we're back with more of our exclusive interview with joyce mitchell, the woman who helped two convicted killers escape in one of the boldest prison breaks of all time. why? why would a law abiding wife and mother do something like that? especially after she says she learned what they had in mind for her husband. >> reporter: in the spring of 2015, convicted killers david sweat and richard matt were ready to set their escape plan in motion. and thanks to joyce mitchell, they now had the tools to make it happen -- tools she continued to sneak into prison for them.

>> i give them the star bit. i give them four full-size blades, but having to put them in the hamburger, they had been broken in two. so they actually had, like, eight pieces of hacksaw blades. and i give 'em -- chisel and punch. that's all that i give them. >> reporter: that's a lot. >> it is. >> so by this time you've delivered him a star-shaped drill bit, hacksaw blades, and you know why they're using these things. >> yes. >> what they're using them for. >> yes. >> and you didn't go to anyone. even though he's threatening you, according to you. >> who could i tell? who could i trust? >> reporter: joyce says she feared that if she reported what was going on, richard matt would find out. she says she couldn't even confide in gene palmer, the officer who had taken richard matt's artwork out of the prison for her. do you believe that gene palmer also knew that these two inmates were planning to escape?

>> i have no idea. >> reporter: so at no point of transferring goods between the two of you, the frozen meat, did you ever look at each other and acknowledge what was going on? and you never said to him, "you know about this as well"? >> no, i never did. >> reporter: like it or not, joyce had become a co-conspirator in a plot to help two vicious murderers escape from prison. and matt now spilled details of that plot to her. so you'd go in during the day, and you'd see at least mr. matt in the tailor shop -- >> yes. >> reporter: and he would say to you, "hey. we've breached the wall of our cell. we got out of the wall. he would let you know this? >> yes. >> reporter: working late at night, matt and sweat used the hacksaw blades to saw through the quarter-inch thick steel walls of their cells. once through their walls, they discovered this maze of catwalks. now, each night, they went exploring here, looking for a

path to the ground floor and a way outside the prison walls. wasn't it also astonishing to you that they were actually getting out of their cells at night? >> yes. they were waiting till after -- i think it's the 11:00 bed check, and then they would go. >> reporter: you know, i'm -- i'm trying to put myself in the position of someone watching this at home, and they're all saying -- you know what they're saying. "she's hearing these stories every day. she has given them some of the tools they're using --" >> and she is the monster. >> reporter: "and she did nothing to stop it." in some ways, it almost sounds like you were fascinated by the danger of all this. it also sounds like there was more to this relationship. >> no, it was just an infatuation. that's all it was. >> reporter: matt and sweat were well aware of joyce's infatuation, and they made sure to keep her close.

one day, they told her that they made an important discovery. >> they had found a toolbox. and mr. sweat picked the lock and they found power tools in it. >> reporter: they found that toolbox in the crawlspace area -- >> somewhere -- >> reporter: --behind the walls of their cell? and what was your reaction when you were hearing these stories? >> i was trying to figure out how a toolbox got left. they were really excited that they found power tools. >> reporter: the escape plan was coming together. so richard matt finally told joyce what he expected her to do. on the night of the escape, at 12:00 midnight, when small-town dannemora was sleeping, joyce was to get into her jeep and drive to an intersection about 130 yards from the prison wall. >> i was supposed to pretend that i was making a phone call while they were coming out. >> reporter: sitting in your jeep. >> yes. >> reporter: what were you supposed to bring with you, other than the car?

>> clothes for them. i was supposed to bring a tent. i was supposed to bring a shotgun. >> reporter: did you have a shotgun? >> we do own a shotgun. >> reporter: and then the plan -- let's make sure we understand this completely -- was to get them changed, get them in the car -- >> yes. >> reporter: if all went according to plan and they pulled off the great escape, they would be far away before law enforcement had a chance to get a fix on them. and there was something else. once they were free, starting new lives, matt said that joyce and david sweat would live together. >> reporter: i'm very confused. >> yes. >> reporter: richard matt's the one who tells you he loves you. >> right. >> reporter: he's the one that you've been dealing with on a regular basis, 'cause-- >> right. >> reporter: --he's the one in the tailor shop. >> yes. >> reporter: he's the one you had the sexual contact with. >> yes. >> reporter: and yet, he is now saying that when we get out of here, it's going to be you and david sweat together? >> well, he was -- he was making mr. sweat believe that.

>> reporter: joyce says she was just pretending to go along with the plan out of fear for her husband. she says the inmates believed he was the one person who could derail their escape. they called your husband -- >> "the glitch." >> reporter: "the glitch." meaning he was the glitch in the plan. >> yes. >> reporter: and he had to be disposed of. >> yes. coming up, whatever problem lyle presented, it was nothing two experienced killers couldn't handle. >> mr. matt said he was going to kill my husband. now i knew i was in way over my head. >> so why didn't she blow the whistle? >> when "dateline" continues. plaque psoriasis... ...isn't it time to let the... ...real you shine... ...through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection, or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. some people who took otezla saw 75% clearer skin after 4 months.

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>> reporter: as the days grew longer and spring filled the air, joyce mitchell says david sweat's and richard matt's dream of escape with joyce herself as the getaway driver was becoming more real. >> i was told i was going to go live a happy life with them. >> reporter: the only fly in the ointment, she says they told her, was her partner of 21 years, lyle. >> mr. matt said he was going to kill my husband. >> they want to kill your husband. >> yes. >> reporter: in fact, joyce says matt had figured out how to carry out the killing once the two inmates made it out. she says he wanted to push lyle

off a high rockface and needed joyce's help. >> he wanted me to find a cliff to put my husband over. and i'm like, i'm not doing that. >> reporter: in the car? push him? >> in the truck. >> reporter: joyce says she refused so matt came up with a new plan. >> mr. matt wanted me to give my husband some pills. to knock him out. >> reporter: then, joyce says, once the prisoners got into her jeep on the night of the escape, the first stop would be her home. >> reporter: you would have drugged lyle, "the glitch." >> yes. >> he would have been passed out at home. and what did they say they were going to do? >> matt said that he was gonna kill lyle. >> reporter: see, this is confusing. because on the one hand, you're telling me they wanted your help to get out of prison. on the other hand, you're telling me that after he got out of prison, he was threatening to kill your husband. but with one phone call, you could have prevented him from getting out of prison.

>> i know. but i -- i was so scared. matt had other inmates watching myself and my husband through all of this. they knew where i went, when i went, and who i was talking to. >> reporter: how many times did you want to tell lyle what was going on? >> there were a lot of times i wanted to just sit down and tell him what was going on, but i knew that if i did, he would you know, he'd go in and confront them. and it would've been just like mr. matt to do something to him right in the prison, and i couldn't -- i couldn't let that happen. >> reporter: you were literally afraid that at some point during a day in the prison, richard matt would harm your husband, lyle, or have someone else -- >> yes. >> reporter: harm him for him? >> yes. >> reporter: and you thought he was capable of that? >> oh, he's capable of it. there's no thought about it. he -- he would have been capable. >> reporter: so when matt gave her the pills, she put on an act.

>> now i knew i was in way over my head. so i just started playing along and letting them believe that that's what was gonna happen. >> reporter: you keep saying, you know, "i love my husband. i couldn't --" >> i do love my husband. >> reporter: "let this happen to my husband." and it's hard to believe. >> i know it's hard to believe. but i do love my husband. and i've always loved my husband. i just i was going through a point in my life a lot of people go through depression. a lot of people go through that. and i just got in over my head. and i couldn't get out. and i couldn't tell anybody. i couldn't tell my husband. couldn't tell my family. i couldn't tell my coworkers. i couldn't tell anybody. there's nobody you can tell. >> reporter: he had complete control of you, in your opinion -- >> yes.

>> reporter: at that point. >> yes. >> reporter: while joyce continued to do what she was told, matt and sweat were still trying to find a way through the thick prison walls. in early may they got a stroke of good luck. the prison heating system was shut off for summer, so they sawed an entrance into a steam pipe and climbed in. they later crawled until they were beyond the prison walls and sawed another hole, exiting into a tunnel under the street. now the only thing standing between them and freedom was a manhole cover 130 yards from the prison wall. all that was left was to pick a night for the actual escape. >> reporter: lemme play devil's advocate at this moment. when you now hear they are going to escape, as a matter of fact. >> yes. >> reporter: they wanna kill your husband. >> yes. >> reporter: at that point, the worst that can happen to you is you're gonna lose your job if you go to the authorities, and probably get charged with contraband charges. that's the time to go to authorities again, isn't it? here's another time --

>> like i said, i was -- >> reporter: where you could have stopped this. >> i was just so scared. >> reporter: whatever joyce might have done to stop the escape, sweat and matt had reached the point of no return. on june 5th, joyce was in the tailor shop when richard matt approached. >> he just happened to come in one day and said, "tonight's the night." >> reporter: and what's the last thing you said to him? >> i just -- i kinda stayed away from him the rest of the day. >> reporter: you didn't say, "i'll see you tonight"? >> no, because at the end of the day as he was going out the door, he raised his hand as a motion of, you know, like, i'll see you tonight. and i just ignored him. >> reporter: after her shift, trying to pretend that nothing was out of the ordinary, joyce left the prison with her husband lyle and went for dinner. >> i didn't see anything different, absolutely nothing. >> reporter: nothing. >> absolutely nothing, i didn't. >> reporter: she wasn't particularly nervous, fidgety, agitated, upset?

>> we stopped for supper that night on the way home, for chinese food. and she ate like she normally does. >> reporter: so as lyle and joyce dined that evening, joyce gave no sign she was the linchpin of an extraordinary plot and that the man she was with, who helped raise her son, was the target of a planned hit to be carried out later that night. as the clock ticked toward midnight, joyce was fully aware that david sweat and richard matt were leaving their cells, sneaking to that manhole cover and heading for freedom. the prison break was on. coming up, no one could remember the last time a prisoner had escaped from clinton. >> i was advised two inmates were unaccounted for. i didn't believe it. i thought at first he was joking. >> the escaped killers weren't the only one missing. >> i knew that was the night it was going to happen. i didn't know what to do. at safelite, we know how busy life can be.

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they had pulled it off. >> authorities are now searching in the u.s., canada and mexico. >> reporter: as the first reports came in about a dramatic escape from clinton correctional facility that saturday, clinton county sheriff david favro headed toward the prison. >> i'd received a phone call from my patrol chief that morning, and i was advised that two inmates were unaccounted for at dannemora correctional facility. i didn't believe it. i thought at first he was joking. >> reporter: no one had escaped from the prison in living memory. the sheriff knew it was a crisis. >> i started to gear up, get my vest and my weapons and get into my truck and start heading up towards the dannemora area to see if i could be of some assistance. within a matter of 30 minutes after that, i got another call back saying that they were out in the public. that's when i knew it was a lot more serious. >> do you instantly hear what these two guys were in prison for in the first place? >> i knew that one of 'em was a cop killer. you knew that there was a serious danger to the public. >> reporter: as sheriff favro

was getting more details and law enforcement agencies mobilized, nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk arrived in dannemora to cover the story. >> and your first thought is, how did anyone break out of z there? >> reporter: when law enforcement poured into the search area it became hard simply to move around. >> this wasn't just a couple of cops walking down the street knocking on doors, this was hundreds of law enforcement on the streets, holding positions with automatic weapons, helicopters overhead. everything was extremely difficult. there were roadblocks every half a mile. you would be stopped. you'd have to open up your trunk. >> reporter: just a short distance away from the prison, the es key -- escapees' would-be getaway driver joyce mitchell was just waking up. but she was nowhere near david sweat and richard matt. instead, she was in a hospital room, coming to under a cloud of doom. >> what happened?

>> i knew that was the night it was gonna happen. and i didn't really know what to do. >> reporter: joyce says at the moment of truth, she had been overcome by confusion and fear. and instead of driving to the rendezvous location at midnight with a shotgun and supplies, she told her husband lyle she had chest pains and needed help. so when sweat and matt slid back the manhole cover and poked their heads up into the street, joyce was nowhere to be seen. >> i was so scared. and i ended up having a panic attack, and my husband did take me to the hospital. >> reporter: now it was morning, and as she lay in her hospital bed glued to the television news, joyce realized sweat's and matt's brazen escape plan had been a success after all. >> when you heard that they had escaped and broken out and you knew you weren't there to pick them up the way you had promised, what was your first reaction? >> i was scared to death. i didn't know if they would come

looking for my husband and do something to him. so i didn't let my husband out of my sight. >> did you start to think, mrs. mitchell, that, "i have just helped two guys get out of prison?" >> yes -- >> one guy murdered a man and cut his body into pieces. the other guy shot a sheriff's deputy. what is the chance or what is the likelihood they're gonna kill some innocent person now that they've escaped from prison? >> i was scared. very scared that it would happen. and i prayed and prayed and prayed that they would get caught and no one would get hurt. >> didn't you also pray and pray and pray that they would get killed so that they couldn't tell the story of what had happened? >> no. >> you didn't think that if they got caught, they were gonna tell everything you did? >> i knew they would. and i knew that they would blame me for everything. >> so this idea, though, that if you had shown up with that jeep and been their getaway driver,

that the three of you were gonna go off and live some different kind of life, kind of -- you know, some kind of a bonnie and clyde threesome, that's something you never actual considered doing? >> no. >> you weren't in love with one of them or both of them and you were gonna go off and forge a different life -- >> no. >> --for yourself? >> no, i wasn't. >> you know, it's funny because if you don't show up, you're caught, anyway. >> yes. >> any doubt in your mind, joyce, that if you had shown up in that jeep that night, is there any doubt in your mind that they would have killed you as soon as you handed them that shotgun? >> they would have. because they would have had the vehicle. they wouldn't have needed me. >> that would have been the moment their relationship with you ended. >> yes. >> reporter: as she processed all these dark thoughts in the hospital, she switched on her cell phone and it exploded into life. >> i had tons of messages. and one was from my son, that state police were looking for

me. >> reporter: the police had discovered joyce and her husband lyle both knew sweat and matt well. so the couple left the hospital and went to the police station to be questioned. and joyce had a decision to make -- was it finally time to tell the truth? coming up, investigators are eager to hear joyce's story. >> they told me you help us, we'll help you. >> and they have some tough questions for her. >> she was making excuses trying to make people feel sorry for her. it didn't work with this prosecutor. >> when "dateline" continues. (road noise) what's happening here... is not normal, it's extraordinary. 291 people, 350 tons, 186 miles per hour... you're not sure what's on the other side to that time after you land. but momentum pushes you forward. you are a test pilot,

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sparked by a stove that was disconnected from a gas line. now back to our msnbc special. >> reporter: as law enforcement hunted down the escapees david sweat and richard matt, joyce mitchell was called in with her husband lyle to the police station to face investigators. they wanted to know why she hadn't shown up for work that saturday, and they had other questions too. >> joyce mitchell was identified relatively early as somebody that had contact with both matt and sweat. >> reporter: authorities were certain matt and sweat had help carrying out their elaborate plan, and joyce was their number one suspect. she knew both inmates, and there were those unfounded rumors of a sexual relationship between her and sweat. but when joyce was questioned by

law enforcement, says clinton county district attorney andrew wylie, it did not seem she was being completely honest. >> she was providing truthful information, but she wasn't providing everything. >> reporter: joyce admits that now. >> i was not completely honest with the state police at first. >> what did you lie about? >> about knowing that they had gotten out and the other parts of the story. >> reporter: but investigators made a startling discovery. the phone number for richard matt's daughter was in joyce's cellphone. when they pressed her about it, joyce was forced to tell them she had been in touch with matt's daughter as a favor. it was a red flag for police, and news to lyle. >> so let me make sure i understand this. so your wife had matt's daughter's cell phone number on her cell phone. >> yes. >> so it was clear that she had contacted the daughter of this escaped murderer. >> yes. >> reporter: joyce was released

after a few hours. but she had further aroused investigators' suspicions. >> the truth doesn't always come out right away. it may take an hour, it make take ten hours. it may take over a course of a couple days or a week to actually get the truth out. >> reporter: meanwhile, new information about the prison break was pouring in. >> it was an elaborate plot. giving the da details of how the escape actually happened. >> it's just -- it's amazing how it occurred. >> reporter: the scenario investigators were uncovering went something like this. on the night of the escape, matt and sweat left dummies made from papier-mache and clothing to make it look like they were still in their cell beds. then they slipped through the sawed out holes in their cells, down through the maze of catwalks, and proceeded along their planned escape route, through the steam pipe and out through the manhole just 130 yards from the prison. a final poke in the eye to

authorities was this taunting, racist note stuck on the steam pipe. >> it's kind of like a shock and awe at the time. "shawshank redemption," just pops into your head. >> your first thought is, "how did they ever even think they could do it?" >> reporter: nbc news correspondent, stephanie gosk, was as amazed as everyone else. >> the pure hubris of concocting the idea and executing it. everyone is a little bit just sort of in awe of what they did. >> reporter: the day after the escape, joyce was called in for another round of questioning by police. this time they asked about the sparring gloves she had given richard matt. >> and she goes in there, and i would say half, three quarters of an hour, and -- an investigator comes out and said, "mr. mitchell, your wife is more involved than what she's letting on. what? >> reporter: as the investigators' questions piled up, the pressure finally started getting to joyce. >> i talked to the investigators, and i tried to tell them everything i could.

and they told me, "you help us, we'll help you." >> reporter: and that's when she finally came clean about all of it. the hacksaw blades smuggled in hamburger meat, the other tools she gave the inmates, and that she knew for weeks if not months that matt and sweat were preparing to escape, but that she never told a soul. the da was stunned. >> it's kinda hard to, you know, even comprehend. >> reporter: it didn't take long for news to get out that joyce was involved. >> joyce mitchell. she works in the prison, she's being called a person of interest, being questioned by police. >> when the details of it started to come out and we learned a little bit more of joyce mitchell's involvement, then you realized how calculating they were. she's been married for decades, she has a son. she's a grandmother. and they convinced her that this would be the best thing for her to do in that moment, to help them escape from this prison and run away with them.

that's pretty remarkable. >> reporter: joyce's family was in a state of disbelief. her own son tobey staunchly defending his mom. >> she's not the kind of person that's going to risk her life or other people's lives to let these guys escape from prison. >> what was it like for you when your wife's name, and your name as a result, were splashed all over the headlines the next day? >> it was just total shock. i was just in disbelief. >> and i said, "how can you do this?" she said, it just got out of hand and then i was scared and i didn't know what to do. >> reporter: but joyce hadn't told him the worst of it. >> and she said, "i got something else to tell you." "they wanted to kill you." i said, "what?" >> according to your wife, they were going to kill you for what reason? >> just get me out of the way. but she said she was never going through with that. that's what she told me, that she really loved me and she was -- she was in too deep. >> reporter: though joyce says

she told the truth, the da wasn't buying all of it. >> she could have advised many people on many occasions what was happening. i think she was making excuses, she was trying to make people feel sorry for her. it didn't work with this prosecutor. >> reporter: as days passed with no sign of matt or sweat, local officials joined forces with law enforcement agencies from all over the country. >> our plan is to pursue these men relentlessly. >> reporter: new york state police commander major charles guess led the hunt. >> the potential danger to the community could not have been higher with these two individuals. desperate escapees who were already incarcerated for life, and convicted murderers. and so we, we believed, that they would immediately attempt to arm themselves and would literally stop at nothing to evade law enforcement and complete their escape plan. >> reporter: the state police had already been joined by fbi, border patrol and corrections officers numbering some 1,500 strong, on foot, in vehicles and in the air. they unleashed k-9 units and used high-tech infrared sensors

in an effort that cost a million dollars a day. but even as local residents called in thousands of leads, none panned out. >> my sense is that they had no idea where these guys were. and they would say in one breath, "well, they could be in new mexico or in northern canada or in your back yard." it -- they just didn't know. >> reporter: so the manhunt searched farther, extending into dense, rugged, forest terrain, and the officers encountered monsoon conditions. >> we had rain either every day or just about every day. literally, it's no exaggeration, you can't see three to five feet in front of your -- your face, in the daylight, let alone at night. >> reporter: and as the search expanded, fear took over. >> this is why i'm carrying, i have a glock .40 caliber >> i'm pretty well off. i've got a gun on me. >> i've lived in medford for almost 20 years, so it is. it's scary. >> they're killers. no one really knew if they had gotten guns, if anyone else was helping them, how far they had

gotten. i mean, there was real fear. >> reporter: more time went by. search teams marched on. everyone hoped for a break, especially joyce, now a prisoner in her own home, afraid to face her neighbors. >> were you glued to the set? were you watching this like everybody else in the rest of the country was watching it? >> yes, i was. i was praying every day that they would catch them. >> wasn't it surreal? >> it was. >> to know that you had helped them get out, and you're sitting home watching the coverage of this? >> yes. >> reporter: but suddenly, for joyce, it was time to face the music. a week after she was supposed to be waiting at that manhole cover for sweat and matt, she was arrested and charged with promoting contraband, and criminal facilitation. soon after joyce was taken off to jail, the hunt for the killers was about to heat up. coming up, face-to-face with a killer. >> i saw a head come up. i saw that this individual had a shot gun aimed at me.

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something suspicious and called in a tip. >> he observed what he thought to be an individual step in front of the door and step back. drew his handgun and challenged whoever the individual or individuals was -- or were, inside the cabin, to come out and show themselves. >> reporter: instead, whoever was there bolted. >> he could hear them crashing off the deck, down through the woods. >> reporter: inside the cabin a map was missing, and ominously, a shotgun. police forensics officers swarmed the cabin and uncovered a trove of intel. >> they found articles of clothing. they found a small fabric bag with a toothbrush, shaving implements, and a few other sundry items that apparently had fallen loose in their haste to leave. that was a virtual gold mine for us, as far as our forensics investigation unit. >> reporter: within 24 hours state police scientists processed samples they had collected. >> and came back with confirmatory matches of dna for both david sweat and richard matt.

that was really the first major break in this case. >> reporter: the trail was suddenly hot. officers believed sweat and matt were together, and not far away. but now they were armed -- and more dangerous than ever. >> the fact that they picked up a 20-gauge shotgun at that cabin -- it did up the stakes and the ante a bit for those if the field and in the community. >> we sort of jokingly talked about what we would do if we saw them. but kind of half jokingly. because you did have to think, "all right, well, what if we stumbled upon them? and what if they did have a gun?" >> reporter: as the manhunt intensified in the area where the dna had been discovered, stephanie gosk found herself in the thick of it. >> and no one said anything to us. so we drove in. and we were stopped by the border patrol. and these guys are armed to the teeth. this is not your average local law enforcement operation. and this was a big deal. and they did not want us there.

they knew that they were close to these guys. so there was a level of urgency and intensity. >> the media was both -- a major help, and at -- at times -- potential hindrance for the investigation. major help because they helped and assisted us getting our message out to the public. potential hindrance at times for the investigation, because in this era of social media -- and -- and-- preponderance of -- of information slipping out to the media in am untimely manner -- did -- did at times hinder the investigation. >> reporter: guess worried the inmates were using media reports on the locations of his search teams to evade capture, and once again the trail went cold. it was now 21 days since sweat and matt escaped. then -- a sudden report of gunshots in the tiny town of lake titus, new york. an elite border tactical unit led by christopher voss that had flown all the way from el paso, texas, descended on the area. voss told lester holt what happened next.

>> one of the state troopers -- new york state police came up to me and said that they heard some coughing in the wood line, from where their position. and at that point, i thought, "that's the best intel we got right now, so we'll go ahead and -- and check it out." >> reporter: as voss's team formed a line, his point man spotted a figure lying down in the woods and called over, but got no response. >> so now i'm starting to wonder what's going on. >> reporter: cautiously, voss moved forward and saw a man lying about 15 yards ahead of him. >> i saw a head come up. this person was in the prone position on his stomach. and as i got into a clearing i saw that an individual had a shotgun aimed right in at me. and it was at that point that i engaged that individual with my m4. >> reporter: you got the drop on him. you shot him. did it cross your mind it could've been the other way around? >> absolutely. >> reporter: voss killed the man, but had no idea if it was sweat, matt -- or someone else. >> we knew there was some identifying -- marks on -- on these two individuals.

and at some point, my -- my team member lifted his shirt up and we found one of those identifying marks. >> reporter: a tattoo? >> yes, it was a tattoo. it said, "mexico forever." >> reporter: and that was your guy? >> that was our guy-. we knew we had richard matt and i called it on the radio. >> reporter: joyce was sitting in the county jail when she got the news. she was relieved but not surprised. >> i knew that if they got richard matt, they would've had to shoot him. because i knew he would not go back. >> reporter: but the other dangerous inmate was still on the loose, and major guess feared david sweat was nearing the canadian border. >> we saturated the area with planes and helicopters with thermal sensors to try to locate sweat if he was still moving in this box. >> reporter: two days later, new york state police sergeant jay cook was patrolling rural backwater lanes near constable, new york, about three miles from the canadian border, when he saw a lone figure near the roadside. it was david sweat. >> and he called out to him.

and -- sweat then again turned back to him and said, "i'm good, bro." and kinda raised his hands up like this framing his face a little bit as if to say, "nothing to see here." >> reporter: but when the officer called to him again, sweat ran. >> cook jumped out of his vehicle, drew his weapon, and now is in -- in a dead run pursuit behind sweat who probably had about no less than a 35 or 40 yard lead on him by that point. and cook actually told him, "i'll shoot ya if you don't stop." cook stopped, quickly steadied himself, and squeezed off one round. that one round struck david sweat in the upper torso, and sweat stumbled. >> reporter: but sweat continued to run, so the officer fired again. >> that round also struck sweat in the upper torso, and dropped him right in the field. >> reporter: the officer had stopped david sweat with two incredible shots. he secured sweat and administered first aid. at last the manhunt was over. >> reporter: what was your reaction when you heard that david sweat had been recaptured? >> the day that they caught david sweat, i had been saying

my prayers to god, to just let them find him and get him. >> reporter: joyce happened to be out of her jail cell, and near a phone, when she got the news. >> it had just come on the news, and i broke right down in tears, and i ran to the phone to tell -- to call my husband, and say that they got him. it was over. and everyone could go back to having their normal lives, or as normal as normal could be. >> reporter: but for joyce herself, normal life was long gone. she pleaded guilty to the charges against her. and as she waited for her sentence to be handed down she wondered if anyone, including her own family, would forgive her for what she'd done. coming up -- >> she told you a lot of lies and there were other things she just didn't tell you at all. how do you stay by her side? ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪

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reporter: after richard matt was killed and david sweat captured, upstate new york could at last exhale. relieved communities warily unloaded their weapons, unlocked their doors and families stepped out to watch their children play freely again. but there was intense hostility toward the local woman at the center of it all. >> reporter: for three weeks, this entire region --

>> i know. >> reporter: was turned upside-down. >> i know it was. >> reporter: people were prisoners in their own homes. >> i know. >> reporter: they were living in fear. what would you say to the people who endured that in this region? >> i am so sorry for everything that everyone has went through because of me. i never, never this to ever happen. never. i would take it all back, if i could. but i can't. but i'm not the monster that everybody thinks i am. i'm really not. i'm just somebody that got caught up in something that she couldn't get out of. >> as a result of her direct action matt and sweat escaped from the facility. >> reporter: while some locals feel joyce may get off easy, the da says his hands were tied when it came to the charges.

he couldn't prove that joyce had sex with either inmate or joyce's claim that there was a plot to kill lyle. >> they had contact with lyle, they thought he was a nice guy. and they actually didn't care that much for joyce because of the way she was treating lyle. >> reporter: you know, david sweat, after his capture, told authorities that it was your idea to kill lyle. >> it was not my idea. it was matt's idea. >> reporter: today lyle himself and their son tobey believe joyce's story and are standing by her. >> there is no way that she would have had my father killed. she loves him too much to have been in a part in a plot to kill him. >> reporter: she told you a lot of lies. and there were other things she just didn't tell you at all. how do you stay by her side? >> because i love my wife. but i believe that she was protecting her family. in the beginning, everybody flirts. i do it. everybody else does.

and it got out of hand. >> reporter: and when she gets out of prison, can you trust her? >> yes. 100%. >> reporter: do you understand why people in the region of the country where you live in are so furious? >> yes, i do. >> reporter: when she gets out of prison, lyle, can the two of you continue to live up in that area? is it possible? >> yes. >> reporter: but he has no idea when he and joyce might be together again. she's about to be sentenced. possibility is that she could spend seven years in prison. what are you hoping for? >> i'm hoping she'll be home less than two. >> reporter: but he's not optimistic. >> i think they'll put more onto her than what should be. i honestly do. >> she's pled to the maximum charges and she's going to receive the maximum sentence. >> reporter: though joyce tore her own life apart, fallout from the prison break scandal runs broad and deep. new york's inspector general

concluded there was "a systemic breakdown in security" at clinton correctional facility and is still investigating the prison break. as for gene palmer the officer who allegedly handed the hacksaw blades hidden in hamburger meat to richard matt investigators don't believe he knew about the escape plan but he was charged with promoting contraband, tampering with evidence and official misconduct. he pleaded not guilty. and while the prison superintendent, two other executives and nine officers were suspended, the fbi has opened up an investigation into clinton correctional facility focusing on corruption and drug trafficking. the prison honor block has been shut down too. >> reporter: what should we all learn about what goes on behind prison walls? >> there's a lot of things that go on behind prison bars that no one will ever know, and it's actually very scary in there,

and you have to learn to not be as, i guess, like me. a caring person. and you need to make sure that you keep yourself distant so you're not getting caught up into stuff like what i did. >> reporter: in spite of the corrections training given to prison workers, she claims any compassionate person is vulnerable. >> i'm not the first person to this that this has happened to. and i can tell you right now, i'm not going to be the last. because unless you're somebody that's going to be completely coldhearted when you go in there, it's going to happen to somebody else. >> so it's a cautionary tale? >> yes. >> reporter: what have you lost in all this? >> a lot.

i've lost my job, respect, friends. i'm going to prison. i've lost a lot of time out of my life. i'm going to miss out on my granddaughter growing up. my son is getting married in october and i'm going to miss being with my husband for who knows how long. all i can get from him now is letters and phone calls. >> reporter: you told lyle a lot of lies. >> i did. >> reporter: and for some reason, he's decided to stand by you. >> because he's a very amazing man. and i'm very fortunate to have him in my life. >> reporter: and when you get out of prison and he's there waiting for you to welcome you back, can he trust you? >> yes, he can. i love him with all my heart. >> reporter: some would say, it's a miracle you haven't lost him. >> it is a miracle that i haven't lost him. and it's going to take me the rest of my life to make this up

to him. that's all for now. i'm matt lauer. thanks for joining us. msnbc takes you behind the walls of america's most notorious prisons. into a world of chaos and danger. now, the scenes you've never seen, "lockup: raw." >> even though sex is one of the most basic of human desires, behind bars it's prohibited. but that hasn't stopped one of the most memorable inmates to ever appear on "lockup" from getting his needs met. when we met keith precious at the holman correctional facility