A former correctional officer from the New York City prison where Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019 testified about the mysterious orange figure that was spotted moving up the stairs to Epstein's tier on the night of his death.
"To be very honest, I don't know what it is, who it is, because I never went back to the tier, and I was never carrying anything orange at all, and I never issued anything orange to anyone in the SHU — not just only Epstein, just anyone," Tova Noel said, according to a transcript released by the House Oversight Committee obtained by a news outlet on Thursday, June 4.
A Figure Was Seen in Footage the Night Before Jeffrey Epstein's Death
Epstein died behind bars on August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on child s-- trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
During Noel's questioning with the House Oversight committee, which originally happened on May 18, she was probed about footage taken the night before Epstein's death, which showed an unidentified orange-colored figure moving up a staircase at approximately 10:39 p.m. on August 9, 2019.
The former correctional officer denied being the figure in the footage and maintained that she was not present.
Jeffrey Epstein's Death Was Ruled a Suicide
The figure marked the last time someone was seen approaching Epstein's cell the night of his death.
CBS News was the first to report the figure's presence, while highlighting the FBI and Justice Department Inspector General's failure to question Noel.
The Inspector General's report noted it was likely her, but didn't include evidence, per the outlet. The FBI's report hinted that it could have been an inmate, though it would be unusual at that time.
Tova Noel Admitted She Failed to Carry Out Required Duties
Noel admitted she failed to carry out her duties that night, neglecting to perform the required inmate rounds and counts. Though she claimed that Epstein's death would've still occurred had checks been properly conducted.
She testified that she never entered his cell, did not see his body initially and only saw Epstein once another correctional officer, Michael Thomas, began performing CPR.
"Y'all in so much trouble," Noel recalled other inmates chanting as she waited for other officers to respond to the discovery of Epstein's body.
Conspiracy Theorists Believe Jeffrey Epstein Was Murdered
A majority of the cameras in the Special Housing Unit were reportedly streaming but not recording due to a hard drive failure, per a 2023 report from the Department of Justice.
This has only fueled conspiracy theories that the disgraced financier was murdered.
"Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself. He was murdered," Fraudster Mark Shapiro, who was in the same jail as the s-- offender at the time of his death, claimed in February. "There’s no way he could have killed himself."
He continued, "To take a shower, you had to have your handcuffs. To get out of your cell, you had to have your handcuffs. You were in your cell for 23 hours a day. You were in a little pen for one hour a day for your recreation."