until 9 or 10. Sometimes does the count and feeds but not rounds. Noel never did a round. Other officers working let her sit down. Saw her at the gate.

Conversation overheard involving Noel:

• One time [redacted] was listening at the door around 5pm. Noel and [redacted] were talking. [Redacted] said [the inmate] was being nosy. Before that, he saw Noel saying she was trying to apologize. [Redacted] said “who?” Noel said “the pedophile, the rich dude.”
• Noel never does rounds. If they’ve worked a shift they know the count for the next shift.

Other officers (names redacted):

• [Redacted] usually works daytime. He’s the PIC. [Inmate] thinks he plants things on people.
• [Redacted] told [redacted] that he met with prosecutors and that prosecutors asked about [redacted]. Told [redacted] he was stupid for doing it. Now they are given less food. [Inmate] thinks it’s retaliation.

Page 3 of 5

Alleged misconduct by officers (names redacted):

• Saw [redacted] plant drugs twice. Kids on BMB indictment. [Redacted] wanted dice from kids. Then found a pack of cigarettes on a kid. It was a fresh pack but the kid had only been there 2 weeks. [Inmate] knew the kid didn’t have it because he smokes. 2016, Indiana: a kid went to SHU, one was said to be “ill.”
• On 5-tier, saw [redacted] go in a kid’s cell and find K2. But the kid didn’t smoke K2 and didn’t have a cellmate.
• [Redacted] didn’t do rounds. Only saw [redacted] walk the tier after Epstein died.
• [Redacted]: rec officer. Has so much time he thinks he’s untouchable.
• [Redacted] is the issue because he beats people up in their cell. When [inmate] was on suicide watch, [redacted] told him “don’t do that again, I’ll f*** you up.” Short, dark-skinned, do-rag. Works midnight. Does counts but not rounds. Doesn’t care about rounds. Never heard of him and contraband.

Night Epstein died:

• Fed dinner by Noel and one other officer.
• Never heard trays taken out.
• She came by around 10pm to do the count. [Inmate] asked for lights to be turned off and she did it.
• Around midnight, everyone was kicking their doors and yelling, asking for lights to be turned off. A new officer came in. She told him not to do rounds. Other guys on the tier said that “[she’s] lazy, she just wants to sit down.” [Redacted] said he should have gotten up and turned the lights off. She said it was loud enough for everyone to hear. [Redacted] did not repeat what she said.

Page 4 of 5

• Sometimes officers [redacted] say on Saturday/Sunday they won’t bring anything for you.
• After the new officer came in at midnight, she turned the fan (or vent) on and it blocked out the noise.
• Dozed off. Woke up back and forth.
• Food cart was pushed in.
• Then heard “breathe! breathe!” Other officers came in.

Statements heard during the aftermath:

• When they were walking through with breakfast, Lieutenant [redacted] served food and asked some of the food workers: “You killed that dude.”
• She said: “If he is dead, we’re going to cover it up, and she’s going to have any officers imitate conversation.”
• The whole H-tier heard that. Then [redacted] initiated the conversation.
• Found out on the news that Epstein had died.
• Officers kept saying “I didn’t kill him.”
• When people came through, inmates said: “Miss Noel killed Jeffrey.”

Other officer notes:

• Lieutenant [redacted]: never rubbed [inmate] the wrong way. She does rounds but doesn’t walk tiers. Goes to 10S, then leaves.
• [Redacted] (tall, braces): described as a “wimp.” From [redacted] area. When it comes to visits, he’s the reason phones and things come in. MDC is much more professional.
• [Redacted] doesn’t care what comes in. Searches you but says “I don’t care what you bring in.”
• [Redacted] talks to inmates and family members and rubs it in your face, but other officers do it regularly.
• Officer [redacted] said “You told on [redacted]. You’re lucky I don’t punch you in your face.”
• Lieutenant [redacted]: bad officers.

Page 5 of 5

• After Epstein died, they placed a pad right by [inmate’s] door where officers have to sign when they do rounds. They’re doing rounds now.