Prison Worker in Escape Plot Took Naked Photos for One Killer, Had Sex With Other: Docs
By Michael Hill ••
Warning: This story contains some graphic content.
A prison worker who got "caught up in the fantasy" of a breakout planned by two killers told investigators she performed sex acts with one of the men and took naked photos of herself for the other.
Joyce Mitchell, 51, an instructor in the tailor shop at the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York, tearfully pleaded guilty Tuesday to helping prisoners Richard Matt and David Sweat escape. She faces a sentence of 2 1/3 to seven years in prison under terms of a plea deal with prosecutors.
Her lawyer, Stephen Johnston, said Mitchell realizes she made a "horrible mistake" by getting involved with Matt and Sweat, who staged an elaborate escape from the maximum-security prison on June 6.
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"She got in over her head into something that she never should have started. But she did, and she's paying the price now," Johnston said outside court. "I think that to a certain extent, Matt got her to feeling good about herself, better than she had for a period of time, and she was swept off her feet a bit. ... And then when she realized who she was dealing with, everything changed."
Matt was shot and killed by searchers June 26, about 30 miles west of the prison. Sweat was captured near the Canadian border two days later and sent to another prison.
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In documents first obtained by NBC News, Mitchell told investigators she believed she helped the two inmates escape because she "was caught up in the fantasy" of their plot.
"Matt told me they were getting out and we were all going to be together," Mitchell said.
In April, Mitchell said, she was alone with Matt in the tailor shop when he grabbed her and kissed her.
David Sweat after being shot and captured.
David Sweat the moment he was captured
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Police escort ambulances from an area where law enforcement officers were searching for convicted murderer David Sweat, one of two convicted murderers who broke out of a maximum-security prison near the Canadian border, Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Constable, N.Y. Prison escapee David Sweat was shot and captured Sunday near the Canadian border, New York State police officials said.
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New York State officers search for convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat, Friday, June 26, 2015, in Malone, N.Y.
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FBI agents conduct a search for convicted murderer David Sweat on June 28, 2015 near Duane, New York.
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FBI agents conduct a search for convicted murderer David Sweat on June 28, 2015 near Duane, New York.
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Correction officers search vehicles at a roadblock along Highway 30 near a wooded area where they believed escaped convict David Sweat was hiding on June 28, 2015 near Malone, New York.
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Law enforcement personnel prepare to head out on a search for the escaped convicted murderers on June 26, 2015 in Chasm Falls, New York.
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CHASM FALLS, NY - JUNE 26: Correction officers search a wooded area as the manhunt for convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat continues on June 26, 2015 in Chasm Falls, New York. Matt and Sweat were discovered missing from a prison in nearby Dannemora on June 6. DNA from the two was reportedly found recently in a remote hunting cabin about 15 miles west of the prison. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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PLATTSBURGH , NY - JUNE 25: Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie addresses questions about the arrest of corrections officer Gene Palmer for his involvement in the escape of convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat on June 25, 2015 in Plattsburgh, New York. Matt and Sweat were discovered missing from a prison in nearby Dannemora, where Palmer worked, on June 6 and remain free. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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A New York State Department of Corrections officer walks out of the woods as officers search the area after a possible sighting of the two murder convicts who escaped from a northern New York prison two weeks ago on June 21 in Friendship, New York. State police said a woman on Saturday reported spotting two men who resembled the convicts near a railroad line that runs along a county road.
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A New York State Department of Corrections officer pauses while searching a cornfield after a possible sighting of the two murder convicts who escaped from a northern New York prison two weeks ago on June 21, in Friendship, New York. State police said a woman on Saturday reported spotting two men who resembled the convicts prompting the search. (Credit: AP Photo/Gary Wiepert)
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Corrections officers stop a vehicle as the search for two escaped prisoners from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora continued June 22 in Owls Head, New York.
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Law enforcement officers ride in an all-terrain vehicle while searching for two prison escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora on June 23 in Malone, New York.
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Law enforcement officers on all terrain vehicles pull out of the parking lot of a restaurant as they searched for two escaped prisoners from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora continues, on June 22, in Mountain View, New York. At this point, the manhunt for two convicted murderers has jumped from a railroad line near the Pennsylvania state line to a hamlet in far northern New York not far from the prison they escaped.
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Law enforcement officers gather while searching for two prison escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, on June 23, in Malone, New York.
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A corrections officer stands lookout along a road while searching for two escaped prisoners on June 22 in Bellmont, New York. Items recovered from a remote hunting cabin may have been linked to the pair of convicted killers who escaped from nearby Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.
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Law enforcement officers ride in an all-terrain vehicle while searching for two prison escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, on June 23, in Malone, New York.
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New York State Police troopers stand in the heavy rain at a roadblock while searching for two prison escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, June 23, in Malone, New York.
Richard Matt was serving 25 years to life at Clinton Correctional Facility for the killing and dismemberment of his former boss. Matt turned 49 the day before he was fatally shot three times in the head by law enforcement.
Cara Bowman
David P. Sweat was serving a sentence of life without parole in the killing of a sheriff's deputy in 2002.
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Joyce Mitchell stands with her attorney Keith Bruno during her arraignment in City Court June 12, 2015 in Plattsburgh, New York. Mitchell was arrested for allegedly helping two convicted murderers, David Sweat and Richard Matt, escape the maximum security section of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.
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A law enforcement agent looks through a sniper scope while another in camouflage assembles a weapon during a search for two escaped killers in Boquet, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
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Law enforcement officers check vehicles at a checkpoint on Monday, June 8, 2015, in Dannemora, N.Y.
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Law enforcement officers search for escaped prisoners near Essex, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
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Law enforcement officers walk the streets in Dannemora, N.Y., as they searched houses near the maximum-security prison in northern New York where two killers escaped using power tools, Wednesday, June 10, 2015.
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Law enforcement officers walk the streets in Dannemora, N.Y., as they searched houses near the maximum-security prison in northern New York.
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A member of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision emergency response team searches a wooded area with team members for two escapees from the Clinton Correctional Facility on Monday, June 8, 2015, in Dannemora, N.Y.
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A law enforcement officer checks a broken down building for escaped prisoners near Essex, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
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A law enforcement officer walks through a swampy area searching for escaped prisoners near Essex, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
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A member of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision emergency response team waves to a child on a school bus before the team enters the woods in search of two prisoners who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility on Monday, June 8, 2015, in Dannemora, N.Y.
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Law enforcement officers question a woman, Wednesday, June 10, 2015, who lives near the prison in Dannemora, N.Y., as they searched houses near the maximum-security prison in northern New York where two killers escaped using power tools.
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo discusses the escape path where two convicted murderers fled from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora, New York.
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In this handout from the New York State Governor's Office, shows where two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora.
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Andrew Cuomo inspects the room where two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora
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In this handout from the New York State Governor's Office, shows where two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora, New York.
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In this handout from the New York State Governor's Office, shows where two convicted murderers used power tools to cut through steel pipes at the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora, New York.
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In this handout from the New York State Governor's Office, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (R) is shown the manhole where two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora, New York.
"It startled me. He kissed me with an open mouth kiss. I didn't say anything because I was scared for my husband, who also works for the facility," Mitchell said.
In May, Matt asked her to perform oral sex and she so did out of fear, Mitchell said. On two or three other occasions, she said, Matt would come to her desk wearing a large coat in which he'd cut a hole so Mitchell could fondle him.
She said she took photos of her breasts and genitals and gave them to Matt to give to Sweat.
Mitchell told police the escape plan involved the inmates giving her pills to knock out her husband so she could pick them up in her vehicle. Then she was supposed to take them to her home, where Matt planned to kill her husband, whom he referred to as "the glitch," Mitchell said in her statement. She also said the inmates planned to drive to an unspecified hideout in the woods 6 to 7 hours from the prison in Dannemora.
In another statement, she admitted she passed notes, some of which were "of a sexual nature" to Matt to give to Sweat. Sweat was reassigned from her tailor shop after rumors surfaced that he was romantically involved with Mitchell.
District Attorney Andrew Wylie said separate cases against Sweat and Gene Palmer, a guard who investigators accuse of unwittingly helping the two inmates, are expected to go before a grand jury next month.
"At this time, there are no other individuals who have been identified through the investigation as being involved directly or indirectly" with the escape, Wylie said.
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Prosecutors say Mitchell provided hacksaw blades, chisels, a punch tool and a screwdriver to Matt on May 1. Authorities say she became close with the pair and agreed to be their getaway driver. But she backed out at the last moment, forcing the two to flee on foot after they emerged from a manhole near the prison.
Wylie said a grand jury could have considered other counts against Joyce Mitchell, including conspiracy to commit murder and sexual-related charges based on allegations involving the inmates. But he said he accepted pleas on two clearly provable charges — first-degree promoting prison contraband, a felony, and fourth-degree criminal facilitation, a misdemeanor— "in the interest of justice."
Authorities said she smuggled the tools into the prison by hiding them in frozen meat she placed in a refrigerator in the tailor shop. They said Palmer then took the meat to Sweat and Matt, who were housed in a section where inmates are allowed to cook their meals.
Authorities do not believe Palmer knew of the escape plan. He was released on bail after being arrested on charges including promoting prison contraband.
Mitchell, who was arrested June 12, resigned from her job but remains eligible for a pension, according to corrections officials and the state comptroller's office.
Matt and Sweat cut through their adjoining cell walls over months, climbed down catwalks to tunnels and broke through a brick wall. They then cut into a steam pipe and cut a chain holding a manhole cover outside the prison to get away, authorities said.
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