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The Clinton Correctional Facility escape, which took place nearly a decade ago, is gaining attention once again thanks to the renewed interest in the fictionalized true-crime series “Escape at Dannemora.” The series, which originally aired on Showtime in 2018, has been making its way to Netflix, and as a result, viewership has spiked and details about the real-life prison break have caused a stir.
The escape, which took place in 2015, involved two inmates, Richard Matt and David Sweat, who concocted a plan to escape with the help of prison worker Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell. The two inmates were serving time at the maximum-security prison for murder and were housed in the “Honor Block” of the facility, which was reserved for inmates who demonstrated good behavior and were given additional privileges.
The escape plan involved Matt and Sweat working together in the prison’s tailor shop, where they received tools and assistance from Mitchell. Matt was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, while Sweat pleaded guilty to the fatal shooting of a deputy and was sentenced to life in prison.
The escape itself was carried out on June 6, 2015, when Sweat left his cell every night for three months to chip away at the walls and pipes using hacksaw blades and other tools provided by Mitchell. The two inmates were able to escape undetected, and they made their way to a nearby road, where they were met by police.
Matt was found alone approximately 30 miles west of the prison and was shot and killed by police after failing to surrender. Sweat was later found jogging down a road in a town near the Canadian border and was shot twice in the torso before being taken into custody. He was returned to prison to serve out his life sentence.
An investigation into the escape revealed that there were institutional failures on the part of the prison guards, including inadequate night counts and a failure to detect Sweat’s absences from his cell. The Inspector General’s investigation also found that officers throughout the prison completed and certified night count forms before the counts were actually conducted.
In the end, Mitchell pleaded guilty to promoting prison contraband and criminal facilitation and was sentenced to 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison. Sweat is currently serving his life sentence without the possibility of parole, and Mitchell was released from prison in February 2020 after serving nearly five years of her seven-year sentence.