[Breaking news update at 10:55 a.m. ET]
Superintendent Steven Racette and Deputy Superintendent Stephen Brown of the Clinton Correctional Facility have been placed on administrative leave, according to a state official briefed on the investigation into a prison break in which two convicted killers escaped several weeks ago. One was killed; the other has been recaptured.
[Original story posted at 10:39 a.m. ET]
David Sweat said the plan was simple: He and fellow escapee Richard Matt would be picked up by prison worker Joyce Mitchell after they broke out, go kill her husband, and then the threesome would head to Mexico.
That’s what Sweat told investigators from his hospital room in Albany, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said.
“They would kill (Joyce) Mitchell’s husband, and then get in the car and drive to Mexico on the theory that Mitchell was in love with one or both of them,” Cuomo told “The Capitol Pressroom” radio program. “And then they would go live happily ever after.”
But instead of a fairy-tale ending, Sweat is in serious condition after getting shot twice during his capture in upstate New York on Sunday. Matt is dead, shot by police two days earlier. And Mitchell is in jail.
On Tuesday, Mitchell’s attorney told CNN that she told him she was “ecstatic both that the manhunt has ended and also that it appears no harm came to any other person.”
“She has been praying for this and she believes her prayers were answered,” said Steve Johnston.
The inmates’ escape plan went awry the moment the duo popped out of a manhole near the Clinton Correctional Facility on June 6 — and discovered that Mitchell, a prison tailor who was supposed to be their getaway driver, hadn’t shown up, Cuomo said.
And that started a bizarre, improvised 22-day journey.
Ditching Matt
Sweat, 35, and Matt, 49, stuck together for more than two weeks, Cuomo said. But eventually, Matt became a burden to the younger, more athletic fugitive.
“Sweat felt that Matt was slowing him down,” Cuomo said. “Now we know that Matt had blisters on his feet because we found bloody socks. So that’s possibly a reason Matt was slowing him down. And also Sweat was a younger man, and he was fit.”
And evidence suggests Matt had been ill, possibly from contaminated food or water, a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation said.
So about six days ago, Sweat left Matt behind. Police caught up with and killed Matt on Friday in Malone, New York; Sweat made it within 2 miles of the Canadian border before he was captured Sunday.
Former FBI official: Mitchell would have been killed
But a former FBI assistant director cast doubt on the plan that Sweat described to investigators.
Chris Swecker said he doubts Sweat and Matt really intended to kill Mitchell’s husband and then drive with her to Mexico.
“I don’t think they’d take the time to go divert to her house just to kill her husband, and I’m not sure why they would want to do that. That just wastes time,” Swecker told CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday.
And he said Mitchell’s failure to pick up the escapees at the manhole likely saved her life.
“They would have had no use for her whatsoever,” he said. “They used her, and they would have tossed her out right away. And then she would have been in a very shallow grave within hours.”
Camouflage, maps and Pop-Tarts
For a pair of prison escapees, Matt and Sweat were surprisingly well equipped when they were found.
Both men were wearing camouflage. Matt was dressed in dark brown pants, a dark green jacket, and heavy boots when he was shot, Franklin County Coroner Brian Langdon told CNN.
“He was dressed for the woods,” Langdon said. “He would blend right in if he stood still.”
Matt’s clothing was not torn or ragged, though Langdon did recall an odor of stale blood.
“I thought he was kind of well-kept for somebody who’s been living in the woods for 20-some odd days,” Langdon said.
Matt may have stolen clothing or other supplies from a cabin in Mountain View, New York, where his DNA was found.
After Matt was killed, authorities could smell alcohol on his body from a few feet away, the law enforcement source said.
When Sweat was captured, he had a backpack full of supplies, Cuomo told CNN’s “New Day.”
“He had maps, he had a certain amount of tools, he had bug repellent, he had wipes, he had Pop-Tarts,” he said.
It’s not clear whether Sweat acquired those supplies before his escape, or if he stole or collected them while on the run.
What’s next for Sweat
Even though authorities want to know more about Sweat’s plot and who helped him, it’s unlikely he’ll get a plea deal out of it, Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie said.
“There’s certainly no plea bargain that we could put out there,” he said. “The Department of Corrections obviously wants information … whatever benefit that may be for David Sweat, only time will tell.”
But Jeff Dumas, a retired sergeant at Clinton Correctional Facility, said he thinks Sweat might try to work out a deal by giving more details in exchange for getting less time in solitary confinement.
Regardless, it’s unlikely Sweat will go back to Clinton Correctional Facility, criminologist Casey Jordan said.
“He would never be safe there,” she said.
A former inmate at Clinton agreed. Louis Ferrante said someone like Sweat would usually be considered a hero to many prisoners — a convicted cop killer who pulled off a stunning escape.
But Sweat’s “ratting” on misdeeds in the prison means other inmates would harass or hurt him, Ferrante said.
“That’s going to do him a lot of harm,” he said. “They’re going to be spitting on him. He’s garbage now.”
Feds probe possible drug trafficking
There’s another big investigation aside from the one into the escape. The FBI has launched a probe into possible broader corruption at the Clinton Correctional Facility, law enforcement officials briefed on the case said Monday.
That investigation is looking into possible drug trafficking and other criminal behavior among prison employees and inmates, the officials said. Some employees interviewed have told investigators about heroin use among prisoners and the role of employees in the drug trade.
Ferrante, the former inmate, said a heroin ring wouldn’t surprise him at all.
“I was in federal, state and county prisons. There wasn’t a prison I was in that wasn’t heroin-infested,” he said.
“There is heroin use in every single prison. If the feds want to tackle this, they better get ready” to take on a nationwide problem.
Prison guard goes to court
Matt and Sweat needed help in their escape — namely, power tools to carve through a maze of barriers.
Mitchell has admitted to smuggling hacksaw blades by hiding them in frozen hamburger meat and having the meat delivered to Matt, a law enforcement official said last week. She has been arrested and charged with promoting prison contraband and criminal facilitation.
And Gene Palmer, a guard on the honor block where Matt and Sweat were housed, was arrested and charged with promoting prison contraband, tampering with physical evidence and official misconduct.
He appeared in court Monday and waived any more hearings in Plattsburgh Justice Court. The case will now go to a grand jury in Clinton County Court.
Palmer’s former attorney has said the guard was unaware of the meat’s contents when he was asked to get it to Matt.
The district attorney said Sweat made similar comments.
“From what I understand, in reviewing the reports (Monday), he told investigators that Palmer had no involvement in the escape,” Wylie said. “It was just Mitchell, he and Matt.”
