Clinton Prison Escape Report is Released

The New York State Inspector General’s Office is faulting the Clinton Correctional Facility for “chronic complacency and systematic failures” that allowed two prison employees to facilitate the escape a year ago of two killers from the maximum security lockup 25 miles south of Canada.

The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision says it's reviewing the inspector general's investigative report released Monday, June 6 into security failures and will implement reforms throughout the prison system.

One year ago, on June 5, David Sweat, who killed Broome County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Tarsia on July 4, 2002, and Richard Matt, who killed and dismembered a former supervisor, broke out of the Clinton Correctional Facility, led an army of law enforcement officers on a three week manhunt and caused alarm among residents in the area.

Matt was shot and killed by officers while Sweat was shot and wounded before being taken into custody near the Canadian border.