Jail worker had sexual relationship with escapee
THE prison worker who allegedly helped two murderers plot a daring escape from a New York jail has reportedly admitted to having a sexual relationship with one of the men. A law enforcement officer said Joyce Mitchell (pictured) had a sexual relationship with Richard Matt.
On Sunday, Andrew Wylie, the Clinton County District Attorney, would not confirm a sexual relationship but said, “Obviously, Joyce Mitchell went a step a further as far as her relationship with these two individuals.
“Whether it’s showing them more attention than anyone else or them showing her attention or affection.”
Mitchell (51) appeared in court this week in jail stripes, shackles and a bulletproof vest.
Mitchell looked scared and downcast as she shuffled into local court in the north of New York state, chained at the ankles and wrists, as the hunt for the fugitive inmates dragged into its 10th day without any fresh sign of the pair.
The state of New York officially launched an investigation into the ‘Shawshank Redemption’-style prison break, where the two inmates cut their way out of their maximum security cells and through heating pipes to freedom. Inmates Richard Matt (48), and David Sweat (35), escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York state on June 6, and are still on the run despite a manhunt costing $1m a day.
A civilian worker at the prison, Mitchell is accused of smuggling in hardware parts to help them and of agreeing to arrange their getaway once they emerged from a manhole cover.
The inmates cut their way out using power tools, which they would purloin from outside contractors working at the prison during the night and return before morning.
Mitchell lost her nerve the afternoon before the nighttime break out, but instead of alerting the authorities she panicked and went to hospital, and the two prisoners escaped. Mitchell was arrested last Friday and pleaded not guilty to charges relating to assisting the escape and taking contraband to inmates and was remanded in custody.