Married prison worker CONFESSES that she agreed to be getaway driver for 'Shawshank' escapees - but her bewildered son goes on TV to insist she would NOT help them unless she was threatened
- Search for the escaped murderers in mountainous Adirondacks regions of upstate New York has entered its fifth day
- Joyce Mitchell, who has worked at Clinton Correctional Facility for five years, confessed she planned to drive getaway vehicle for escapees
- Murderers David Sweat and Richard Matt were discovered missing from the prison in Dannemora, New York early on Saturday morning
- Mitchell checked into hospital with a panic attack on Saturday
- Her son, Tobey Mitchell, said on Wednesday: 'If she was involved in anything, you can rest assured there was a good reason to it'
- A source also claimed Mitchell supplied the convicts with the tools they used to break free from the prison
The female prison worker being questioned in connection with the escape of two New York murderers admitted to authorities she had planned to pick up the fugitives after they broke free, according to reports.
Joyce Mitchell, who has worked at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora since 2010, was interviewed by investigators as they tried to determine how David Sweat and Richard Matt got a hold of the power tools they needed to make their extraordinary 'Shawshank Redemption'-style prison break.
Sweat, 34, and Matt, 48, cut through a steel wall, broke through bricks and crawled through a steam pipe before emerging from a manhole outside the prison grounds.
As the search for the men entered its fifth day, Mitchell admitted her role in the killers' escape, CNN reported, but claimed she got cold feet about driving the getaway car.
A source also told CNN that Mitchell's cell phone was used to make several calls to people close to Matt but it's unclear if she made the calls or even knew they were being made at the time.
Joyce Mitchell, (pictured with her husband and son Tobey) who has worked at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora since 2010, was interviewed by investigators and reportedly confessed that she planned to be the getaway driver for the two murderers who escaped a New York high-security prison
Convicted killers: David Sweat (left), 34, and Richard Matt (right), 48, escaped the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York sometime between 10.30pm on Friday and 5.30am on Saturday. Authorities were convinced they must have had help on the inside
Mitchell checked herself into hospital on Saturday reportedly suffering from a panic attack. Police sought her out for questioning on Sunday.
The murderers were discovered missing early on Saturday morning after stuffing their beds with clothes to fool guards on their rounds and leaving behind a taunting note: 'Have a nice day.'
Joyce Mitchell's son, Tobey (pictured), said on Tuesday that if his mother was involved in the prison break 'there was a good reason to it'
Mitchell's son came to her defense on Tuesday telling NBC that his mother was not the kind of person who would help the murderers escape, putting her life or anyone else's in danger.
Tobey Mitchell said: 'If she was involved in anything, you can rest assured there was a good reason to it and there's more into it than a relationship with an inmate.'
Mr Mitchell suggested that his mother could have been taken advantage of because the prisoners, who both had life terms, 'don't have anything to lose'.
Mrs Mitchell - known as Tillie - is an industrial training supervisor, responsible for inmate work assignments at the tailoring department in the prison.
According to a source who spoke to the New York Post, Mitchell fell victim to Matt's charm, even though he had no real attraction to her and was just using her to 'get the tools he needed to break out' from prison.
'She really doesn't have much to tell about where they were going or what they were doing after,' the source told the Post.
According to the New York Daily News, the two murderers plotted their elaborate escape in Mitchell's tailoring workshop as they sewed uniforms for Metro-North railway workers.
Mitchell lives with her husband Lyle in Dickinson where she holds the public official role of town tax collector.
THE MANHUNT: ON THE FIFTH DAY,THE DESPERATE SEARCH FOR ESCAPED MURDERERS CONTINUES
DAY ONE
The alert is raised early on Saturday morning after convicted killers David Sweat, 34, and Richard Matt, 48, were discovered missing from their cells during 5.30am rounds. Both cells, located on the same side of the 'honor block' at Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York, had neat squares cut from the cement walls behind the beds.
Cop killer Sweat, who was serving life without parole and Matt, who had 25 years to life for murder and torture, had stuffed their beds with clothes to fool guards and left behind a taunting note: 'Have a nice day.'
The maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility sits in Dannemora, high in the mountainous Adirondacks region, some 25 miles from the Canadian border.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered a 200-person strong manhunt across upstate New York and a $100,000 reward leading to the killers' capture.
DAY TWO
The escape from the 3,000 inmate state prison quickly raises suspicions of an inside job after it becomes clear the two men used power tools to cut holes in their cells and through a sewage pipe.
Investigators begin questioning prison workers and outside contractors to try to find out who may have supplied the power tools.
Contractors have been doing extensive renovations at the 170-year-old prison, a hulking, fortress-like structure that looms over Dannemora's main street.
Prison supervisor Joyce Mitchell is identified as a person of interest and is taken in for questioning.
DAY THREE
Some 300 leads flood into investigators in the 48 hours since the prison break was reported.
Cfficers search a field near Willsboro, NY on June 9
State police and other state, federal and local law enforcement agencies form a joint task force to take on each lead individually.
Forest Rangers, U.S. Marshals and the FBI assist in grid searches of region around the prison to ensure a thorough search of the ground.
More than 100 personnel which includes uniform, investigative and specialty units are placed on the ground to follow leads.
Road blocks with search dogs are set up across the region.
More than 250 corrections and law enforcement officers are involved in the region and additional investigative services are being applied statewide and nationally.
Reports emerge that the two convicts could be heading for the Canadian border or even as far away as Mexico.
DAY FOUR
Reports of two men walking along a road brought hundreds of law enforcement officers to a small town in the Adirondack foothills for a sweep that seemingly turned up no signs of two killers.
State police said leads continued to be generated and there would be an increased police presence in the area.
The hunt focused on Tuesday on Willsboro, New York, close to Lake Champlain, after residents reported seeing a couple of men walking on a road late on Monday during a driving rainstorm.
Searchers walked shoulder-to-shoulder, wearing bulletproof vests and carrying sidearms as they went through hilly woods, fields and swamps, checking every home, garage, shed and outbuilding, then yelling, 'Clear!' when there were no signs of the inmates.
By early evening, it appeared the sweep had come up empty, and there was no confirmation from police that the escaped convicts had been there.
State Police said more than 400 corrections and other law enforcement officers were in the area and planned to go door to door, checking homes and seasonal camps.
DAY FIVE
Law enforcement announced early on Wednesday that they will be searching homes in the village of Dannemora.
These searches were not the result of a new lead, police said, but law enforcement were retracing steps made early in the investigation.
Residents were made aware that an increased police presence would be in the area.
Members of the public who see anything unusual upon arriving at their residence or seasonal homes were asked to contact law enforcement immediately.
The State Police have deployed all available assets in an effort to ensure the safety of the public.
The public were told not to hesitation to report any suspicious activity; that includes any sign of a trespass, burglary or vehicle larceny.
The town is about an hour from the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, which is located 25 miles from the Canadian border in upstate New York.
Mitchell's husband also works at Clinton Correctional Facility. According to records, he is also an industrial training supervisor.
Mitchell, a registered Republican, lives in a two-story grey home with a 'Don't Tread on Me' Gadsden Flag - made popular by the Tea Party movement - flying out front.
The Stars and Stripes and a U.S. Air Force flag are also on show.
According to her Facebook page, Joyce Mitchell graduated from North Country Community College in the resort town of Saranac Lake, New York in 2001.
Investigators questioned Joyce Mitchell (left) on Sunday as news of the prison break spread. Above, a social media photo shows her with her husband Lyle and son Tobey
Mrs Mitchell lives with her husband Lyle in this two-story grey home in Dickinson, New York, around an hour from the prison in Dannemora
'Don't tread on me' and United States Air Force flags hang outside the Mitchells' home in the small town where she also holds the public role of tax collector
The National Guard search a property near the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York on Monday as authorities continue to hunt for two convicted murderers who staged a brash prison break sometime between Friday night and early on Saturday morning
On Monday, it emerged the escapees were housed on a floor for well-behaved inmates where perks included getting to work as assistants to prison contractors such as plumbers and electricians, the New York Daily News reported.
'There's a common misconception that inmates are locked up 23 hours a day,' a veteran corrections officer told the newspaper.
'That's not the case. These guys are coming and going all the time.'
The New York Post reported that the escapees were housed in the lax 'Honor Block' area at Clinton Correctional.
Sweat was convicted in the 2002 killing of a sheriff's deputy and was doing life without parole.
Matt was serving 25 years to life for kidnapping and dismembering his boss in 1997.
One of the privileges in that wing includes being allowed to wear civilian clothes - which will have given the murderers an undoubted advantage in their escape attempt.
Sources speaking to CBS News said that Matt and Sweat were known in the prison for spending a lot of time in each other's company, and would regularly take meals together.
It is not yet known how the two men got the power tools but authorities were following leads - including speaking to employees.
Investigators were also trawling through the prisoners' phone records and logs of visitors in the hope of finding a clue as to how the escape was planned.
There was speculation Mitchell may have fallen for Matt's good looks, with the source saying he 'had a way with the ladies'.
Retired Detective David Bentley, who was part of a City of Tonawanda Police Department team which jailed Matt in 1997, reiterated this claim.
He told the Post: 'When [Matt's] cleaned up, he's very handsome and, in all frankness, very well endowed. He gets girlfriends any place he goes.'
A profile for a Joyce Mitchell (right) on Facebook lists her job as industrial training supervisor at Clinton Correctional Facility. Convicted murderer and escapee Richard Matt (pictured left in 2008) who one detective called 'very handsome and, in all frankness, very well endowed'
The convicted killers used power tools to cut through a steel wall in their cells, before climbing out of a hole in the wall which led to a series of tunnels, taking them to a manhole outside prison walls.
The men left a note on one of the tunnels reading: 'Have a nice day' - accompanied with a smiley face - which authorities discovered after the escape, sometime between Friday night at 10.30pm and Saturday morning at 5.30am.
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The two eventually emerged from a manhole some distance from the prison where they were reportedly spotted by two local residents in their backyard.
The pair - a young man and a woman who declined to be named - found two men on their property after coming home around half past midnight.
According to them, both men were wearing jeans and one had a white t-shirt on. One was carrying a guitar case, which could have contained power tools used in the escape.
Speaking to ABC News, the two described how they challenged the escapees - who claimed they were lost and went on their way.
Now they know who the men were, the couple said they were 'lucky to be alive'.
Escaped convicted murderer David Sweat has a marking on his left arm reading 'Rebel' and the letters 'IFB' on his right fingers
Police released photos of Richard Matt's tattoos as they continued to search for the escaped murderers on the fifth day since their extraordinary break from a maximum-security prison
Richard Matt (right) pictured in January 2007 arriving at Marshalls Buffalo Airport in Upstate New York to stand trial for murder. Matt, (pictured left in 2008) being led by officers into Niagara County Court for sentencing in Lockport, New York. He was serving 25 years to life when he escaped on Saturday
'YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH SECURITY WITH HIM: THE 'WOMANIZING' KILLER WHO'S ESCAPED BEFORE AND NOW ROAMS FREE
Richard Matt's former fiancee, a step-brother and co-defendant took turns at Matt's trial providing details of the 1997 kidnap, torture and hacksaw dismemberment of Matt's 76-year-old former boss, whose body was found in pieces in the Niagara River.
William Rickerson spent 27 hours on a snowy December night in the trunk of a car in pajamas while his killers drove from New York to Ohio and back, angry because he wouldn't tell them the location of the large sums of money Matt was convinced Rickerson kept on hand.
Co-defendant Lee Bates described how Matt at one point opened the trunk and bent the duct tape-bound elderly man's fingers back until they broke. After driving some more, Matt snapped Rickerson's neck with his bare hands.
Matt pictured in May 2008 being taken for sentencing at his trial in Niagara County Court
Before the car ride, Matt had beaten Rickerson in his North Tonawanda home, stopping long enough to eat pepperoni and drink wine, Bates testified. He poured the rest of the wine on Rickerson, then pulled off the businessman's hairpiece and put it in his pocket.
After the killing, Matt fled to Mexico, where he killed a man outside a bar in Matamoros. He served nine years in prison there before being returned to the United States in 2007.
Seven of the 12 jurors who in 2008 convicted Matt in Rickerson's murder returned to the courtroom to watch the sentencing. After nearly four weeks of testimony, they'd convicted him in four hours.
'Of all the cases I've tried this would top my list for the death penalty,' prosecutor Joseph Mordino, whose experience at the time included more than 250 homicide cases, would tell a Niagara County judge.
Matt's sentence of 25 years to life in prison was the maximum for second-degree murder.
Meanwhile, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo promised justice would be served.
Speaking on Sunday, Cuomo vowed to return the 'Have a nice day!' note to the two notorious killers.
'I'm sure they knew that since it was the first escape it was going to be a big deal,' he said of the men, the first to escape from the maximum-security area of the prison since it was built 170 years ago.
'But we'll get them back and we'll give them the note back.'
The governor offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the men, saying that the 'first order of business is to get these killers back'.
Elaborate plan: Pictured left were the holes the men cut to get from their cells to the tunnels. Governor Cuomo and state police analyzed the tunnels, putting together a 200-person manhunt across upstate New York in hopes of finding the men
The men used the tunnel to travel outside the grounds of the prison so they could escape through a manhole
State corrections officers check vehicles moving through a checkpoint on Monday in Cadyville, New York
'It was a sophisticated plan,' Governor Cuomo said. 'It took a period of time, no doubt, to execute.'
The cunning escape had hundreds of local, state and federal law enforcement officers searching for a police deputy's killer and another man imprisoned for dismembering his boss.
Governor Cuomo said the men, whom authorities believe must have used power tools as part of their prison break, had help in the form of fellow cons in neighboring cells who refused to squeal.
Cuomo said it was impossible to believe nobody heard the noise of the tools.
'They were heard, they had to be heard,' Cuomo told ABC's Good Morning America on Sunday. 'I chatted with a couple of the inmates myself and said, 'You must be a very heavy sleeper.'''
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.
Cuomo also conceded that $100,000, or $50,000 per fugitive, was a huge sum for a reward, but said what's important is that these two dangerous men be apprehended before they hurt anyone else.
'This is a crisis situation for the state.' he said. 'They're capable of committing grave crimes again.'
Sweat, 34, is serving a sentence of life without parole after he was convicted of first-degree murder for killing a sheriff's deputy in Broome County, New York on July 4, 2002.
Sweat and another man fired 15 rounds into Deputy Tarsia shortly after using a pickup truck to break into a Pennsylvania woman's house, stealing rifles and handguns.
Steven Tarsia, brother of Deputy Kevin Tarsia, said finding out his brother's killer had escaped 'turns your world upside-down all over again'.
DAVID SWEAT: A CONVICTED COP KILLER NOW WALKING AMONG US
THE COP KILLER
David Sweat, 34, another man fired 15 rounds into Deputy Kevin Tarsia in 2002 shortly after using a pickup truck to break into a Pennsylvania woman's house, stealing rifles and handguns.
Tarsia was then run over by a car after the men stole items, including a gun, from his patrol car.
Sweat, 34, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murder of a sheriff's deputy. He is 5'11', 165 pounds and has brown hair and tattoos on his left bicep and right fingers.
Steven Tarsia, brother of Deputy Kevin Tarsia, said finding out his brother's killer had escaped 'turns your world upside-down all over again.'
He said just the other day, he had been trying to remember the names of the men responsible for his brother's death, and 'I couldn't remember their names.
'All of a sudden, I remember them again,' he said.
Cop killer: David Sweat (left) and another man filled Broome Cunty sheriff's deputy Kevin Tarsia (right) with some 15 rounds in 2002 after they robbed a woman's home
The inmates left a note with a crudely drawn Asian caricature smiley face, reading 'Have a nice day', on one of the tunnels they cut through during the escape
In 2008, Matt was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the ruthless murder and dismemberment of his former boss, 76-year-old William Rickerson.
After killing Rickerson in 1997, Matt fled to Mexico where in 1998 he got into a bar fight and killed another man.
On Sunday, it was revealed that Matt was even part of an elaborate plot to torture and kill an Hollywood heiress.
Police officer Gabriel Dibernardo told the Buffalo News that while Matt was in jail awaiting trial on a rape charge, he agreed to a high-society murder with a criminal acquaintance.
The News reported that Matt met David Telstar, a Californian accused of embezzling more than $1million from his super-rich wife - an heiress to the fortune of movie mogul Harry Warner, one of the four Warner Brothers.
While inside at a holding center, Telstar recruited Matt as a killer-for-hire - paying his $15,000 bail then offering him $100,000 to kill his wife, Desiree Telstar.
He was also told to kill Telstar's stepfather, president of the LAPD's board of commissioners Stanley Sheinbaum, and also her mother, Betty Warner Sheinbaum.
But the plot, presumably designed to send some of the vast Warner fortune towards Telstar, never came to fruition.
Matt turned informant and revealed the scheme to the authorities in exchanged for a reduced conspiracy to murder charge.
The prisoners used power tools to cut through steel pipes and through holes in their walls to escape the maximum-security prison
Governor Cuomo investigated the site of the prison escape on Sunday and questioned fellow inmates saying 'you must be a very heavy sleeper' after it was clear the two men used power tools to escape
'It's very important that we locate these individuals,' Cuomo (pictured) said. 'They are dangerous and we want to make sure they don't inflict any more pain and any more harm on New Yorkers'
Dannemora occupies just more than one square mile within the northern reaches of the Adirondack Forest Preserve and is surrounded by forest and farmland.
The stark white perimeter wall of the prison, topped with guard towers, borders a main street in the village's business district.
Roadblocks were set up in the area around the village of Dannemora, which is about 20 miles from the Canadian border, and bloodhounds and helicopters were being used to track down the men, officials said.
Cuomo on Saturday called described the two men as extremely dangerous. He asked the public to notify the police should they encounter the men.
'It's very important that we locate these individuals,' he said. 'They are dangerous and we want to make sure they don't inflict any more pain and any more harm on New Yorkers.'
The two men's adjoining cells were empty during a morning check, said Anthony Annucci, the acting state corrections commissioner.
'A search revealed that there was a hole cut out of the back of the cell through which these inmates escaped,' Annucci said.
'They went onto a catwalk which is about six stories high. We estimate they climbed down and had power tools and were able to get out to this facility through tunnels, cutting away at several spots.'
Officials said it was the first escape from the maximum-security portion of the prison, which was built in 1865.
Canadian broadcaster CTV News reported that officials are concerned the men may attempt to enter Canada through Ontario or Quebec, and safety alerts have been broadcast to police officers in the Greater Toronto Area.
Plan: Sweat and Matt, who had neighboring cells, used power tools to cut through a steel wall in their cell before using a series of tunnels to reach the outside world
- Niagara County torture-killer escapes from state prison - City & Region - The Buffalo News
- NY State Offers $100,000 Reward for Capture of Escaped Prisoners
- Employee probed as possible accomplice in jailbreak | New York Post
- ‘Anything is possible’ with Richard Matt, says cop who helped imprison violent escapee ‘for life’ - City & Region - The Buffalo News
- Joyce Mitchell Is New York Prison Worker Questioned in Murderers' Escape, Sources Say - ABC News
- www.nydailynews....
- Did N.Y. prison worker help two murderers escape? - CBS News
- Prison worker probed in escape is married, teaches tailoring | New York Post
- Accomplice of 'Shawshank' escapee Richard Matt, who was released from prison last summer, is living in fear as his graphic testimony helped convict deranged killer and sentence him to life | Daily Mail Online
- 'Lucky to Be Alive,' Says Man Who Claimed to See Escaped Murderers After New York Prison Break - Yahoo
- Prison Worker Joyce Mitchell Being Questioned in Connection With Brazen Escape - NBC News
- Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News - CNN.com
- Anderson Cooper 360° on Twitter: "She told investigators she was supposed to pick up the fugitives, but changed her mind - @DebFeyerickCNN on #Manuhunt http://t.co/3Mquiq2pct"
- Prison supervisor fell for smooth-talking killer’s escape trick | New York Post
- Son of Prison Worker Questioned in Escape Says Mom Would Never Assist Inmates - NBC News
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