Two convicted murderers are on the loose after having escaped the Clinton Correctional Facility in northern New York on Saturday. The details of their escape are straight out of a movie script, too. According to prison officials, Richard Matt and David Sweat used power tools to cut through steel walls and pipes before ultimately breaking through to the outside world. How they got these power tools remain a mystery.
Governer Andrew Cuomo’s (N.Y.) press secretary tweeted out some pics from inside the prison.
.@NYGovCuomo looks at pipe used as part of escape. You can see aforementioned note in background. pic.twitter.com/QcJDXh0yHM
— Gareth Rhodes (@GarethRhodes) June 6, 2015
On the pipe the 2 inmates cut open as part of escape, a note was left w a smiley face and caption "have a nice day" pic.twitter.com/Opo4qrgvg6
— Gareth Rhodes (@GarethRhodes) June 6, 2015
One more close up of the note left on pipe that 2 inmates used to escape Clinton Correctional in #Dannemora pic.twitter.com/GFYqFOOE8e
— Gareth Rhodes (@GarethRhodes) June 7, 2015
Photo: In the cell of one of escaped inmates, looking at the hole cut in the wall as part of escape pic.twitter.com/tGAtt8xHyb
— Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) June 6, 2015
Via the New York Times:
The governor marveled at the particulars of escape, in which the two inmates had cut through a steel wall of their adjacent cells, shinnied down a series of internal catwalks, and burrowed their way more than a city block away before emerging from a manhole. Mr. Cuomo said that there had been a number of contractors working in the facility, and that the escapees’ work may have been safeguarded by the silence of other prisoners.
“I chatted with a couple of the inmates myself and said, ‘You must be a very heavy sleeper,’ ” the governor said. “They were heard, they had to be heard.”
Needless to say, the men are considered extremely dangerous. On Sunday, Governor Cuomo offered a $100k reward for their return.
BREAKING: @NYGovCuomo speaking now about how dangerous these individuals are. Offer a $100 thousand reward for Sweat and Matt.
— Alex Rose (@AlexRoseNews) June 7, 2015
Surprisingly, this is not Richard Matt’s first rodeo. In 1986, he reportedly escaped from the Erie County Jail in Pennsylvania. Maximum security be damned!