New reports confirm an incredible twist to the New York prison break that has the nation on edge.
Authorities have arrested Clinton Correctional facility employee Joyce Mitchell for allegedly providing tools to help convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat escape the New York prison, NPR reports. The pair are now the subject of a massive manhunt.
Authorities say that Mitchell, who was a tailor in the facility, has since helped provide information to track down the escapees. She has been charged with “providing material assistance” to the two murderers.
Sources have told CNN that Joyce Mitchell gave hacksaw blades, drill bits, and two pairs of specialized glasses to the two inmates which were crucial for their escape.
The Albany Times-Union reported that Mitchell confessed to helping the pair of convicts, even giving them access to a cellphone.
Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie said her husband Lyle, who also works at the prison, “possibly could have been involved or at least had knowledge” of her plan despite earlier reports that Joyce may have been wooed by Matt. As retired detective David Bentley told the New York Post, “When [Matt’s] cleaned up, he’s very handsome and, in all frankness, very well endowed. He gets girlfriends any place he goes.”
Earlier reports indicated that Mitchell planned to be a getaway driver for the absconding pair but went to the hospital for panic attacks at the last minute.
The pair, who used tools to cut through steel walls and piping before crawling through a pipe to pop out of a manhole, are still on the lam with a $50,000 reward each.
“We do not have any conclusive evidence that either of the inmates have left this area,” Major Charles E. Guess of the State Police said at a press conference. “We have no reason to believe they are not together.”
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