Advertisement

N.Y. prison puts new security measures, boss in place after escape saga

By Doug G. Ware
A Guard from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision directs traffic in front of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York on June 13, 2015, a week after convicts David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped. Photo by Matthew Healey/UPI
A Guard from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision directs traffic in front of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York on June 13, 2015, a week after convicts David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped. Photo by Matthew Healey/UPI | License Photo

DANNEMORA, N.Y., July 2 (UPI) -- The Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York, where two convicted killers escaped last month and triggered a three-week manhunt, ordered new security measures and installed a new leader on Wednesday.

One day after prison officials suspended 12 staffers -- including the superintendent -- the maximum security facility said it will clamp down on many of the areas exploited by David Sweat and Richard Matt during their escape June 6.

Advertisement

The new security mandates weekly cell inspections, the checking of electrical boxes to look for signs of tampering, and the installation of gates in underground tunnels, the New York Times reported.

Officials also announced a new Clinton Correctional Facility superintendent, Michael Kirkpatrick, who was the deputy superintendent at another maximum security New York prison.

The three top Clinton facility officials and nine security employees were placed on administrative leave, but it remains unclear whether they will be reassigned. Two of those suspended were guards on Matt's and Sweat's cellblock the night of their escape, the Times reported.

The fugitives were on the run for weeks in the rugged wilderness of upstate New York. Matt was confronted by police and shot to death June 26. Sweat was found June 28, and also shot, but he is expected to survive.

Advertisement

Two prison employees face criminal charges for aiding in the escape, officials said. Joyce Mitchell, a prison tailor, and Gene Palmer, a guard, have both been charged with promoting prison contraband for allowing a package of frozen ground beef -- in which tools were hidden -- to reach the convicted murderers.

Latest Headlines