In the flickering fluorescent haze of Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, guards Tova Noel and Michael Thomas scrolled through online shopping sites and dozed off at their desk—just 15 feet from Jeffrey Epstein’s cell—skipping mandatory checks for hours on the night he died.T

In the dimly lit corridors of Manhattan’s federal jail, the guards tasked with watching Jeffrey Epstein browsed online and napped through their shift, as newly surfaced details expose the cascading oversights that left him unobserved in his final hours.

On August 9-10, 2019, at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York, Jeffrey Epstein spent his last night alone in the Special Housing Unit (SHU). Guards Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, working mandatory overtime—one on their fifth consecutive extra shift—were stationed mere feet from his tier. Protocol demanded 30-minute checks on the high-profile inmate, especially after his prior suicide attempt weeks earlier. Yet surveillance footage shows they failed to perform rounds for over eight hours, instead shopping online, browsing websites, and appearing to doze at their desk.

Epstein, removed from suicide watch against recommendations, had no cellmate despite policy. Excess bedding remained in his cell, and most cameras malfunctioned or failed to record—issues plaguing the understaffed, outdated facility. By morning, around 6:30 a.m., officers discovered him unresponsive, hanged with a sheet.

Noel and Thomas admitted falsifying logs claiming proper checks. Charged with conspiracy and record falsification, they entered deferred prosecution agreements in 2021, completing community service; charges were dropped.

A 2023 DOJ Inspector General report cited “numerous and serious failures”: chronic staffing shortages, procedural lapses, and widespread log falsification. Recent 2025 releases, including surveillance clips and internal memos amid broader Epstein file disclosures, reaffirm these breakdowns while upholding the suicide ruling—no evidence of foul play or third-party entry.

Though some footage raised metadata questions about editing for release, core findings stand: individual negligence compounded by systemic neglect allowed Epstein to die unnoticed. The MCC, long criticized for poor conditions, closed in 2021. Epstein’s death remains a stark reminder of prison oversight failures.