Gov. Cuomo declares the escape a "crisis situation"
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The two convicted murderers who escaped from a maximum-security prison near the Canadian border “could be anywhere in the state by now,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday in announcing a $100,000 reward for information leading to their capture. Ida Siegal reports.
Two murderers who escaped from a prison by cutting through steel walls and pipes remain on the loose as authorities investigate how the inmates obtained the power tools used in the "Shawshank Redemption"-style breakout.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the escape over the weekend was a "sophisticated plan" and announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to men's capture.
During an interview Monday on NBC's "Today", Cuomo said prisoners David Sweat and Richard Matt likely had help from someone inside the prison in the escape that has drawn Hollywood comparisons.
"It really could have been a movie script," he said. "And if you saw this as a movie script, it would have been unbelievable."
Sweat, 34, was serving a sentence of life without parole for the 2002 killing of a sheriff's deputy. Matt, 48, had been sentenced to 25 years to life for kidnapping, killing and dismembering his former boss in 1997.
David Sweat after being shot and captured.
David Sweat the moment he was captured
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Police escort ambulances from an area where law enforcement officers were searching for convicted murderer David Sweat, one of two convicted murderers who broke out of a maximum-security prison near the Canadian border, Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Constable, N.Y. Prison escapee David Sweat was shot and captured Sunday near the Canadian border, New York State police officials said.
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New York State officers search for convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat, Friday, June 26, 2015, in Malone, N.Y.
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FBI agents conduct a search for convicted murderer David Sweat on June 28, 2015 near Duane, New York.
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FBI agents conduct a search for convicted murderer David Sweat on June 28, 2015 near Duane, New York.
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Correction officers search vehicles at a roadblock along Highway 30 near a wooded area where they believed escaped convict David Sweat was hiding on June 28, 2015 near Malone, New York.
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Law enforcement personnel prepare to head out on a search for the escaped convicted murderers on June 26, 2015 in Chasm Falls, New York.
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CHASM FALLS, NY - JUNE 26: Correction officers search a wooded area as the manhunt for convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat continues on June 26, 2015 in Chasm Falls, New York. Matt and Sweat were discovered missing from a prison in nearby Dannemora on June 6. DNA from the two was reportedly found recently in a remote hunting cabin about 15 miles west of the prison. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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PLATTSBURGH , NY - JUNE 25: Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie addresses questions about the arrest of corrections officer Gene Palmer for his involvement in the escape of convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat on June 25, 2015 in Plattsburgh, New York. Matt and Sweat were discovered missing from a prison in nearby Dannemora, where Palmer worked, on June 6 and remain free. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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A New York State Department of Corrections officer walks out of the woods as officers search the area after a possible sighting of the two murder convicts who escaped from a northern New York prison two weeks ago on June 21 in Friendship, New York. State police said a woman on Saturday reported spotting two men who resembled the convicts near a railroad line that runs along a county road.
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A New York State Department of Corrections officer pauses while searching a cornfield after a possible sighting of the two murder convicts who escaped from a northern New York prison two weeks ago on June 21, in Friendship, New York. State police said a woman on Saturday reported spotting two men who resembled the convicts prompting the search. (Credit: AP Photo/Gary Wiepert)
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Corrections officers stop a vehicle as the search for two escaped prisoners from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora continued June 22 in Owls Head, New York.
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Law enforcement officers ride in an all-terrain vehicle while searching for two prison escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora on June 23 in Malone, New York.
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Law enforcement officers on all terrain vehicles pull out of the parking lot of a restaurant as they searched for two escaped prisoners from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora continues, on June 22, in Mountain View, New York. At this point, the manhunt for two convicted murderers has jumped from a railroad line near the Pennsylvania state line to a hamlet in far northern New York not far from the prison they escaped.
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Law enforcement officers gather while searching for two prison escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, on June 23, in Malone, New York.
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A corrections officer stands lookout along a road while searching for two escaped prisoners on June 22 in Bellmont, New York. Items recovered from a remote hunting cabin may have been linked to the pair of convicted killers who escaped from nearby Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.
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Law enforcement officers ride in an all-terrain vehicle while searching for two prison escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, on June 23, in Malone, New York.
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New York State Police troopers stand in the heavy rain at a roadblock while searching for two prison escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, June 23, in Malone, New York.
Richard Matt was serving 25 years to life at Clinton Correctional Facility for the killing and dismemberment of his former boss. Matt turned 49 the day before he was fatally shot three times in the head by law enforcement.
Cara Bowman
David P. Sweat was serving a sentence of life without parole in the killing of a sheriff's deputy in 2002.
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Joyce Mitchell stands with her attorney Keith Bruno during her arraignment in City Court June 12, 2015 in Plattsburgh, New York. Mitchell was arrested for allegedly helping two convicted murderers, David Sweat and Richard Matt, escape the maximum security section of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.
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A law enforcement agent looks through a sniper scope while another in camouflage assembles a weapon during a search for two escaped killers in Boquet, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
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Law enforcement officers check vehicles at a checkpoint on Monday, June 8, 2015, in Dannemora, N.Y.
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Law enforcement officers search for escaped prisoners near Essex, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
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Law enforcement officers walk the streets in Dannemora, N.Y., as they searched houses near the maximum-security prison in northern New York where two killers escaped using power tools, Wednesday, June 10, 2015.
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Law enforcement officers walk the streets in Dannemora, N.Y., as they searched houses near the maximum-security prison in northern New York.
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A member of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision emergency response team searches a wooded area with team members for two escapees from the Clinton Correctional Facility on Monday, June 8, 2015, in Dannemora, N.Y.
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A law enforcement officer checks a broken down building for escaped prisoners near Essex, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
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A law enforcement officer walks through a swampy area searching for escaped prisoners near Essex, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
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A member of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision emergency response team waves to a child on a school bus before the team enters the woods in search of two prisoners who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility on Monday, June 8, 2015, in Dannemora, N.Y.
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Law enforcement officers question a woman, Wednesday, June 10, 2015, who lives near the prison in Dannemora, N.Y., as they searched houses near the maximum-security prison in northern New York where two killers escaped using power tools.
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo discusses the escape path where two convicted murderers fled from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora, New York.
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In this handout from the New York State Governor's Office, shows where two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora.
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Andrew Cuomo inspects the room where two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora
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In this handout from the New York State Governor's Office, shows where two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora, New York.
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In this handout from the New York State Governor's Office, shows where two convicted murderers used power tools to cut through steel pipes at the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora, New York.
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In this handout from the New York State Governor's Office, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (R) is shown the manhole where two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora, New York.
"These are killers. They are murderers," the governor said. "There's never been a question about the crimes they committed. They are now on the loose, and our first order of business is apprehending them."
Cuomo said Monday that investigators are talking to civilian employees and contractors at the prison first to see if any of those employees helped the men. He said he'd be "shocked" if corrections officers helped the men escaped.
"They couldn't have escaped on their own," he said.
After the search is over, "we'll go through the exact details of what they did and how they did it to ensure this never happens again," Cuomo said later.
Authorities set up roadblocks and brought in bloodhounds and helicopters. Hundreds of law enforcement officers fanned out around the prison, about 20 miles south of the Canadian border, following up on dozens of tips.
Dubbed "Little Siberia" by locals, the prison houses nearly 3,000 inmates, guarded by about 1,400 correction officers. Surrounded by farmland and forests, the prison is only about a 45-minute drive by car to Montreal.
Cuomo said the escapees may have crossed into Canada, Mexico or another state.
"This is a crisis situation for the state," he said. "These are dangerous men capable of committing grave crimes again."
Prison officials found the inmates' beds inside the 150-year-old Clinton Correctional Facility stuffed with clothes on Saturday morning in an apparent attempt to fool guards making their rounds. On a cut steam pipe, the prisoners left a taunting note containing a crude Asian caricature and the words "Have a nice day."
Officials said the inmates cut through the steel wall at the back of their cell, crawled down a catwalk, broke through a brick wall, cut their way into and out of a steam pipe, and then sliced through the chain and lock on a manhole cover outside the prison.
To escape, the inmates had to cut into the steam pipe then shimmy "some distance," Cuomo said, before cutting themselves out again. Their path brought to mind "The Shawshank Redemption," the 1994 adaptation of a Stephen King story about an inmate's carefully planned prison escape.
It was the first escape from the maximum-security portion of the prison, which was built in 1865.
The men may have had assistance outside the prison, perhaps meeting up with someone who helped them leave the area, investigators said.
Cuomo said investigators were confident the men obtained the tools inside the prison. Acting Corrections Commissioner Anthony Annucci said an inventory of prison tools had so far shown none missing and he was in contact with contractors who were doing or had done work at the prison.
Martin Horn, former commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction and a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said prison breaks are not common.
"Prison escapes are a relatively rare event," said Horn, who is not involved in the probe of the Clinton escape. "That tells you that a great deal of planning is involved because it's not an easy thing to accomplish."
Horn, a former secretary of corrections for the state of Pennsylvania and a prison warden in New York state during the 1980s, said the two inmates had to "obtain some fairly sophisticated tools," either from the prison, which he said maintains an inventory of their tools — "every pair of scissors, every wrench, every power tool" — or from an outside contractor.
But he said many questions remain, among them how long it took to prepare for the escape, the kinds of tools used, what powered them, why no one heard the noise and how the prisoners hid the holes they made.
"Clinton is as secure a prison as you'll find anywhere in the United States," said Horn. "If it can happen at Clinton, it can happen anywhere."
Sweat has brown hair and green eyes and weighs 165 pounds, police said. He has tattoos on his left bicep and his right fingers.
Matt has black hair and hazel eyes, according to police. He weighs 210 pounds and has tattoos including "Mexico Forever" on his back, a heart on his chest and left shoulder and a Marine Corps insignia on his right shoulder.
The governor is urging anyone who may have seen these men not to approach them, and instead to call 911 or 518-563-3761.
