2026年6月4日 / 美国东部时间晚上7:24 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
2019年，被定罪的性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦在纽约一所惩教设施内死亡。该设施的一名前狱警上月在美国众议院监督委员会作证称，自己并非爱泼囚区楼梯上那个被拍到的移动橙色身影，这进一步加剧了当晚事件的谜团。
根据周四公布的证词记录，众议院监督委员会成员于5月18日就托娃·诺埃尔接受质询，内容涉及2019年8月9日晚约10点39分一段监控录像：画面中一名身份不明的橙色身影正走上楼梯，而就在次日，爱泼斯坦被发现死于曼哈顿下城大都会惩教中心特殊住房单元的牢房内，其死亡被裁定为自杀。
在证词中，诺埃尔坚定否认自己是录像中的人物，并坚称当时自己并不在场。她并未对该身影的真实身份作出任何解释。
“说实话，我不知道那是什么、那是谁，因为我再也没回过那个囚区，我从来没带过任何橙色的东西，也从来没有给特殊住房单元里的任何人——不只是爱泼斯坦，是所有人——发放过橙色物品，”诺埃尔说道。
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻此前率先报道了该橙色身影的存在，以及联邦调查局和司法部监察长都未就此事询问过诺埃尔。监察长的报告曾指出该身影很可能就是诺埃尔，但并未提供证据。联邦调查局的监控录像日志则标注称，该身影可能是一名囚犯。在那个时间点有囚犯在牢房外活动是极不寻常的。
这也是爱泼斯坦死亡当晚，最后一次有人被拍到靠近他的囚区。
根据美国司法部监察长2023年的一份报告，由于硬盘故障，当晚大部分监控摄像头处于直播状态但并未录制，唯一能拍到特殊住房单元、尤其是他被关押的L层的摄像头，位于公共区域另一侧，仅能拍到通往他所在囚区楼梯的局部画面。
诺埃尔承认，在杰弗里·爱泼斯坦死亡前一晚，她未能按规定完成必要的囚犯巡查和点名，但否认自己与爱泼斯坦的死亡有关。
诺埃尔是出生于安提瓜的移民，曾是国民警卫队成员，在“持久自由行动”期间赴科威特服役。她作证称，自己刚因工伤重返工作岗位，当晚是她在特殊住房单元值的第一个通宵班，还被要求加班。
诺埃尔表示，爱泼斯坦被转入特殊住房单元时，她并不认识对方，也不知道对他的监禁有几项特殊要求，包括他需要一名室友。
她还称自己从未见过张贴在她办公桌电脑显示器上的橙色纸质通知，该通知要求每30分钟对爱泼斯坦进行一次巡查。她作证称，是在爱泼斯坦所谓的自杀未遂事件发生后的第二天，从他的狱友尼古拉斯·塔尔塔格利奥内那里得知了此事，而且她从未见过据称与该事件有关的字条。
这指的是《纽约时报》上月获取的所谓自杀字条。塔尔塔格利奥内是该未遂事件发生时爱泼斯坦的室友，他声称当晚自己救下了爱泼斯坦的性命。
诺埃尔被问及调查人员此前发现的始于2018年4月的12笔现金存款。她称这些钱来自她的个人积蓄，与爱泼斯坦或任何与他有关的人都没有关联。她多次否认从爱泼斯坦或其关联人员那里收取过钱款，但拒绝透露资金来源。
“就是，我把钱存进了我的银行账户，”她说道。“这些钱来自我的个人储蓄计划。从来没有人因为爱泼斯坦先生的事找过我要钱，也从来没有人给过我钱，从来没有过。”
诺埃尔作证称，她在2019年8月9日才第一次和爱泼斯坦说话，当晚她和另一名狱警给他送了晚餐，但她没有进入他的牢房。她表示，尽管未能完成规定的巡查，但她认为即使巡查程序都正常执行，爱泼斯坦还是可能会死亡。
她还否认曾故意在监狱电脑上搜索爱泼斯坦的相关信息，解释称自己只是点击了主页上出现的一篇新闻链接。关于发现爱泼斯坦尸体一事，诺埃尔作证称，她从未进入过牢房，最初也没有看到尸体，只是在另一名狱警迈克尔·托马斯对爱泼斯坦进行心肺复苏时，看到了他的脚。她说自己是在尸体被担架抬走时才第一次看到尸体。
她回忆称，爱泼斯坦被发现后，囚犯们高呼“你们麻烦大了”，她说自己当时在等着其他人做出回应。
当被问及司法部记录中公布的一封电子邮件，该邮件称她和托马斯被支付了6500美元，以玩忽职守为由让一名名为迈克尔·罗斯的男子进入爱泼斯坦的牢房并将其杀害，诺埃尔否认认识罗斯，并驳斥了这些指控。在整个作证过程中，她始终坚称，虽然确实出现了程序违规，但她没有参与任何与爱泼斯坦死亡相关的阴谋。此前已有大量阴谋论称，爱泼斯坦因与富人和权贵的关联而被杀害。
在周四发给哥伦比亚广播公司新闻的一份声明中，诺埃尔的律师表示，诺埃尔“自愿接受众议院监督委员会的采访，因为她希望协助澄清杰弗里·爱泼斯坦受害者的相关情况，确保监督委员会掌握她所了解的所有事实——而非基于猜测或阴谋论——关于爱泼斯坦先生死亡的相关情况，并了结她在这起悲剧事件中的相关牵连。”
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻已就此事联系联邦调查局和司法部监察长置评，但尚未收到回复。
Correction officer testifies she was not the orange shape seen outside Jeffrey Epstein’s cell the night he died
June 4, 2026 / 7:24 PM EDT / CBS News
A former correction officer at the New York correctional facility where convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019 testified before the House Oversight Committee last month that she was not the orange shape seen moving up the stairs of Epstein’s tier the night he died, furthering the mystery of what happened that night.
According to a transcript released Thursday, House Oversight Committee members questioned Tova Noel on May 18 about surveillance footage showing an unidentified orange-colored figure moving up a staircase at approximately 10:39 p.m. on Aug. 9, 2019, the night before Epstein was discovered dead in his cell in the Special Housing Unit of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan. His death was ruled a suicide.
In her testimony, Noel steadfastly denied being the individual in the footage, and maintained that she was not present at that moment. She offered no explanation for what the shape could be.
“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,” Noel said.
CBS News had previously been the first to report the presence of the shape, as well as the FBI and the Justice Department Inspector General’s failure to question her about it. The Inspector General’s report had noted that it was likely her, but provided no evidence. An FBI log of the surveillance video had noted that it was possibly an inmate. The presence of an inmate outside of a cell at that time would have been highly unusual.
This was also the last time someone was seen approaching Epstein’s cell tier the night of his death.
This image from the video — zoomed in and highlighted by CBS News – shows a partial view of something orange on the stairs leading to Jeffrey Epstein’s cell tier. U.S. Bureau of Prisons
Because of a hard drive failure, a majority of the cameras were streaming but not recording that night, and the only available view of the Special Housing Unit, and specifically of the L tier where he was held, was from a camera on the other side of the common area that showed a partial view of the stairs leading to his tier, according to a 2023 report from the Department of Justice’s Inspector General.
Noel acknowledged that she failed to properly conduct required inmate rounds and counts on the night before Jeffrey Epstein’s death, but denied any involvement in his death.
Noel, an Antigua-born immigrant and former National Guard member who served in Kuwait during Operation Enduring Freedom, testified that she had recently returned to work after a workplace injury and was working mandatory overtime during her first overnight shift in the Special Housing Unit.
Noel said she did not know who Epstein was when he was moved into the SHU, and was unaware of several special conditions associated with his confinement, including that he required a cellmate.
She also said she had not seen a posted notice requiring mandatory 30-minute rounds on Epstein. This notice had been printed on orange paper and attached to the computer monitor at her desk. She testified that she learned about Epstein’s prior alleged suicide attempt from his cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione the day after the incident occurred and had never seen a note reportedly connected to that incident.
This was in reference to the purported suicide note obtained by the New York Times last month. Tartaglione had been Epstein’s roommate when the alleged attempt occurred and has made claims to have saved his life that night.
Noel was asked about the 12 cash deposits beginning in April 2018 that had been previously identified by investigators. She said the money came from her personal savings and had no connection to Epstein or anyone associated with him. She repeatedly denied receiving money from Epstein or any affiliated individuals, but refused to disclose the source of the funds.
“Like, I deposited my money into my bank account,” she said. “And that’s from my personal savings plan. And no one has ever approached me about money or given me money in reference to Mr. Epstein at all, ever.”
Noel testified that she first spoke with Epstein on Aug. 9, 2019, and that she and a fellow correction officer delivered his dinner that evening, but she did not enter his cell. She stated that, despite failing to complete required rounds, she believed Epstein’s death would have occurred even if the checks had been properly conducted.
She also denied intentionally searching for information about Epstein on a prison computer, explaining that she clicked on a news article link that appeared on a homepage. Regarding the discovery of Epstein, Noel testified that she never entered the cell, did not see the body initially, and only observed Epstein’s feet while another correction officer, Michael Thomas, performed CPR. She said she first saw the body when it was removed on a stretcher.
She recalled inmates chanting, “Y’all in so much trouble,” after Epstein was found, and said she waited for others to respond.
When asked about an email released in Justice Department records alleging that she and Thomas were paid $6,500 to neglect their duties so that a man named Michael Rose could enter Epstein’s cell and kill him, Noel denied any knowledge of Rose and rejected the allegations. Throughout her testimony, she maintained that while procedural failures occurred, she had no role in any conspiracy related to Epstein’s death. There have been numerous conspiracy theories that Epstein was killed because of his connection to wealthy and powerful people.
In a statement, Noel’s attorney told CBS News Thursday that Noel “voluntarily appeared for an interview by the House Oversight Committee because she wanted to assist in providing clarity to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, ensure that the Oversight Committee has all the facts known to her — not based on speculation or conspiracy theories — about the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Epstein, and bring closure to her involvement in this tragic situation.”
CBS News has reached out to the FBI and the Justice Department Inspector General for comment, but have not received a response.
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