'I was only trying to save my family': Tearful 'Shawshank' prison worker breaks silence claiming she helped two inmates escape because she was scared for her family and says one FORCED her to perform sex act

• Joyce Mitchell sat down with Matt Lauer in Clinton County Jail where she is awaiting sentencing for helping inmates escape
• Mitchell, 51, said Richard Matt had complete control over her, even though she has always loved her husband, Lyle
• Mitchell pleaded guilty in July to helping Matt and David Sweat break out of an upstate New York prison by providing them with tools
• Mitchell blamed her involvement in the case on her struggle with depression and marital woes
• Claimed there was never love between her and Matt but said the inmate kissed and forced her to perform sex act him  
• Second part of NBC interview with Mitchell will be shown Friday on Today Show, followed by two-hour Dateline special that night

By Snejana Farberov For Dailymail.com

Published: 08:01 EST, 14 September 2015 | Updated: 14:03 EST, 14 September 2015

Disgraced prison seamstress Joyce Mitchell has insisted that she is 'not the monster people think' she is - just a depressed, vulenrable woman who got in over her head

Mitchell, 51, who has pleaded guilty for helping two convicted murderers escape from an upstate New York prison in early June, spoke out about the case for the first time in  Part 1 of an exclusive multi-part NBC interview that is airing this week.

The former prison worker recently sat down with Today Show host Matt Lauer in Clinton County Jail where she is awaiting sentencing for helping inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat escape Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.

Scroll down for video 

Emotional interview: Disgraced prison seamstress Joyce Mitchell speaks to Today's Matt Lauer about her role in a brazen prison break for the first time since her arrest in July 

Graphic details: Joyce, 51, broke down in tears talking about how inmate Richard Matt forced her to perform a sex act on him. She claimed there was never consensual sex between them   

Jailhouse encounter: Mitchell sat down with Lauer in Clinton County Jail where she is awaiting sentencing

After an intense three-week manhunt, Mitchell's purported lover Matt, 45, was shot and killed June 26.

His fellow escapee Sweat, 34, was captured alive near the Canadian border just two days later.

Sitting opposite Lauer in striped prison jumpsuit and handcuffs, an emotional Joyce Mitchell described herself as 'somebody that got caught up in something that she couldn't get out of.'

Mitchell admitted to her involvement in the escape plot but suggested that she was acting out of fear, given Richard Matt's violent past.

'I did wrong, I deserve to be punished, but people need to know that I was only trying to save my family,’ she told Lauer.

‘I gave them the stuff because they had threatened... it was Mr Matt. He looked at me one day and said, "I do love you"... a little after that, he wanted to get rid of [husband] Lyle.’

Escapees: Mitchell said her lover Richard Matt, 45 (left), had complete control over her by the time she decided to help him and fellow inmate David Sweat, 34, escape 

Security breach: Matt and Sweat broke out of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, June 6 using tools provided to the by Mitchell 

She later added: ‘I was too scared. Mr Matt even asked where my mother lived, where my son lived,’ she said. ‘

Mitchell claimed that Matt would routinely brag about killing his boss and show a photocopy of an article about his trial to anyone who would care to see it, including correctional officers. 

Mitchell recounted how her too-close-for-comfort relationship with Matt and Sweat started with flirting and small gifts of cookies and brownies for the inmates.

'I was going through a time where I didn't feel like my husband loved me anymore...I was going through depression, and I guess they saw my weakness and that's how it all started.

'Their attention made me feel good.'

Mitchell said her colleagues at the prison never told her outright to stop fraternizing with the convicts, but they did point out to her she was being ‘too friendly.’

‘Everybody tells me I'm way too nice,’ she said.

In the months leading up to the June 6 escape, Mitchell said her inmate friends began asking her to bring them tools. At first she told them she could not do it, but eventually she relented. Sometime later, Matt and Sweat revealed to her the pair were planning to break free.

Mitchell is seen in the video struggling to wipe her eyes while talking about her forced sexual contact with Matt

In her own defense: The former seamstress insisted that Richard Matt and David Sweat took advantage of her kindness and her vulnerability

Under duress: Mitchell admitted to her involvement in the escape but suggested that she was acting out of fear, given Richard Matt's violent past. The inmate was in prison for brutally murdering his boss 

Asked by Lauer why she did not go to prison officials or police with that information, Mitchell said she felt she could not do it because Matt, who was a gifted artist, had bragged to her how he had done paintings for several correctional officers.

Addressing allegations that she had an affair with Richard Matt, the married mother said, ‘it started as a flirtation thing but that's all there ever was.’

She insisted ‘there was no love’ between her and Matt, and that no sexual intercourse had ever taken place between them.

Mitchell did concede that on a couple of occasions, Matt grabbed and kissed her.

The jailed seamstress broke down in tears talking about how one time Matt wanted her to perform oral sex on him.

‘And I said “no,” and when I said “no” he grabbed my head and pushed me down,’ Mitchell said with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Struggling to wipe her eyes with her restrained hands, Mitchell added: ‘there was never any consensual [sex].’

She also denied having any sexual contact whatsoever with David Sweat. 

Part 2 of the jailhouse interview with Joyce Mitchel will be aired on the Today Show Friday, followed by a two-hour Dateline special at 9pm Eastern Time that night. 

Loving wife: Mitchell insisted that she stills loves her husband, Lyle (right), whom Matt and Sweat planned to assassinate

Internal turmoil: The 51-year-old wife and mother, seen here during here arraignment June 12, blamed her involvement in the escape plot and her jailhouse trsyt with a convicted killer on her emotional state 

In statements to police, Mitchell has admitted to providing Matt with hacksaw blades, chisels, a punch tool and a screwdriver hidden in frozen hamburger meat, which he and Sweat used on June 6 to break out of the Dannemora prison. 

Following her arrest, Mitchell told detectives how she enjoyed the attention from the two inmates, and how they made her feel 'nice' and special.

In three separate statements given by the middle-aged seamstress in the course of the investigation, Mitchell shared details of her forbidden affair with Matt, revealing how she would perform oral sex on the inmate and pass on her X-rated photos to David Sweat.

Eventually, her jailhouse paramour confided in her that he and Sweat were cutting holes in their cells so they could eventually break out of the Dannemora prison.

As part of their original escape plan, Mitchell was supposed to give her husband two pills to drug him.

Once he was asleep, Mitchell was to meet the escapees at midnight outside a powerhouse in Dannemora and flee with them in her Jeep laden with clothes, tents, sleeping bags, fishing poles, money and a GPS device.

Ignominious end: Mitchell's lover Matt, 45, was shot and killed (pictured) June 26 after an intense three-week manhunt 

Caught: Fellow escapee Sweat, 34, seen here arriving for his arraignment last month, was captured alive near the Canadian border June 28

Mitchell pleaded guilty to her role in the escape plot in late July and now faces a sentence of 2 1/3 years to 7 years in prison

'After I picked them up, the plan was to drive to my home and Inmate Matt was going to kill “the glitch,”’ Joyce Mitchell told officials, referring to her husband.

But Mitchell never made it to the meeting point June 6.

'I know I had agreed to help them escape and run away with them, but I panicked and couldn't follow through with the rest of the plan,’ she said. ‘I really do love my husband and he's the reason.’

Looking back at the escape plan and her role in it, Mrs Mitchell waxed poetic about her motives.

‘I believe I helped Inmate Matt and Inmate Sweat escape because I was caught up in the fantasy,’ Mitchell said. ‘I enjoyed the attention, the feeling both of them gave me and the thought of a different life.’

Mitchell now faces a sentence of 2 1/3 years to 7 years in prison and $6,000 in fines under the terms of a plea deal with prosecutors. Her sentencing is scheduled for September 28. 

Comments (249)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now