12 prison employees put on leave after massive manhunt

Assistant Commissioner for Correctional Facilities James O’Gorman will oversee the Clinton Correctional Facility as the new leadership team transitions this week.

David Sweat and Richard Matt evaded police for weeks before finally being caught.

Sources told the New York Post that Sweat has said he did most of the work to execute the plan, including cutting through pipes to make the escape.

Matt was killed Friday by a federal agent.

Sweat told investigators Matt was out of shape and hitting the bottle too hard after they broke into a cabin while on the run.

But when Mitchell was a no-show, the men chose to head north toward Canada. The next day, they exited the tunnel through a manhole that was slightly more isolated despite being located in the middle of an intersection just a block from the prison walls, he said.

And, according to Wylie, Sweat has not told investigators anything different.

Both Matt and Sweat were well-equipped when they were found. This happened in the last five days after he and Matt separated.

Police stand over David Sweat after he was shot and captured near the Canadian border Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Constable, New York.

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

The D.O.C. announced Wednesday several changes had been made at Clinton Correctional following the June 6 prison break. They were not discovered missing until a 5:30 a.m. bed check June 6. He is now being treated at Albany Medical Center. “Security measures continue to be implemented to ensure the safety and security of our patients and their families, our employees, and the public”. Ten more staffers were also placed on leave, according to the insider.

For the moment, some procedural details seem as murky as a rain-drenched search in the woods – such as what those up and down the line in the prison system’s chain of command did and did not know in the weeks, days and hours leading up to the escape.

Three members of the executive team and nine security staff employees of the maximum-security prison were placed on administrative leave, the New York State Corrections Department said on Tuesday. When Mitchell didn’t show – she got cold feet, authorities say – the escapees had to change their plans. Sweat said they had planned to drive to Mexico.

Sweat told authorities he and Matt listened to reports about the manhunt on a radio, a state police source told ABC News. The convicted murderers would then kill Mitchell’s husband, Lyle, before fleeing to Mexico. Sweat is recovering after a state trooper shot him on Sunday. Sweat was unarmed when he was shot twice by a state police sergeant as the fugitive ran for a tree line.

Sweat had a bag containing maps, tools, bug repellent and Pop Tarts when he was shot by Cook. “The Department of Corrections obviously wants information … whatever benefit that may be for David Sweat, only time will tell”.

The latest developments come after Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state Inspector General’s Office said it would investigate what went wrong in the prison break. This appears to clear Gene Palmer, a corrections officer who has been arrested in connection with the escape investigation.

She is also suspended from her job, incarcerated at Rensselaer County Jail in Troy with bail set at $100,000 cash; her charges are first-degree promoting prison contraband, a felony, and fourth degree criminal facilitation, a misdemeanor.