Convicted killer thought fellow escapee was slowing him down

Published 10:23 am Tuesday, June 30, 2015

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Two convicted killers who staged a complicated prison break together and then spent more than two weeks roaming in thick New York woods finally split up when one man decided his companion was slowing him down, going their separate ways a few days before one was shot and the other captured, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

Authorities believe David Sweat, 35, and Richard Matt, 49, traveled mostly at night and managed to procure food, a gun and other supplies from hunting camps and seasonal cabins before splitting up about five days ago as they tried to elude a massive manhunt.

Sweat was hospitalized in serious condition after being shot twice in the torso by a trooper and captured Sunday near the Canadian border. Cuomo said Sweat has begun providing information about his audacious escape from the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility on June 6 with Richard Matt and their weeks on the lam. Matt was killed by officers on Friday.

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Matt had blisters on his feet — searchers found his bloody socks — and Sweat thought the older escape partner was holding him back on their run to the Canadian border.

“Sweat felt that Matt was slowing him down,” Cuomo said.

Prosecutors have previously said prison tailor shop employee Joyce Mitchell got close to the men and agreed to be their getaway driver but backed out because she felt guilty. Authorities also have said they discussed killing Mitchell’s husband, matching the newly detailed account provided by Cuomo on the Capitol Pressroom radio program.