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[h=4]Manhunt underway in N.Y. for 2 escaped killers[/h]The pair apparently broke out of Clinton Correctional Facility near the Canadian border.
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A manhunt is underway for David Sweat and Richard Matt, two convicted killers who escaped from a New York state prison overnight. USA TODAY
Richard Matt(Photo: Provided photo)
Two convicted murderers used power tools to cut through steel pipes at a maximum-security prison near the Canadian border and escape through a manhole, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.
"It was an elaborate plot," Cuomo said after joining law enforcement authorities to retrace the prisoners' escape route from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y.
He said Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, "are two dangerous individuals."
Sweat, 32, was sentenced to life without parole in the slaying of a Broome County sheriff's deputy who had confronted him and others over a suspected burglary in 2002.
David Sweat<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Provided photo)
Matt, 48, was serving a 25-years-to-life sentence for murder, kidnapping and robbery in the slaying and dismemberment of a Niagara County businessman in 1997.
The pair broke out of Clinton Correctional Facility sometime Friday night or Saturday morning. State Police said Sweat and Matt, who were in adjoining cells, were counted as present Friday night but found to be missing during at a 5:30 a.m. bed check.
The prison immediately went into lockdown.
"A search revealed that here was a hole cut out of the back of the cell through which these inmates escaped," said Anthony Annuci, the acting state corrections commissioner. "They went onto a catwalk which is about 6 stories high. We estimate they climbed down and had power tools and were able to get out to this facility through tunnels, cutting away at several spots."
Authorities said there are many questions, including how the men acquired the tools. Annuci said prison authorities are checking to see if any power tools are missing from contractors at the facility.
Maj. Charles E. Guess of the State Police said more than 200 officers from multiple agencies are searching for the inmates. The search includes bloodhounds and aerial surveillance, he said.
Sweat is white, 5 feet 11 inches, with brown hair and green eyes and weighs 165 pounds, police said. He has tattoos on his left bicep and his right fingers.
Matt is white, 6 feet tall, with black hair and hazel eyes, according to police. He weighs 210 pounds and has tattoos including "Mexico Forever" on his back, a heart on his chest and left shoulder and a Marine Corps insignia on his right shoulder.
Located in the village of Dannemora to the west of Plattsburgh, the prison is the largest maximum-security prison in New York. The Plattsburgh Press-Republican said escapes from it are extremely rare.
The prison is about 20 miles from the Canadian border. Roadblocks were set up in the area, WIRY-AM reported.
State Police warned the pair should be considered dangerous and should not be approached.
Sweat was 22 years old when he and another man shot and killed Deputy Kevin J. Tarsia, a 13-year veteran, in Kirkwood. Tarsia, working an overnight shift, had been driving to his home in Kirkwood to make a brief stop on July 4, 2002, when he noticed three men in a park.
New York State Police conduct a roadblock in Beekmantown, N.Y., Saturday, June 6, 2015, as the search for two escaped prisoners continues.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Philip Tortora, Burlington (Vt.) Free Press)
Sweat and two companions were in the park splitting the proceeds of a burglary they had committed. They killed the deputy when he confronted them, authorities said at the time.
Matt and another man were accused of kidnapping and killing William Rickerson of North Tonawanda in 1997. Matt had worked for Rickerson at a food warehouse, but had recently been fired by the 76-year-old businessman. Rickerson's headless torso and legs were later found floating in the Niagara River.
Matt fled to Mexico in 1998 before he could be arrested, and there he stabbed a man outside a bar and was imprisoned for murder. Mexican authorities released him in 2007, and he was extradited to the United States. Matt was convicted by a Niagara County jury in 2008.
Matt has a history of escape, having broken out of the Erie County Jail in 1986 by scaling a fence. He was captured after four days, the Buffalo News reported in 2008.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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