♪ the following is a i>> the following is a cnn special report. a brazen escape. >> there was a hole cut out of the back of the cell through which these inmates escaped. >> two convicted killers cutting their way to freedom, emerging from a manhole outside the prison walls. >> we estimate they climbed down and had power tools and were able to get out to this facility. >> two dangerous murderers now free. >> they kill anybody they feel like killing any time. >> how they get the tools, who helped them, and what was their plan. >> we are leaving no stone unturned. >> a scent in the woods,false sightings, all part of a desperate search through the

adirondaks and along the canadian border from the ground and from the air. >> they could have gone north in these vast woods up towards canada. pretty easy to get lost up in there. >> law enforcement on the hunt, two dangerous fugitives on the loose, and a dramatic ending nobody sees coming. tonight, a cnn special report, the great prison escape. hello. i'm randi kaye in dannemora, new york. i'm standing just yards away from clinton correctional facility, where inmates richard matt and david sweat broke out of. it's the first escape from this facility since it opened in the late 1800s. that story was a story almost too twisted to believe, involving betrayal, manipulation, and sex. before the sun even began to

rise over the small town of dannemora, new york, they were gone. an escape plan worthy of a screenplay carried out by two very dangerous men. >> on a scale of one to ten, they are a ten, dangerous wild animal. >> prisoners richard matt and david sweat had adjoining cells here at clinton correctional facility. the two were last seen friday night, june 5th, around 10:30 p.m. during what's called a standing count where both matt and sweat showed themselves standing inside their cells. but just hours later, a shocking discovery that would leave prison guards shaking their heads, law enforcement on high alert, and this small upstate new york community terrified. >> this was a very elaborate plan, but we are only at the very preliminary stages of determining exactly what happened. >> what happened would take time

to piece together. all authorities knew at this point was that at 5:30 a.m. on saturday, june 6th, routine bed checks turned up only lumps of clothing under the sheets. the two prisoners were missing. >> they weren't actual dummies, but they were -- they had clothing on, and it looked like people were sleeping in the bunks with a sweat shirt hoodie on. >> how could they have disappeared? after all, this is a maximum security prison, there are visual bed checks every two hours throughout the night, and guard towers high above the prison walls. but as authorities began to take a closer look, details soon emerged of a stunning escape not over the prison wall, but underneath it. >> a search revealed there was a hole cut out of the back of the cell through which these inmates escaped.

>> a hole in the back of the cell. this is what it looked like. the men cut their way right through the cell wall and steel that was a quarter-inch thick. the escapees then negotiated a maze of underground tunnels and pipes. the prisoners got their first taste of freedom in years when they popped out of that manhole right there at that yellow tape. this is actually the closest that we're allowed to get to it. it was a pretty bold exit plan because right over there is a health club, and it's surrounded by homes in this quiet neighborhood. so anyone who might have been outside and could have seen them could have quickly called police. the manhole is just a block and a half from the prison, where new york governor andrew cuomo retraces the men's steps after they disappeared. >> must have kept you awake with all that cutting, huh? >> pictures are proof of the elaborate escape, an escape, it

turns out, they had actually practiced the night before. here's how they figure matt and sweat made it out. once they slipped out of their cell, it's believed they maneuvered across this six-story high catwalk, eventually dropping down to a series of tunnels. from there, they broke through a double brick wall, then, incredibly, cut through a 24-inch steam pipe, shimmying their way through it. on the other end, about a block away from the prison by then, they cut yet another hole, this time to get out of the pipe. after that, they cut right through the chain and lock holding down the manhole cover. >> if there was a rabid tiger running around the neighborhood or a rabid lion or something that could kill anybody -- well, these are those animals. these two guys are those kind of animals, like rabid animals that could kill anybody at the drop of a hat. >> a closer look reveals the men had likely be using some type of metal grate to conceal the hole

they were cutting in their cell. investigators believe they also may have used a hacksaw to keep the noise down. >> new york state police department of correctional services and all of our partners are conducting a full investigation into the escape of these two escapees. >> the escapees left a message for those coming for them. this yellow post it notice posted on one of the pipes they cut through. dripping with sarcasm, it reads, "have a nice day," with a smiley face on it. >> sure they are taunting. they are being arrogant. they are going, hey, you stupid idiots, you weren't watching us close enough, and we got out. >> not only did they get out. but they got away, vanishing in the shadows of the prison walls. >> variety of tactical units like s.w.a.t. units, a number of canine, to include blood hounds, even three aerial support aircraft, two state police

helicopters, and one from homeland security have been in the air since this event occurred this morning. >> the urgency is clear. 35-year-old david sweat and 48-year-old richard matt had killed before. >> i was worried they were going to kill somebody again. i was worried they are going to kill somebody. they are both killers. >> killers with a criminal past so terrifying those who feared them worried they may turn violent again. hold the phone.

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when david sweat and richard matt first meet at clinton correctional facility, they have one thing in common, murder. sweat had been convicted of killing a sheriff's deputy back in 2002 and is serving a life sentence without parole. matt had been found guilty of three counts of murder, three counts of kidnapping, and two counts of robbery. he is supposed to be behind bars for 25 years to life. back in 1997, matt had kidnapped his former boss, william rickerson. after torturing him for about 24 hours, he killed him and then did the unimaginable. he dismembered him. lee bates served time after acting as richard matt's accomplice in that 1997 murder. he testified against him, and in

a phone interview with anderson cooper called matt evil. >> if you wanted to take a picture of the devil, that's the face that you would see. >> bates remembers matt shoving a knife sharpener in his victim's ear and breaking his fingers before killing him. >> i have seen him kill. he did kill mr. rickerson, his old boss, in my presence. in a fit of rage, he reached into the car, grabbed mr. rickerson by his head and snapped his neck in front of me. >> matt worked for rickerson and was fired for poor performance just weeks before rickerson's murder, according to testimony at trial. >> i don't understand that. >> eric jensen knew both richard matt and david sweat. he served nine months in clinton correctional facility in 2011 for possession of stolen property. he worked in the tailor shop with both fugitives, and

described matt as crazy. >> to chop somebody up into pieces, and, you know, put him into plastic bags and throw him in different parts of a river -- in my book, that's kind of crazy. it's weird the aura you get from talking to somebody -- when you talk to somebody -- like, you could look at rich's eyes and you wouldn't see anything behind them. >> blank stare? >> they would be like a blank stare, yeah. >> that was creepy, i would imagine. >> it was creepy. it was very creepy. >> given richard matt's ugly past, jensen says he never turned his back on him. >> he had a weirdo crime. weirdo crimes are child molesters, serial killers, dismemberers, people who do weird crimes and do weird things. >> a weirdo crime means you are not stable? >> correct. correct. >> after matt killed his former boss, his half brother testified in court that matt told him he had used a hacksaw to dismember

rickerson. the half brother also said matt threatened to kill both him and his wife unless he gave matt his van to run away. >> he told me mr. rickerson -- he thought mr. rickerson owed him back pay. >> matt took the van to texas, where he abandoned it and then crossed into mexico. it wasn't long before he ran into trouble in that country, killing a man outside of a bar, and then serving nine years in a mexican jail. when he was finally extradited to the u.s. to stand trial on rickerson's murder, the court reportedly installed snipers outside just in case he made a run for it. matt also wore electrodes under his suit in court so guards could shock him if he became unruly. his former girlfriend likely sealed his fate, testifying that he confessed to her he had broken rickerson's neck. she said he told her it was an accident.

perhaps just as cunning and dangerous was david sweat. at 35, he is supposed to spend the rest of his life behind bars here for killing sheriff's deputy kevin tarsia. after sweat and two other men had robbed a fireworks and gun store, the deputy confronted them. his sister spoke by phone with anderson cooper. >> i never put it out of my mind. i always think about what he did, and how awful this guy is. >> it was july 4th, 2002. deputy tarsia pulled into the parking lot where the men were parked. in court, the three suspects shared what happened next. sweat, who was hiding under a truck, said the deputy opened fire first. then sweat got to his feet and started firing. one of sweat's bullets hit tarsia in the stomach, reportedly striking his small intestine and a kidney. as the deputy struggled for his gun, sweat jumped into another vehicle and ran over the deputy,

dragging him with the car across the parking lot. he was still alive when one of the other suspects then charged out of the woods, picked up the deputy's gun, which he had dropped, and shot him, point blank, twice, in the face. sweat was charged after police found a hand drawn map and sketch of the fireworks store with sweat's fingerprint on it. now sweat was also heading to prison, where he would meet richard matt for the first time, and, other inmates say, quickly become friends. the relationship made closer by the fact that both are housed in what's called the honor block at clinton correctional facility, a prison block reserved for inmates who have gone years without significant disciplinary problems. the honor block has its privileges, like hot plates and refrigerators in cells. here, prisoners are allowed to congregate for hours with fellow inmates, which may have given matt and sweat the time they

needed to plot their escape. >> and there you have one person that you completely trust and that you will do everything with. it's called go toe to toe with, go back to back with, knife to knife in the yard. it's that one person that if something pops off, you will hold them down. i believe that's the relationship they had after their cells got moved together. >> prisoners housed in the honor block are also allowed to wear civilian clothing instead of the traditional prison garb, which also may have allowed them to blend in easier once on the outside. their good behavior lands richard matt and david sweat jobs in the prison tailor shop. could that be where they accessed those tools needed to cut their way to freedom? >> it was truly extraordinary and unusual and almost impossible to duplicate, but we want to find out exactly what happened. and one of the big questions is, where did the tools come from? >> to answer that question,

investigators begin to zero in on tailor shop one, where the escapees worked alongside a prison seamstress named joyce mitchell. and the more they look into joyce mitchell, the plot starts to unravel, complete with sex, betrayal, and a plan to murder. ♪ ♪ the beautiful sound of customers making the most of their united flight. power, wi-fi,

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on the surface, this woman seems the most unlikely accomplice to a crime. 51 years old, she is a wife and a mother, married to the same man for 14 years. but joyce mitchell has secrets. secrets that have landed her in jail, accused of helping two dangerous felons break free. >> i did many escapees on america's most wanted that would have never gotten out if it wasn't for the woman who helped them. >> in this case, authorities say joyce mitchell is the woman who helped richard matt and david sweat with their plan. but how and why did this wife and mother become involved with two convicted murderers? it all started with david sweat, who in 2013 was working in the

prison tailor shop. there, he befriended mitchell, the prison seamstress. eric jensen also worked in the tailor shop with the fugitives and joyce mitchell. david sweat was jensen's supervisor. jensen said many believe sweat was having a sexual relationship with mitchel. >> she used to keep them back from the mess hall when we would come back from the mess hall for lunch, and she would keep him there and he would eat all kinds of chicken and other meals. that i remember specifically. >> for david sweat? >> yes. it was like the handsome jock on the football team asking the fatty to the prom. >> did people joke? >> yeah, yeah, we would all joke. we used to call her his boo. >> his boo? >> his girlfriend. >> did you ever ask him, are you having a relationship with her? >> yeah, and he never confirmed it or denied it. >> mitchell's attorney denies

she ever had a sexual relationship with sweat. but whatever it was raised eyebrows and led to sweat being moved out of the tailor shop in 2013. and with sweat out of there, richard matt could make his move. matt is known as a lady's man, a charmer, who befriends mitchell. in 2013, the two start a sexual relationship, according to a source close to the investigation. they have sex in the tailor shop when no one else is around. all this time, joyce mitchell keeps it a secret from her husband, lyle, according to his attorney, even though lyle mitchell also worked in the prison tailor shop and knew both richard matt and david sweat. >> joyce has established a pattern of deception. >> former fbi profiler mary ellen o'toole says inmates can be like predators on the look out for vulnerable prey, which are often women who work inside the prisons.

>> it starts small, asking her to bring in a candy bar or asking her to bring in a stamp. there is wording that goes along with something like this, "if only i had met a woman like you 20 years ago, i would never be in this situation." so she would be very gullible in believing that. that's really called something we refer to in the fbi as magical thinking, that an inmate who has got that kind of a criminal background would tell you that and you would believe that. and then it goes even further to the point where they engage in sex together, and she becomes almost 100% compromised. >> compromised enough that joyce mitchell tells investigators richard matt made her feel special. and other reports say she thinks it could have been love. but was she in so deep she was willing to risk everything for it? >> i don't know why anybody is surprised. i think all americans know that crazy, lonely, low self-esteem type of people like prisoners in

prison. women married the menendez brothers, a man married the hillside strangler who tortured women in l.a. with coat hangers. it never surprises me. >> mitchell isn't just risking her marriage. she is risking her freedom. all the while she is having this relationship with matt, investigators say she is also aware of their escape plot, even giving them tools. a law enforcement official says she admitted smuggling in hacksaw blades by hiding them inside frozen hamburger meat and having the meat delivered to richard matt. investigators say she also secretly brought in chisels, hacksaws, and other items. and it didn't stop there. authorities say mitchell admitted she was actually going to drive the getaway car. this is where they were supposed to meet.

this power plant is just a few hundred yards away from the manhole where the men emerged from. the power plant's smokestack, i'm told, is visible from the tailor shop at the prison where the two men worked with joyce mitchell. the d.a. says that smokestack was likely a marker for their meeting place. but on the day of the planned getaway, she panics, saying she has chest pains. and instead of picking up her lover and his fellow fugitive, she goes to the hospital with her husband, lyle. >> prisoners have all the time in the world. they are con men to begin with. these guys are sociopaths. they manipulate this women. they got to this woman's low self-esteem. and they got her, which i think is sad. now her life is ruined. her life holy hell. they are out there running around and couldn't care less about her. >> joyce mitchell is charged on a felony charge of providing contraband and a misdemeanor charge of facilitation. she pleads not guilty to both charges.

another prison employee, gene palmer, is accused of delivering the hamburger meat with the hacksaws inside to the cell mates. >> did you help them? >> palmer is charged with promoting dangerous prison contraband, two counts of destroying evidence, and one count of official misconduct. his attorney says palmer was unaware the blades were in the meat. but the d.a. says palmer failed to properly screen the meat in a metal detector, violating prison policy. >> he was conned by joyce mitchell. she duped him. and looking back on that, he can't believe that someone would take advantage of him. he knows that he made a mistake and that he shouldn't have done what he did. >> meanwhile, joyce mitchell's lawyer says she is distraught. but her story is far from over. lyle mitchell visited his wife in jail after she was taken in, and he is confronted outside by abc news with a stunning question.

>> what do you make of the reports that she was trying to have you killed? >> that's right. not only was joyce mitchell allegedly having a sexual relationship with a prisoner and potentially helping them plot their escape. authorities say she was also aware of a plan to have her husband killed. her change of heart about taking part in the plot to kill her husband comes on the eve of the escape, according to the buffalo news, while the couple is out on a dinner date sharing chinese food. mitchell's attorney says she was not involved in the plot. >> did you know anything about the escape plan? >> lyle mitchell's lawyer says he didn't know about any of his wife's activities until he confronted her two days after the escape. that's when she told him the escapees wanted to kill him. lyle was stunned when he heard about the affair and the murder plot and feels betrayed by his wife. >> i hate to use the cliche, but, you know, love is blind. >> joyce mitchell remains behind bars sticking to her story she didn't want lyle to be hurt.

>> they have a plan to do harm to lyle. she doesn't agree with that. she doesn't want lyle hurt. they start threatening her, saying, "you know we are going to have someone hurt him anyway. we're going to have someone hurt him in the facility," or, "we are going to have someone go to the house and hurt him. you've got to help us out." >> for a woman of many secrets, some are still unknown. is she telling investigators everything she knows? or does she have more information on where richard matt and david sweat are heading? ♪ where will you be able to go in a jeep renegade? ♪ go forth and have no fear ♪ just about everywhere...safely.

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a massive manhunt underway. fugitives david sweat and richard matt on the run. >> we are leaving no stone unturned. they could be literally anywhere. >> but where were three? and what did the prison seamstress, now accused of aiding in their escape, really know? what do we know about their plan after they left the prison? >> well, she has been consistent. she has been consistent in that it was seven hours from this area. and she didn't know whether it was somewhere in new york, pennsylvania, vermont, canada. if we believe her to be telling the truth on that, then they were keeping her at bay about

what their ultimate plan may have been. >> and that plan remains elusive. all investigators know is that their getaway fell apart when joyce mitchell backed out, leaving the escaped prisoners without the ride they needed. with no transportation, the fugitive killers were just blocks outside the prison, scrambling to avoid capture. checkpoints and roadblocks were quickly set up as police searched each vehicle for anything out of the ordinary, imploring the public to be on the lookout. >> they could be holed up in a home somewhere, canned food, maybe watching the whole search on television, nice and cool, nice and dry. >> lee bates is a former accomplice of richard matt's. >> they have something in common that says, you know, "we're out. and when they catch us, we're done." and their mind-set is probably going to be, "they are not going to take us alive." >> and that would prove to be

ominous insight. after nearly three weeks into the search, residents here on edge. >> state police have been by here, without exaggeration, probably 50 times in the last two or three days. >> have they asked you any questions? >> yes, they have. if i've seen anything, heard anything. the answer has been no. >> it looks like tracks leading here. you have got broken pieces down here. so we don't know if somebody went through here. and if you go down, you have got, like, a little stream coming down. so if you follow the stream, it's a nice way out. >> this woman was checking her attic and basement every night before bed. >> somebody is going to see something somewhere. somebody is going to give it up. >> in dannemora, investigators near the prison. four wheelers cut paths through the terrain. the thick brush makes it hard to see. so search teams are resorting to other means, using motion detectors similar to this one. they have cameras on them and they can be attached to any tree here in the woods. when the sensors pick up

activity, they snap a photo. law enforcement also on the hunt from the air. you can see what search teams were up against. so many places for the escapees to hide, six million acres of trees and heavy woods. >> it's pretty easy to hide out here. >> in the distance, another challenge, the canadian border. >> we are looking at the vehicles. we are looking at the individuals. opening trunks. opening back of doors on trucks and things. it is a lot, very extensive. >> border patrol can't secure the entire northern border, so there are plenty of spots like this one, open areas where you don't need any passports or documentation to cross the border. watch this. here i'm standing in the u.s. i can put one foot in the u.s. and another foot in canada. this is the border right here. or i can just simply walk into canada, no questions asked. closer to the prison, tips were pouring in.

in the village of saranak, investigators believed they were getting close when a resident thought he spotted the two escapees jumping over a stone wall in the backyard. another alleged sighting -- two men spotted walking in the middle of the night in the pouring rain. and another possible lead -- near the pennsylvania border. two men seen leaving the woods near these railroad tracks. >> the state police is asking residents who live on this area along the new york/pennsylvania border to be on alert. if these men are spotted, please call 911 immediately. do not approach, as both are considered to be very dangerous. >> despite warnings and calls to be on the lookout, nothing pans out. the search comes up empty. but investigators figure it will only be a matter of time before the fugitives make a mistake. >> no lead is too small for us to investigate. law enforcement is maintaining a

strong and visible presence in this region. >> these people are in need. they are in need of money. they are in need to sustain themselves. they are hunkered down right now. they are somewhere. they are going to have to make a move. and at some point when they feel comfortable they are going to surface, they are going to make a mistake. >> suddenly, another reported sighting. and this one feels real. a witness says a man was running out of a cabin into the woods in franklin county, new york, just 20 miles away from the prison. investigators pounce on the cabin and find dna from both men inside it. could this be the lead they are looking for? as a nervous community awaits word, search teams move in, scouring hunting cabins and heavy forest, holding on to a strong sense that the killers could be among them. >> i think that their long established history on both of their parts to use violence to live their lives, to use violence because they get upset

with somebody -- that will ultimately get them caught again. >> a good bet. soon, a burglary call and a gun shot will give investigators the break they have been looking for. hold the phone. because at&t and directv are now one! which means you can access your dvr at the dmv. change channels while he changes pants. you don't have to be a couch potato, you can be a train potato! and let them watch all the shows they love, inside the ride that you really kind of hate. introducing the all in one plan. only from directv and at&t.

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weeks have passed since richard matt and david sweat cut their way out of this prison to freedom, the first time anyone has ever escaped from maximum security here. and they are still on the run. but investigators have renewed hope that they are getting close. in the small town of owl's head, new york, population just about 500, a major break in the manhunt. a cabin owner calls police after noticing two men run out the back of his cabin. authorities discovered dna evidence, proof that both fugitives had been inside this cabin, seen here from nbc news. after weeks of dead-end leads, law enforcement now have something to go on. >> they have some basic supplies

that you might find in a hunting cabin. they have taken some items with them that might assist them. they have dropped some items and left some things behind that aids in our search effort that we have collected and submitted to the lab. >> the escapees left in such a rush, they left behind boots, dingy prison-issued underwear, and bloodied socks, the first evidence that puts the fugitives in this area of owl's head, new york. this is just 20 miles from the prison. but still, finding them will be tricky. >> there are a number of factors that make this a complex search. the weather, the terrain, the environment, and, frankly, the vast scope of the north country of the adirondaks. >> it's mountainous adirondak area with, you know, trees and swamp, and, you know, just thick, thick vegetation that, you know, you can't see ten feet in front of you. >> making it even more difficult to track these killers, authorities have a hunch that they are using picnic style pepper shakers to throw the

search dogs off their scent. meanwhile, residents in this quiet town are taking up arms and locking their doors -- >> i have plenty of guns and ammunition. >> -- hopeful that the two men will soon be caught. >> i am very concerned, because these two convicts, they ain't got nothing to lose. >> it's been awful. i can't sleep. when darkness hits, i'm wondering where they are, what they are doing, how they got out. >> another lead comes in when a cabin owner notices an open bottle of gin in his cabin and calls his father, who tells his son to notify the troopers. a short time later, while on the phone with his son, a gun shot. >> he said, "there is a gun shot." and i heard it through the phone. >> that gun shot was directed at a man driving along this road in franklin county pulling a camper. the camper is hit by a bullet. the driver calls the police, who ends up here.

just a few steps off the highway, an abandoned trailer, where it turns out richard matt found shelter. inside, insects and spider webs, old sleeping bags and a closet, silverware sitting in an old mason jar, and a teapot still on the stove. john shodat lives right across the street. >> to my knowledge, he had been staying there a few days. and on the day after his birthday, on friday, he decided, apparently, to shoot at a passing camper. probably to slow them down and maybe, you know, commandeer it and take them somewhere. but they kept going. >> law enforcement are closer than ever. they carefully close in on richard matt, who is found lying here, behind a tree, armed with a shotgun, and in hiding. a cough gives him away.

matt is just a five-minute walk from the abandoned trailer when law enforcement shoot him dead. >> a tactical team from customs and border protection met up with matt in the woods, challenged him, and he was shot dead by border patrol at that time. we recovered a 20-gauge shotgun from matt's body at the location. >> matt never fires his weapon. he is fatally shot three times in the head. >> you never want to see anyone lose their life, but i would remind people that mr. matt was an escaped murderer, killed two people who we know about, killed his boss in a dispute and dismembered him. >> we have one guy down. >> law enforcement rushed to the scene as word spread that richard matt is dead. but where is his accomplice, david sweat?

>> we are going to space it out 20 feet down the line. >> a perimeter is set up as investigators comb the area looking for any sign of him. but as the minutes and hours drag on, there is no sign of david sweat and it's starting to become very clear that the manhunt is far from over. >> we have no reason to believe that mr. sweat was not with mr. matt at the time, but we don't have any confirming evidence that he was either. there are several leads that are being tracked down as we speak about mr. sweat and his possible whereabouts. >> law enforcement quickly moves to track down those leads and close the perimeter, hoping to get david sweat to surface. >> he has been on the run now for three weeks. he's tired. he's fatigued. he's hungry. he is going to make a mistake. and once again, those calls that we get in, those leads that we

get in from the public -- i've been saying it all along. something like that is going to tip this case. >> but concern grows that david sweat had parted ways with richard matt long before matt was shot and killed. search teams are racing against the clock fearing this dangerous killer could be making a run for the border. they couldn't have been more right. become the only thing you think about. that's where at&t can help. at at&t we monitor our network traffic so we can see things others can't. mitigating risks across your business. leaving you free to focus on what matters most.

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three weeks after two prisoners pulled off the most stunning escape ever from this maximum security prison, one of them is still on the run. by now, it's believed david sweat knows his partner in crime, richard matt, was shot dead by authorities. and he also knows he could be next. >> we are going to follow every lead, whether it's within that perimeter, adjacent to that perimeter, or anywhere within the county, or anything that looks like it might have some credibility to it. >> search teams are hopeful they are closing in. they find a camp near route 41 in franklin county, close to where richard matt was killed. sweat's dna is found at the site, but two days have passed since then, and sweat is still nowhere to be found. and still so many unanswered

questions. were the fugitives still together when matt was killed? had david sweat already made it to canada? and does he have a weapon, too? 13,000 law enforcement scour this area. all it takes is one trooper with a keen eye who notices something strange along this road in constable, new york, two miles from the canadian border. >> he spotted a male basically jogging along the side of the road. he approached him. as he exited the car, the male turned to him. he says, "hey, come over here." the male kind of ignored him. he called out to him again, at which time the male turned around kind of like, you know, what do you want from me? and he recognized him to be david sweat. >> sweat ignores sergeant jay cook's commands and bolts across a field heading right for a tree line. so the new york state trooper, a trained firearms instructor, reportedly drops to one knee and

fires his weapon twice from 50 yards away, an incredibly difficult shot. he hits david sweat both times in the torso. as word spreads over police radios that david sweat is down, law enforcement races to the scene, startling residents in this small, rural community. >> my wife ran out of the house and said, "oh, my god, something is going on up the street." and then i heard the shots. >> incredibly, sweat was just two miles away from crossing the canadian border. now bloodied and handcuffed, he is once again in custody. turns out he is unarmed, but he does have with him a backpack full of supplies, bug repellant, wipes, and pop tarts. also, sweat had somehow managed to swap his prison garb for camouflage clothing. >> the nightmare is finally over. mr. matt is deceased, and the other escapee, mr. sweat, is in custody.

>> a relieved community turns out to thank law enforcement. the nightmare is over, but the story is still unfolding. even in critical condition, david sweat begins to spill the details about the great escape. he tells investigators he had separated from richard matt five days earlier because matt was slowing him down. sweat says matt was out of shape and hitting the bottle too much after they had broken into a cabin. sweat also shares that they had planned to go to mexico after escaping, but were forced to improvise when prison seamstress joyce mitchell failed to pick them up in the getaway car. >> when mitchell doesn't show up, the mexico plan gets filed and then they headed north towards canada. >> and remember the plan to kill joyce mitchell's husband, lyle? sweat tells investigators it was actually mitchell's idea to kill her husband before they all fled to mexico. her attorney denies that.

also, a source close to the investigation says that, according to sweat, this was a plan long in the making. sweat told investigators beginning last winter sweat cut a hole in his cell first, then matt's cell. sweat would leave his cell every night in search of an escape route, wandering through the tunnels beneath the prison. the new york times reports that at one point sweat cut through a wall when steam started blowing unbearable heat on him. sweat says he rigged a fan to help cool him using electricity from the tunnel's lights. also an inmate told richard matt he heard noise coming from sweat's cell as the two were cutting through the wall with a hacksaw. the paper says matt explained it away, saying he was stretching canvas for one of his paintings which he made in prison. and it turns out sweat and matt had made a practice run the night before the actual escape. but when they emerged from a manhole, sweat told authorities there were just too many houses,

so they went back to the prison and pulled it off the next night using a different manhole. sweat also confirms the escapees hadn't used power tools after all, just hacksaw blades wrapped in cloth to make them easier to use, to cut through the steam pipe and cell wall. but, he adds, they did use a sledgehammer they had found underground to knock down a brick wall on the way out. an impressive jail break that the one surviving escapee will be able to think about behind bars, authorities hope, for many more years to come

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