Captured Escapee Speaks: The Plan Was Mexico

David Sweat says he and Richard Matt parted ways 5 days ago
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 29, 2015 1:05 PM CDT
Sweat Speaks: The Plan Was Mexico
This combination of file photos released by the New York State Police shows David Sweat, left, and Richard Matt.   (New York State Police via AP, File)

A day after New York prison escapee David Sweat was shot near the Canadian border by Sgt. Jay Cook, he's apparently talking to investigators to fill in the gaps in the breakout scheme he and dead escapee Richard Matt carried out. Per Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sweat revealed he and Matt were originally going to hook up with Joyce Mitchell after they busted out and head to Mexico, a plan foiled when Mitchell got cold feet, reports the New York Times. Cuomo also said today that Sweat and Matt went their separate ways about five days ago because "Sweat felt that Matt was slowing him down."

The governor tells CNN that Sweat was found with a sack full of supplies, including maps, tools, bug repellent, and Pop-Tarts. A retired sergeant who used to work at the Clinton Correctional Facility tells CNN that Sweat is likely to be thrown in solitary for seven years while serving out his life sentence, and that his incentive to cooperate with investigators may be to knock that time in the hole down. Meanwhile, Sweat's mom tells Time Warner Cable News via CNN, "I was just hoping that he would turn himself in. We started crying because [he] wasn't killed." (More prison break stories.)

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