MALONE, N.Y. – With his escape partner killed, the surviving convicted murderer who pulled off an elaborate breakout from a maximum-security prison three weeks ago could have a tougher time eluding the army of searchers scouring miles of thick woods in far northern New York, police said Saturday.
Richard Matt – who once vowed never to be taken alive – was fatally shot Friday during an encounter with border patrol agents about 30 miles west of the prison he escaped from with David Sweat on June 6. Sweatremained on the lam Saturday, and about 1,200 searchers focused intensely on 22 square miles encompassing thick forests and heavy brush around where Matt was killed.
Police hoped the solo escapee would finally succumb to the stress of little sleep, scant food and biting bugs.
“Anyone in the woods and on the run from the law so to speak is not getting a full eight hours sleep, they’re not eating well and they have to keep moving,” Franklin County Sheriff Kevin Mulverhill said. “He’s fatigued, tired, and he’s going to make a mistake.”
Sweat could have an even tougher time now without someone to take turns resting with and to watch his back, Clinton County Sheriff David Favro said.