New questions have emerged about Jeffrey Epstein’s death after a former prison guard told congressional investigators that she was not the unidentified man seen approaching his cell block the night before his death.Tovah Noel, a former corrections officer at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, testified before the House Oversight Committee that she could not account for the orange figure captured on surveillance footage near Epstein’s housing unit on the evening of August 9, 2019.The figure was seen moving up a staircase towards Epstein’s cell tier at around 10.39pm, making it the last known person or object to appear in the area before the convicted sex offender was found dead the following morning.“To be very honest, I don’t know what it is, who it is, because I never went back to the tier, and I never carried anything orange, and I never issued anything orange to anyone at SHU — not just Epstein, but anyone,” Noel told investigators, referring to the special housing unit where Epstein was being held.The testimony adds another layer of uncertainty to a case that has attracted years of conspiracy theories. Epstein’s death was officially ruled a suicide in August 2019, but questions have been raised about the conditions inside the prison the night he died.In accordance with previous findings, neither the FBI nor the Justice Department ever questioned Noel about the mysterious figure. The DOJ Inspector General’s report suggested that the figure was likely Noel’s, although no evidence was publicly presented to support that conclusion. The FBI logs also raised the possibility that this person could be another prisoner, a scenario that would be highly unusual.Investigators have long faced challenges due to technical failures inside the prison. Most of the facility’s surveillance cameras were not recording that night due to a hard drive failure. The only available footage came from a camera located in a general area, offering only a limited view of the staircase leading to Epstein’s unit.During her testimony, Noel admitted that she failed to conduct mandatory checks on prisoners that night. However, he denied any involvement in Epstein’s death. She also said she did not know who Epstein was when he arrived at the unit and was unaware of any special restrictions or monitoring requirements associated with his detention.MPs also questioned Noel about a series of 12 cash deposits made into his bank account in early 2018. She declined to identify the source of the money but rejected any suggestion that the deposits were linked to Epstein.Noel denied any knowledge of allegations that he and another officer received a $6,500 payment to allow a man named Michael Rose access to Epstein’s cell to murder him. Her attorney said Noel chose to testify voluntarily because she wanted to help provide answers in the high-profile case.