{"id":192226,"date":"2026-03-15T06:18:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T06:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/192226\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T06:18:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T06:18:28","slug":"an-inmate-at-the-metropolitan-correctional-center-in-new-york-told-the-fbi-he-overheard-prison-guards-saying-they-would-cover-up-epsteins-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/192226\/","title":{"rendered":"An inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York told the FBI he overheard prison guards saying they would cover-up Epstein\u2019s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FILE<\/p>\n

FILE – The Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York where Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019. (AP Photo\/Mary Altaffer, File)<\/p>\n

Mary Altaffer<\/p>\n

AP<\/p>\n

An inmate housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York told the FBI he overheard guards talking about covering up Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s death on the morning he died.<\/p>\n

The federal government\u2019s online Epstein library contains a five-page handwritten report of an FBI interview with an inmate who awoke the morning of Aug. 10, 2019 to the loud commotion in the Special Housing Unit, or SHU, where he and Epstein were jailed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBreathe! Breathe!\u201d he recalled officers shouting about 6:30 a.m.<\/p>\n

Then he said he heard an officer say \u201cDudes, you killed that dude.\u201d<\/p>\n

A female guard replied \u201cIf he is dead, we\u2019re going to cover it up and he\u2019s going to have an alibi — my officers,\u201d the FBI notes said. The inmate claimed the whole wing overheard the exchange.<\/p>\n

Later, after learning Epstein had died, he said inmates said \u201cMiss Noel killed Jeffrey.\u201d<\/p>\n

He identified the female guard as Tova Noel, one of two correctional officers who were later charged with falsifying reports so that it appeared from their records that they had made their rounds that night \u2013 when they had not. The charges against her and the other officer, Michael Thomas, were later dropped, but both were fired.<\/p>\n

\"Jeffrey Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s New York mugshot. File Photo courtesy of the New York State Division of Criminal Justice\/ EPA-EFE <\/p>\n

The inmate\u2019s account has not been substantiated, but it nevertheless raises questions about Epstein\u2019s in-custody death. Both the New York Medical Examiner and the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that Epstein died by suicide. Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist hired by Epstein\u2019s estate to attend the autopsy, has said he believes the injuries to Epstein were more akin to strangulation than suicide.<\/p>\n

Read More: Perversion of Justice, the Jeffrey Epstein story<\/a><\/p>\n

But the FBI report is likely to fan suspicion, as the New York Post also reported on Saturda<\/a>y that Noel\u2019s bank flagged a $5,000 cash deposit she made to her Chase Bank account on July 30, 2019 \u2013 a week after Epstein was found in his cell in what prison officials concluded was a suicide attempt on July 23, 2019. The official reports into that incident show that Epstein initially told prison officials that his cellmate had tried to kill him after extorting him for money.<\/p>\n

The Post also reported that on the morning of Epstein\u2019s death on Aug. 10, Noel searched the term \u201clatest on Epstein in jail\u201d twice \u2013 once at 5:42 a.m. and again at 5:52 a.m., about 40 minutes before the other guard, Michael Thomas, found Epstein.<\/p>\n

Her bank records, which are in the files, showed that Noel received thousands of dollars in cash and Zelle payments in the months before Epstein died. She has not been charged with any crime. The Miami Herald was unsuccessful in reaching her attorney on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Epstein\u2019s former cellmate, Efrain Reyes, told prison officials that he told Epstein he would be safer if he paid inmates and guards for protection. Sources have told the Herald that Epstein did make protection payments.<\/p>\n

Noel\u2019s bank records also reveal that she was making payments on a brand new Range Rover.<\/p>\n

But she was not asked about the cash during her DOJ interview.<\/p>\n

Epstein had three fractures on the left and right sides of his larynx, and Baden said it is rare for any bones to be broken in a hanging, let alone for multiple bones to be fractured. \u201cThose fractures are extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more commonly in homicidal strangulation,\u201d said Baden, who added that there were hemorrhages in Epstein\u2019s eyes that are also more common in strangulation than in hangings.<\/p>\n

The DOJ\u2019s official death investigation noted that \u201cnone of the inmates who were interviewed had any credible information suggesting Epstein\u2019s cause of death was something other than suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The investigation also concluded that that three interviewed inmates with a direct line of sight into Epstein\u2019s cell door stated that \u201cno one entered or exited Epstein\u2019s cell\u201d after Epstein was locked into his cell the night before.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published March 7, 2026 at 7:15 PM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FILE – The Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York where Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019. (AP Photo\/Mary Altaffer,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[68491,5858,81500,123,125,124,9454,7489],"class_list":["post-192226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-epstein","tag-killed","tag-maxwell","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-sex-trafficking","tag-suicide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}