Sources:#Nyprisonbreak escapee David Sweat has been shot and is in custody http://t.co/QhnxmTtCPP @CNN http://t.co/aOIXPKpTqE
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) June 28, 2015
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Escaped killer David Sweat was shot and captured by law enforcement near the Canadian border in upstate New York on Sunday. The 35-year-old had been on the lam with fellow inmate Richard Matt since they both broke out of the maximum security prison in Dannemora on June 6.
Despite heavy rains hampering the search of the convicted criminal, a New York State Trooper discovered, shot and then took Sweat into custody. The end scene of the crazy saga that has garnered worldwide appeal, happened in the town of Constable, New York, only a couple of miles from Canada.
On Friday, Sweat’s prison-escape partner Richard Matt who is also a convicted murderer, was shot to death by border patrol officers. When Matt failed to comply with orders to show his hands, authorites shot him three times in the head. A 20-gauge shotgun was found on the killer, but he did not fire at officers. Authorities believe that the convict had eaten spoiled food and gotten sick based on the evidence of soiled underwear at a burglarized cabin on Wednesday. Law enforcement said that Matt had been drinking heavy amounts of whiskey, so much so that the strong odor of alcohol was coming from his body.
Somehow the two escapees eluded capture for 23 days despite approximately 1,200 federal, state and local law enforcement officers scouring the dense woods in upstate New York in their pursuit.
The devious duo achieved their Shawshank-like escape from the prison thanks to the help of Joyce Mitchell, a civilian worker at the prison. She had is believed to have banged both Matt and Sweat as well providing the inmates with hacksaw blades, chisels and other tools they used to escape. The men offered Mitchell drugs to kill her husband. She has pleaded not guilty.
Clinton correctional officer Gene Palmer was also charged with promoting prison contraband, tampering with physical evidence and official misconduct. Officials suspect that he gave the two prisoners the frozen hamburger meat Joyce Mitchell had used to hide the tools she smuggled to Sweat and Matt. Meanwhile, Palmer’s attorney said that his client had no knowledge that the meat contained hacksaw blades, a bit and a screwdriver.
Sweat was serving a life sentence without parole in the murder of a sheriff’s deputy in Broome County in 2002. Matt was serving 25 years to life for the killing and dismembering his former boss.