UPDATE: NY Prison Escapee Richard Matt Shot and Killed

By RYAN BONNER (Patch National Staff)

Richard Matt, one of the two murderers who escaped from a maximum security prison in upstate New York earlier this month, has been shot and killed, according to New York State Police.

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Here’s the statement from the state police:

At approximately 3:45 p.m. on June 26, a member of law enforcement spotted a man in a wooded area in the Town of Malone.

A member of law enforcement shot and killed a man believed to be Clinton Correctional Facility escapee Richard Matt. A positive identification is still pending.

Law enforcement are still searching for escapee David Sweat.

RELATED:

• Corrections Officer Arrested in Clinton Killers’ Escape
• Prison Worker Helped Upstate Escapees: Police

Matt, 48, was serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the murder of a man he beat and dismembered in December 1997. Sweat, 35, is serving a life sentence for the murder of a Broome County sheriff’s deputy in July 2002.

Matt and Sweat were first discovered missing from their adjoining cells at the prison in Dannemora during a 5:30 a.m. bed check on Saturday, June 6. They executed an elaborate escape plan to penetrate the prison walls and security that included cutting through metal pipes and walls using power tools, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said.

They emerged from a manhole on a street outside the prison’s 30-foot walls, the first inmates to break out of Clinton Correctional in its 170-year history. They left behind a taunting yellow sticky note for authorities on a pipe they cut open reading “Have A Nice Day!”

Two prison workers–Joyce Mitchell and Gene Palmer–have been arrested and charged with helping the duo escape.

NYS Police photo: Richard Matt