Who is Tova Noel? Former Epstein guard denies being orange figure seen on staircase

Tova Noel, a former correction officer who had previously said that she was the last person to see Jeffrey Epstein alive, has denied that she was the orange shape spotted moving up the stairs of Epstein's tier, further clouding the mystery of what happened that night. During a closed-door deposition with the House Oversight Committee, Noel testified under oath that she was not present on the stairs at that time, never carried anything orange, and did not issue orange garments to any inmates. The footage near Epstein's cell showed an orange-colored figure moving up a staircase at approximately 10:39 pm on August 9, 2019, just the day before Epstein was declared dead.

"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," said Noel.

Tova Noel was involved in tempering prison footage

Tova Noel was initially charged with falsifying records to cover up missed 30-minute inmate checks. She has denied having any involvement in Epstein's death and blamed some of the problems that came to light following the death of Epstein on the "dysfunctional culture" at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Centre. The Department of Justice dropped charges against her and other guards after they completed community service. Tova Noel was the last person to have direct interaction with Epstein, during an inmate count around 10:00 pm, who was discovered dead on the next morning at 6.30.

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"My responsibility to conduct counts and rounds was improperly executed because of severe understaffing, a lack of adequate training, inadequate communication between management and frontline correctional officers, and other systemic failures," said Noel.

Noel testified that Epstein received unusual privileges at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre (MCC). This included access to extra bed linens, medications, and a CPAP machine. When asked if she had any reason to believe Epstein did not die by suicide, Noel said, “No.”

What was the orange object?

The investigators have previously claimed that the orange object might have been someone carrying inmate clothing upstairs. While video forensic analysts cited by CBS News dispute this claim, they say that the figure's movement looks like an individual in orange clothing moving up the stairs. The two security cameras outside his cell malfunctioned according to official accounts. Despite this ongoing scrutiny, the ruling remains that Epstein died by suicide.