NEW YORK: A new account from an inmate previously held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center has reignited doubts surrounding the death of Jeffrey Epstein, which authorities officially ruled a suicide.
The inmate, who was detained in the facility’s Special Housing Unit where Epstein was also kept, shared the information during an interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to the Miami Herald, the prisoner claimed he overheard prison guards discussing a possible cover-up on the morning Epstein died.
The unnamed inmate told investigators he woke up on August 10, 2019, after hearing loud disturbances in the prison wing. At around 6:30am, officers could be heard shouting “Breathe! Breathe!” as they responded to the situation.
He further recalled hearing a guard say, “Dudes, you killed that dude”. According to FBI notes cited by the newspaper, a female officer then replied: “If he is dead, we’re going to cover it up and he’s going to have an alibi my officers”. The inmate said the entire prison wing reportedly overheard the exchange.
After Epstein’s death was confirmed, the prisoner said several inmates began saying “Miss Noel killed Jeffrey”.
The report stated that the inmate identified the female guard as Tova Noel, one of two correctional officers who were later charged with falsifying records indicating they had conducted routine security checks during the night. According to the New York Post, both Noel and another guard, Michael Thomas, were dismissed from their positions, while the charges against them were later dropped.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, was found dead in his jail cell in 2019, after which authorities concluded that he had taken his own life.
However, Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist hired by Epstein’s estate to observe the autopsy, was quoted as saying the injuries to Epstein were more consistent with strangulation than suicide.
The report also referenced findings by the New York Post which revealed that Noel’s bank had flagged a $5,000 cash deposit made to her Chase Bank account on July 30, 2019 roughly a week after Epstein was discovered in his cell following what prison officials described as a suicide attempt on July 23.
At the time, Epstein reportedly told prison authorities that his cellmate had tried to kill him after attempting to extort money from him.
According to the report, on the morning Epstein died on August 10, Noel searched the phrase “latest on Epstein in jail” twice at 5:42am and again at 5:52am about 40 minutes before Thomas discovered Epstein unresponsive in his cell.
The newspaper further reported that Noel had received thousands of dollars through cash and Zelle transfers in the months leading up to Epstein’s death, raising additional questions about the circumstances surrounding the incident.
