NY prison break – Manhunt is over

On Friday June 26th prison escapee Richard “Matt was shot and killed by a Customs and Border Protection SWAT team in the town of Elephant’s Head [NY] Friday afternoon after failing to respond to an order to raise his hands.. . .The search for the men intensified in the area after Bob Willett, a cabin owner, called authorities after noticing items missing and out of place.

A bottle of rum, two pairs of boots and binoculars were among the missing items, and Willett also noticed a bottle of gin had been spilled, he told ABC News.

“All we knew is that somebody was in the camp and we didn’t know who it was, so we decided we better call [police] and they came right up,” Willett said. “

“Escaped inmate Richard Matt was shot three times in the head and died from severe skull fractures and brain injuries, according to autopsy results released Sunday.. . The autopsy, performed at Albany Medical Center by Dr. Michael Sikirica, showed that Matt also had bug bites, blisters and minor abrasions “consistent with living in the woods for three weeks,” according to a statement from New York State Police.”

“ . . . Richard Matt appeared to be acting intoxicated at the time he was shot and killed, an official briefed on the matter told ABC News.”

“NEW YORK GOVERNOR, ANDREW CUOMO, [said on Sunday June 28th]: “We can now confirm as of two days ago, . . Mr. Matt is deceased and the other escapee Mr. Sweat is in custody. He’s in stable condition.” Governor Cuomo says he congratulated Sergeant Jay Cook who spotted Sweat as he jogged in the town of Constable, and who acted alone to take him down. . . “Sweat turned and fled on foot with the sergeant in pursuit. At some point running across a field he realized Sweat was going to make it to a tree line and possibly could have disappeared. And he fired two shots from his service weapon, his handgun, hitting Sweat twice in the torso.” Sweat’s capture brings an end to the manhunt for two convicted killers, who broke free from a New York prison on June 6. And residents in upstate New York say they already feel relief:”

“Ed Gavin, former deputy warden for the New York City Department of Corrections, [said] the trooper was justified.

‘Article 35 of the (New York) penal law permits you to use deadly physical force to stop a fleeing felon who is either charged with a felony or convicted of a felony,” Gavin said. “So the police officer was spot on.’”

NY Times reported that “It was not clear whether the men remained together the whole time, but they appeared to have been together recently enough that a discarded pepper shaker bearing Mr. Sweat’s DNA was found by investigators over the weekend near the spot where Mr. Matt was killed on Friday.

Mr. D’Amico, of the State Police, said the men possibly used the pepper to throw off the scent of the search dogs, a ruse employed in the 1967 film “Cool Hand Luke.”

‘We did have difficulty tracking, so it was fairly effective in that respect,’ he said.” . . .

“’The nightmare is finally over,’ Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said, speaking with Mr. D’Amico on Sunday evening surrounded by law enforcement officers at a news conference in Malone, marked by cheers and applause. ‘These were really dangerous, dangerous men.’