Marking *** milestone. It's been 10 years since two convicted killers escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. By definition, it was an extraordinary. We estimate they climbed down and had power tools. And we were able to get out to this facility through tunnels. Inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat spent months planning the escape. How did they get the power tools from who, how? With help from inside the prison. I live with my every day and for the rest of my life. The escape through the small community of Dannemora into the national spotlight and disrupted daily life for those inside and Outside the prison walls, we weren't outside with the kids. We were in the house, locked in the house with them, doing daily activities, trying to just keep their minds busy. Tonight we're sharing stories of the key players. He had joked that when I get out, or I can't even say joked honestly, because to him it was real. And those who were called to action. I didn't want to shoot anybody. That's the first time in my whole career I had to. But I was not gonna let him. Escape to remember the escape and to see how it's changed the community. You're watching *** special NBC 5 News presentation, Escape from Dannemora 10 years later. Thanks for joining us as we mark the 10 year anniversary of the escape from Dannemora. It was June 6, 2015 when officers here at Clinton Correctional Facility discovered two convicted killers, Richard Matt and David Sweat broke out of the prison. The pair cut holes into the walls of their cells, climbed down *** catwalk, drilled through tunnels, and climbed out of *** steam pipe to make it out. The manhunt lasted nearly 3 weeks, and 2 employees of the prison were convicted and sentenced for their roles in the escape. During this hour-long special, we'll hear from some of the key players that kept the North country safe during that time, as well as those who knew Richard Matt and David Sweat well. We'll also show you what's changed both inside and outside Clinton Correctional since the escape from Dannemora. On June 6, 2015, safety was the number one concern. Richard Matt and David Sweat were both serving sentences for murder. Sweat arrived at Clinton Correctional in 2003, *** year after the murder of Broome County Sheriff's deputy Kevin Tarzia. Sweat and an accomplice shot Tarzia several times before running him over with *** truck. Richard Mack came to Clinton Correctional in 2008. More than 10 years after the kidnapping, torture, and the murder of his former employer William Rickerson, Matt was also *** flight risk, according to the former New York State inspector General. He fled to Mexico after Rickerson's murder and had attempted to escape different facilities on at least 3 separate occasions before Dannemora, 2 of which were in New York. Now 10 years later, we're getting *** better idea about who Richard Matt was. His daughter sits down with us to talk about the relationship that she had with her father leading up to the escape. I'm Jamie Smith and I'm the daughter of Richard Matt. It's taken several years. I feel like growing up with such such *** secret, such *** skeleton in the closet, um, you feel shame. But Jamie Smith is now embracing her identity as the daughter of the man who was serving life in prison without parole. For the brutal murder of his former boss, seventy-six-year-old William Rickerson. That murder happened outside of Buffalo in 1997. Jamie was 9 years old at the time and didn't know anything about her father. She didn't even know his name. That was all about to change. It was after the murder was committed that my mom had no choice but to tell me something, we had agents at the house and all this hoopla over there. Um, so she, uh, I'll never forget that, um, I was 9 years old and she pulled me aside and said, I gotta tell you something about your father. Um, this is what he did, and it was that deer in the headlights, and she goes, do you have any questions? And I said, Nope, and it was not discussed again for *** very long time. Years passed by. Richard Matt had found himself in trouble with the law again. He fled to Mexico after the Rickerson murder and stabbed *** man to death after *** bar fight in 2003 while Matt was. Serving time in Mexico, *** letter came in the mail addressed to Jamie. It was from her dad. And the letter itself, um, I mean, it was pleading with, you know, please look past the things you know of me, give me *** chance, and all, all the things that were meant to really like tug at your heartstrings. It just didn't, it didn't. I don't know if I was just, I already had that wall up. I was kind of pre-trained that we don't really entertain this, we don't discuss it. He did bad things. He's *** bad person, you know. Um, so it just I dismissed it, but that letter sparked *** curiosity in Jamie, so she and *** friend headed to the local library where she googled his name. I'm seeing literature that was painting him as *** monster, an actual monster, um, so that is how I learned and that's what I knew of my father and I was like how. Terrifying for one, but how did I come from this person? How am I *** product of somebody who did such horrendous things? It was *** very big, um, internal self struggle for *** very long time. In 2011, another letter came in the mail. This time things were different. Richard Matt had been extradited to New York to be sentenced for the Rickerson murder and was serving time at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. Jamie was *** young adult and felt an urge to get to know her father on *** personal level, so she responded, I came to like this person, which in my head was so opposite of what I was supposed to do. Um, I wasn't supposed to engage with him. I wasn't supposed to come to like and love this person as my father. Um, but I did. I have to make up for his wrongdoings and it's taken, like I said, *** really long time to separate myself from the fact that. I didn't do these things. I'm, I'm *** byproduct of this person, yes, but I didn't do any of these things. I'm not him. From 2011 to 2015, the two wrote hundreds of letters. They're all right here in this binder. His meticulous penmanship articulates his life story as their bond strengthened. Matt had honed his skills as *** master oil painter in prison. Sent Jamie several pieces of art. He loved painting celebrities and animals. Eventually Jamie agreed to take the six hour drive from Buffalo to Dannemora to meet her dad face to face for the first time. So he came down and we just caught each other's glance and it was like, holy smokes, we just, you know, we hugged, we were able to hug. I didn't know if that was going to be an option. Um, and we really just caught each other staring more than anything. Jamie walked away from that first visit with *** souvenir that she still wears to this day. Matt dropped this cross necklace in her pocket. It had been his birth mother's and it was the only thing of value that. He had to his name. He doesn't have much, but the one thing he has, he wanted me to have, um, because it was important to him enough to give to me as his daughter. From there, the letters continued and so did the visits where *** common theme started to emerge in his rhetoric. He had. Joked that you know when I get out or if I I can't say joked honestly because he to him it was real to me. I took it as like joking. I'm looking around like I know the security. I had to go through to get here. You're not getting out of here. There's there's absolutely no way out of here. It was like standard prison fantasy of every guy that was probably in there. Um, so I did not think remotely anything of him getting out. I'm like, if this is what gets you through every day, tell yourself whatever you have to. So yeah, when that became reality, it was just like, oh boy, he did it. Yeah he's he's out. Our conversation didn't end there. So I had 24/7 escorts. Um, there was the black, you know, stereotypical black vans parked all by my house. Um, I had surveillance for that whole 3 weeks, um, and then that Monday in Monday's mail, *** letter came. Coming up in the second half of this special, my conversation with Jamie continues about the moments after her father escaped, how she coped with the aftermath, and the surprise that her father left behind. During Richard Matt and David Sweat's time in prison, the inmates were on *** high priority list for the potential to escape. That's according to *** retired corrections officer. He says he patrolled the industry building at Clinton Correctional where Matt and Sweat worked. Jeff Dumas retired from Clinton Correctional back in October of 2014 and says at one point it was his job to complete rounds at the infamous tailor shop where Matt Sweat and Joyce Mitchell worked. Here's what he recalls of the two inmates. Interacting with sweat, he didn't say *** whole lot. He keep to himself, um, very pri not private, but just quiet. Matt was very kind of arrogant, um. He always had that Kind of like I don't, I, I don't know how to say it politely. It's like *** stupid swagger. Like, what are you doing? You're in prison. What? You don't have any clout here. Dumas says his interactions with Joyce Mitchell were limited, but he says it appeared that Mitchell tried to listen in on his conversations with the tailor shop corrections officer when he made rounds in the industrial building. There are still plenty of questions about how Richard Matt and David Sweat managed to pull off their escape from Clinton Correctional Facility. Two people who are still scratching their heads are Clinton County Sheriff Dave Favreau and former Franklin County Sheriff Kevin Mulverhill. The two both. Served our region when the prison break happened and they helped New York State police in their pursuit of the escapees. Favro says that the community's support for law enforcement really stands out to him while Mulverhill remembers *** shocking moment at the end of the manhunt. Uh, but that was *** long 3 weeks, very, very little sleep for myself, my staff, all law enforcement and the community. I mean, everybody wanted to get this wrapped up. The weather was not pleasant. There was *** lot of, you know, tension that was starting to build, so I was glad to see it over. I did not talk to David Sweat, but I was there when they uh unloaded them from the ambulance. I was surprised at his appearance. He was fairly clean shaven. He didn't look like *** man that had been on the run for 3 weeks. I, I was really, I mean, he had, obviously had *** chest wound and, uh, you know, was, uh, was in *** lot of pain. But I, his, his, uh, just his appearance of how well kept he was, was, took me back *** little bit. Both of those men say this is the most high profile case they've been on in their law enforcement career. By the end of that first day, hundreds of law enforcement agents were called to Dannemora and the surrounding communities. Had to go through *** road stop and get checked by the prison guard. It's just overwhelming. I think there's stress that was unexpected, so it's almost traumatizing. They blocked off roads, checked cars and buses, even did *** security sweep at the Saranac Central Schools. Our special coverage continues after the break. How did they pull this off? Well, we know quite *** bit from the Inspector General's report that came out about *** year after the escape. David Sweat told the IG that he used hacksaw blades to cut out of the steam pipe that ultimately led to their freedom. He says that effort took him weeks, but longtime Clinton County Sheriff David Favreau doesn't buy that story. That is 1/2 to 5/8 inch steel, and you're not going to cut through that with *** hacksaw blade, and if you really zoom in close and take *** look at the photographs that they took of that pipe where they went in, you'll see that the corners are exactly 90 degrees and they are square. Anybody who's cut *** piece of wood with *** jigsaw, cut *** piece of metal with any type of saw, will know that you don't get *** square cut like that, especially with *** hacksaw. Well, we were curious about this too, and we decided to put it to the test. We paid *** visit to Jefford Steel in Plaser to get *** better idea of what it takes to cut through *** metal steam pipe. For our experiment, Jefford Steel set us up with this replica steel pipe. It's *** quarter inch thick and it's 30 inches in diameter. It's actually much larger than the one that the inmates broke out of, which was only 18 inches wide and 3/8 inch thick. Our helpers got all suited up and got to work. First, making *** cut into the steel using *** grinder with *** zip wheel. You can see it cuts *** really nice line and you can do it pretty quickly, but investigators who actually replicated the same experiment with Jefford Steel shortly after the escape determined that using this method wouldn't have worked because of how noisy it was. Using *** tool like this would have undoubtedly caught the attention of guards, so next we try to hacksaw. With *** little force, it cuts straight down the steel in *** straight line, making *** cut that looks similar to the infamous steam pipe. I even tried my hand at it. Shorter stroke still would be better. It's *** lot harder than it looks. Former New York Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott interviewed David Sweat as part of her investigation. Sweat admitted to stealing *** sledgehammer, *** steel punch, two breathing masks, and an LED light from *** contractor's toolbox that he found in the catwalk. In Laahy Scott's report, she wrote that Sweat initially thought about breaking into the pipe with *** sledgehammer, but knew it would be *** mistake, so he resorted to primarily using hacksaw blades. He says it took him about *** month to finish the job. We have rarely heard insights now from *** person who served prison time with Richard Matt and David Sweed. He says during the urgent search for the escaped murderers, people like him who were trying to turn their lives around were mistreated. Jack Thurston has that story with an assist from *** former NBC 5 reporter now working in New York City. Terrifying Coleman describing life during the manhunt for other people locked up at Clinton Correctional. The 1st 2 to 3 weeks were held in 2015, he was halfway through *** nearly 20 year sentence on robbery and burglary convictions. He tells us he worked in the same. overseen by Joyce Mitchell and had *** space for cooking and gardening privileges near David Sweats. Coleman, who's now *** free man living in Manhattan, spoke about his time imprisoned in Dannemora with NBC 4 New York investigative reporter Chris Glorioso. Did you ever think about trying to escape? I'm not gonna lie to you. Every night Every night, but then reality hits you and you're like, where are you gonna go stupid? Coleman claims during the lockdown all incarcerated people were treated harshly as if they were accomplices to the escape, even though he says they were as surprised as the rest of us. Everyone was shocked because we couldn't believe that someone actually escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility, and this place is *** fortress in *** July 2015. letter to multiple recipients, including top corrections officials and the New York Inspector General, the prison's inmate liaison Committee wrote of Clinton, the facility is on edge and tensions are high. It alleged *** significant number of inmates were beaten, and the committee described reports of property being damaged during aggressive searches of cells. It was *** dangerous situation. I was assaulted. While I was there, I was brutalized while I was there. Are you saying that correction officers were basically taking it out? Yes, they were on the population, they in fact were, even though it was their mistakes that led to the escape, the escape, the attention that they brought upon themselves. They were just cracking down. They wanted information from people. Yes, they wanted to know how many people were involved because rightfully so, like I said. Every officer there in New York State is not bad, but you do have *** culture. Individuals were were being assaulted through the whole facility. Ncoba, the Union for Correction officers, declined to comment on those claims, but in 2015 it cast strong doubt on the validity of similar allegations, saying prison staffers are the ones who are the victims of *** stunning rise in assaults behind prison walls. For docs, it also declined to comment, citing litigation still pending on this issue. In *** separate statement, the department pointed to *** $418 million state investment in body worn and fixed cameras in facilities since the escape, writing, the technology has been proven to reduce violence, making facilities safer for staff and the incarcerated population while holding people accountable for any wrongdoing. We're tired, um, thankful for everything that they're doing, great security set up, but it's very tiring, it's nerve-wracking, especially with all the rumors. By day 3 of the manhunt, people were ready to get back to normal, but it would be almost *** week into the search before we started to get answers when *** local woman was arrested. There were signs from the beginning that Richard Matt and David Sweat had help getting out on day 6 of the search. Joyce Mitchell, *** prison seamstress, was arrested and charged with aiding their escape. Mitchell oversaw the tailor shop where Matt and Sweat worked. According to the inspector General's report, she had *** sexual relationship with both inmates, which Mitchell eventually admitted herself. The escapees convinced Mitchell to smuggle in hacksaw blades, which she hid inside *** frozen hamburger meat. She also promised the two men that she would pick. outside of the prison and drive them to safety. Another part of that plan was to kill her husband Lyle. She says that's when she got cold feet on the night of the escape. She checked herself into the hospital to be treated for *** panic attack. She was eventually arrested and charged with promoting prison contraband and facilitating criminal activity. In September of 2015, she offered an apology to the North country at her sentencing. I'm hoping you understand how remorseful and sorry I am. None of this was ever my intentions. I live with regret every day and hope for the rest of my life. Mitchell was released after less than 5 years in prison. Now we did try to reach out to Joyce Mitchell. We sent her *** letter before this special and knocked on her door in Dickinson Center. Joyce It's Lauren with NBC 5. Nobody answered that door and she never responded to our letter. Back in 2015, Mitchell told NBC News she prayed and prayed the men would be captured, but it took authorities 20 days to find one of them, Richard Matt. It happened in the town of Malone two days after DNA evidence linked Matt to *** burglarized cabin in the area. Not long after that, police got *** call from someone driving *** camper. The driver told authorities they had been hit by what appeared to be *** gunshot. It was one of the final clues that led them to the woods along Route 30 where Matt had been hiding. Christopher Voss, *** border agent from out of state, ended up spotting Matt armed with *** shotgun. Voss told Matt to show his hands, but he didn't, so the agent fired his weapon, taking down one of the escapees. By the 21st day, neighbors started to feel some relief and then more frustration with David Sweat still on the run. And it was like, oh, thank goodness we opened the windows to get air in and it was like, and then we heard like you said where they were just *** couple of miles from here. OK, close the doors, lock the windows again, you know, it just, it just doesn't give. Coming up we hear from the man who shot and captured the remaining escapee and helped the North country get life back to normal. Thanks for staying with us for our special coverage marking 10 years since the escape from Dannemora. 20 days after convicted killers Richard Matt and David Sweat were reported missing from their cells, *** border agent shot and killed Richard Matt near Malone, but the two men had split up as law enforcement. Began to close in, and it was another 2 days before David Sweat was spotted just miles from the US-Canadian border. The man who shot him is Jay Cook, and for the first time he's sitting down for *** one on one interview to talk about what happened that day. It all happened that fast. Former New York State Police Sergeant Jay Cook will never forget the day that changed his life forever. He was alone on what he thought would be *** routine patrol near the US-Canadian border. It was June 28, 2015. Well, it was Coytown Road and Constable. What would become the last day of the prison break, and I was just going slow. It was misting rain and kind of nasty out. And I believe it was about 3:20 in the afternoon. I came around this corner and I had alfalfa field on one side on the north side of me and field on the other side as well. He saw someone walking. I had my window down. I started yelling at the guy. Who was probably 25 or 30 yards away. And I said, come here, I wanna talk to you. What are you doing here? that kind of thing and he kept taking baby steps away from me as he's yelling stuff back to me, but I can't hear what he's saying, so I'm unhooking my seat belt and I'm yelling at him louder now because he's not listening to me and it just it didn't click like I knew something was up but it just didn't click. Until he took his hood down, he had *** ball cap on and *** hood up. And he took his hood down and he put his hands up like this to me and yelled something back to me and that's when I saw his whole face and head like you know with the ball cap on and that's when it clicked it's like. This is him. It was prison escapee 34 year old David Sweat. Cook knew he couldn't let him get away, so the firearms instructor got out of his cruiser and ran after him, ordering him to surrender with his hands up. When Sweat ignored his orders and kept running, Cook fired one shot, hitting Sweat's shoulder, then another. No, I didn't want to shoot anybody. That's the first time in my whole career I had to. Uh, but I was not gonna let him escape me and I was gonna use any means necessary, and I gave him numerous chances to stop and follow my commands. So as far as I'm concerned, he chose that outcome, not me. He says what happened next seemed like an eternity. He held sweat at gunpoint until more help could arrive. He yelled out he thought he was gonna die. And then he yelled out that he just wanted to be free and he just wanted to disappear. That's about it. Sweat didn't get his wish. Less than 2 miles from the Canadian border, he was taken into custody, and Cook was hailed *** hero for putting an end to the 3 week long manhunt. Well, it took some time for it to actually sink in, you know, like I said it all. so fast and I was thankful that nobody else got hurt. Cook received numerous awards for apprehending sweat on that rainy June afternoon. He was honored with the Officer of the Month Award in November of 2015 from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. NBC 5 was there when he received the Law Enforcement Excellence Award from the Sons of the American Revolution. Now 10 years later, you still get recognized once in *** while. He has *** new title, Sheriff Jay Cook. For 2.5 years, he's been leading. Franklin County Sheriff's Department and is enjoying this new chapter. It's been very busy, very busy, *** lot to go through, *** lot to learn. He's grateful to have continued to earn the support of this community who he still continues to protect and serve. David Sweat was taken to Alice High Medical Center for his injuries. He ended up taking *** plea deal. We sent him *** letter asking to speak with us for this special, but we never heard back from him. He did share this message at his sentencing in early 2016. I'd like to apologize to the community and people who um felt the fear and felt um it necessary to, you know, leave their homes or um their community because of the escape. That was never my intent. 10 years later, most everyone remembers those 3 weeks clearly, especially longtime Clinton County District attorney Andrew Wiley, who wound up in *** very unexpected spot. Andrew Wiley was coaching his son's soccer team in Vermont when he got the call on June 6th, uh, when I received *** phone call, uh, from the New York State Police advising me about the escape. Um, you know, certainly we want to identify who's involved, um, what their background and what their history was. Two convicted murderers who are now on the run with Matt and Sweat out that somebody may lose their life, somebody may be victimized, uh, by either one of them while they were on the run. The escape quickly became the lead story. On all the major networks said that it was unfounded but that that also wasn't enough evidence. Putting the district attorney in an unexpected spot, spokesperson people knocking on my door, you know, standing in my driveway waiting for me to come home at night and my wife taking calls uh at at the time because we had *** landline. What they wanted was the most updated. Information so the DA went on TV to let his neighbors know what was going on. I would have conversations with uh major guests and the investigators that were leading the case and I'd be like, I understand you don't want to disclose this information and I don't feel that I'm disclosing something that's, you know, going to, uh, infringe on the investigation. But I think people need to know that some people may feel comfortable that oh they're in Pennsylvania we don't have to worry about we can now go outside we can unlock our doors like we had before we can you know walk our dogs in the community it's like no you can't they're still here. Dispelling any rumors that may have been making the rounds like how Matt and Sweat had made it well out of the area possibly out of the state. I knew that that day or the day before that we had DNA obtained from. Franklin County, you know, in one of the cabins. So I'm like. Once it was uncovered that the two had help in their escape, Wiley knew that everyone involved would face charges, and he'd be the one making sure they got time. You just can't allow somebody to escape from Clinton Correction Facility and not prosecute them. They have to be prosecuted. And with regard to escape. David Sweat got 3.5 to 7 more years added to his life sentence. Joyce Mitchell got 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison serving nearly 4.5 years behind bars for her role. Her involvement really created this 3 week episode here in the county, and I felt she really needed to be held more accountable than maybe even sweat and Matt because they would never have been out if it wasn't for her. Today he has this picture in his office in Plattsburgh that reminds him of the events of June 2015. But he doesn't think about it much with the next case waiting to be tried. The escape brought all kinds of media attention to the North Country from all over the world. We spoke with some of the people involved in that work. Stay with us for those stories. After the prison break, the New York State Inspector General at the time, Catherine Leahy Scott, launched *** thorough investigation to highlight systemic failures that she says allowed this escape to happen. Her 2016 report blames Joyce Mitchell's willful criminal conduct and smuggling escape tools and having. Sexual relationships with the escapees, it calls veteran corrections officer Gene Palmer's actions quote reckless for delivering contraband to the killers and even bypassing metal detectors, but the IG's document says the problems went far beyond Palmer and Mitchell. Investigators found that bed checks on cell blocks were lax, that contractors tools were left unsecured in the facility. Searches of employees' bags didn't take place at the start of the work day, and inspections of tunnels and cell infrastructure were skipped. NBC Five's Jack Thurston spoke with the current head of the watchdog agency that investigates corruption and abuse in state government. Lucy Lang recalls the help that the murderers received and the sloppy attitude inside of the prison, the perfect storm that made it possible for the killers to make their way toward the manhole. Everything went right for them until nearly 3 weeks after their escape, it finally went wrong for them. Or you could say that everything went wrong for the people of New York who had to foot the bill for some $23.5 million in overtime and repair bills for that facility. That's right, and it is why we must commit to making sure that that never happens again and that the department is following rigorously its commitment to conducting security checks to prohibiting unauthorized relationships, and to making sure that contraband isn't brought into facilities. More than half of our nearly 6000 complaints that we receive annually alleging corruption and fraud in state government are related to the Department of Corrections, so it was clear that we needed to direct significant resources, and we take seriously every allegation and follow it to its logical conclusion. So as Inspector General, I have visited every single one of New York State's prisons. I've met with the staff, the administration, the incarcerated folks at those. Prisons and I have staff on the ground visiting prisons regularly to follow up on complaints, to do spot checks, to communicate with staff, and to do all we can to identify gaps before they result in any kind of breach of any kind, much less of the scale that we saw with the Clinton escape. *** phrase that comes up repeatedly in Your predecessor's report is that Clinton Correctional suffered from *** culture of carelessness. What is the culture today? With respect to the culture of carelessness, we want to encourage the department and all law enforcement to be mindful of internal controls, to make sure that they're following protocols like not filling out check sheets, suggesting they have checked every bed when they haven't yet checked every bed. Um, but also to do it in *** way that treats the residents with dignity. It can be very hard even with the, with extreme vigilance to determine if every single thing is being followed to *** T. I am confident that there are people on the ground at the prisons who are working to follow all of those protocols and that uh they have become much more rigorous in Um, committing to consistency across facilities and following the recommendations made by the report. Speak directly to the people of the North Country. How confident should people here be in the safety of the facilities that are located quite literally in their backyards? First, I want to thank the people of the North Country for all the work that they did to support law enforcement efforts at the time of this manhunt. With respect to confidence, we are hopeful that the recommendations made in this report have been taken very much to heart and that over the decade since that terrifying escape, that massive changes have been made and that the facilities in the north country are doing all they can to prevent this kind of catastrophe from occurring again. We reached out to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision multiple times for an interview. They declined to speak with us for this special, so we sent them our questions in an email. We asked what tangible improvements have been made to facilities to reduce the chances for *** future escape, especially for communities that house these facilities in their own backyard. The written response from docs was roughly 2 pages long. This is what they shared with us following the 2015 escape. Docs has implemented recommendations from the inspector General's office to ensure safety. Most recently, spokesperson Tom Maley told us that Governor Hole's office has invested $418 million to add body cameras and fix cameras at 41 of the 42 state prisons. Doc says this was meant to increase accountability and transparency. The governor's office has also set aside $7 million to add *** new public integrity division to the Office of Special Investigations. That division will focus on allegations of staff misconduct, specifically use of force and sexual assault. As for contraband inside prisons, Doc says 88 body scanners have been deployed across the state for use on visitors, staff, and those who were incarcerated. All regular mail is also copied and sent to individuals in addition to *** new legal mail screening process which is fully operational at 18 facilities between 2020 and 2024, Mali says that doc saw *** 96% reduction in contraband from incoming packages. Still to come, clues that hinted at the escape. Richard Matt's daughter tells us what her dad said before he broke out and the surprise he left. That's next. Earlier in the special, we introduced you to Jamie Smith, Richard Matt's daughter. She had been in contact with her father as *** young adult and visited him several times at the Dannemora prison, but when he escaped, she knew deep down that her worst fear would likely become *** reality. Just 5 days before the escape, Richard Matt writes what will end up being his last letter to his daughter Jamie. I got this the 7th, June 7th, and he knew he was already going to be gone. The two page note takes *** dark turn at the end, foreshadowing what would be his new reality. On the run. I know you think I will grow old and die in here in time. I can't go for that, Jamie. I have to beat them odds somehow. Besides, I gave you my word that someday you would know me outside these prison walls. I will keep my word to you. I don't give my word lightly, but when I do, I keep it. Always know that I love you and little Leo with all my heart. That will never change no matter where I am at. Love always did. Just one day before receiving this letter, Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped. Jamie was newly pregnant with her second child, and in the middle of doing hair and makeup at her best friend's wedding, she noticed her phone was ringing nonstop. So I happened to click on it, um, and it was my mom, and that is the first thing she said. She goes, Jamie, he's out. Who? What are you talking? Ricky's out. He escaped from prison and she's got this like terrifying shriek in her voice. I'm just like. What? Like, I'm sorry, what, but instantly in my mind I'm like. I'm target number one. This is bad. Jamie's gut feeling was right. For 3 weeks she cooperated with SWAT teams and investigators while they provided her with 24/7 surveillance. My dad knew that that's exactly what would have happened. I was target number one, so he had me very purposefully have no knowledge of this, have nothing from him. All those letters and paintings over to police as the search for her dad and sweat continued, new details began to emerge about their escape, sending shock waves around the world, including to Buffalo, where Jamie was on pins and needles waiting like everybody else. Son of *** gun. He did it. I didn't know that it was going to snowball and be this three week manhunt that made national news most wanted man in America like. Wasn't expecting any of that, but it was like, how, how did you do this? Um, and then finding out the details of the hole in the back of the cell and the pipe and this, it's like. Guys, this is an actual movie. Like, how did this happen? Jamie knew deep down there would only be one of two outcomes. He's either going to disappear or he's gonna die. And on June 26th, her worst fear became *** reality when her dad was shot and killed by *** border patrol agent. It felt strange to Honor my own father because he was the bad guy. He did bad things. He just cost the state of New York millions and millions of dollars and the overtime and all this stuff. Um, so it's, it was hard to grieve. The bad guy. Jamie received everything that was left in her dad's cell as his next of kin, his box of oil painting supplies, his classic white Nike sneakers. There was one thing personal left behind. This is. There were other photographs too, like this one taken of Matt and Sweat years before the escape. And then there's this the cryptic note left behind the night he broke out, saying he couldn't grow old and die in here. It was placed right next to this time to go kid on one of his paintings. He left her with so much stuff you could write *** book, and that's exactly what she did. The book to me was essentially *** form of therapy. It was very therapeutic. It was really like, OK, Jamie, you have to address this. You had little to no grieving when this happened. You pretended the escape didn't even exist. I'm taking clients. I'm pregnant. I'm avoiding all emotion at all costs, um, just to stay level. So the book was really like, it's time to start the healing process. The book titled He's Out The True Story of Infamous Prison escapee Richard Matt, as told by his daughter, came out in 2018. As she was writing it, she wanted more answers about the escape. So she headed to Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in southern New York to meet the woman who helped her dad and sweat break out, Joyce Mitchell. I was like, you know what, lady, like, how did this get this far? Um, you know, I said, had you just done your job, had you spoken up, like my father would still be alive. And she actually said that. I didn't, you know, I just had those as thoughts, and she broke down in tears and she came right out and said that so she had felt that guilt herself. So if I, you know, if I just did the right thing, she was, you would still have *** dad. She truly, you know, was remorseful for how far this, this whole scheme had gotten and her involvement in it. Um, and, and like I said, I, I had *** respect for that, and I appreciated that she said that to me and that she even gave me her time to speak with me. One person she hasn't spoken with yet is David Sweat. She's written to him multiple times with no response, but as she reflects on this 10 year anniversary of the escape and of her dad's passing, I have *** little regret that I wasn't in more contact. Him knowing that those would have been kind of the last days, um, and yeah I do I miss him. This mom of three wishes things would have gone differently, that she could have heard his side of the story. It's why she was so motivated to at least share their story with the world. It's almost become *** natural part of, you know, my story unless you can live this story. I, I have to just own, you know, what became of me and him and our relationship, *** relationship she's grateful to have had all because she responded to *** letter in the mail. Well, if you'd like to read Jamie's book, it's available to purchase through Amazon or Barnes and Noble. The story was just so captivating and had so many fascinating elements to it, uh, and did feel like *** movie playing out. That's John Yang, the anchor of PBS News Weekend. He covered the prison break when he was with NBC News. While the story was deathly serious in *** conversation with NBC 5, Yang remembered one moment of levity when *** cow walked up behind him during *** live report from alongside *** pasture. Jack Thurston spoke with several other journalists who brought the story from the North Country to audiences around the world. They immediately moved in to set up *** perimeter here. Chris Paone was among the legion of journalists from national and even international news outlets who descended on the North Country during the manhunt. Is this assignment one of the more memorable ones of your career? Without *** doubt, Jack, this this was one of the most. Surreal, ridiculous tense assignments that I had ever been on. The search here in the area continues. Chris was kept busy filing reports for MSNBC and for local NBC stations in other parts of the US. How is that job different than what we do here at NBC 5? Well, I think what you were doing there is you were really trying to keep the public informed on *** moment to moment basis of what's shut down, what might be. Dangerous what people should be doing. The driver coming through this area. What I was trying to do was trying to convey to people across the country and around the world was just the feeling of what was going on there, the amount of fear, the way that people were staying inside or going about their daily lives, how concerned they were about the situation. It's probably top 5 most memorable stories I've covered. Stephanie Gosk filed reports for NBC Nightly News and for the Today Show, meeting many. People who worked in corrections or knew someone who did. Because everyone has some connection to the system. I was struck by how personal people took this escape. People were angry that one of their own may have let their guard down and let these guys escape. Beyond that, what you really saw Dannemora, the town surrounding people really coming together and taking care of each other, uh, because you had to escape murders on the loose. And people were watching and they were worried about their neighbors. They were worried about themselves. Not only was it *** made for Hollywood plot, but it was real life. CNN assigned Polo Sandoval to the escape. The more we learn, the more questions we had in this case. It was his first major news story for the network. 10 years later, I am tremendously appreciative of not only the high level of hospitality that that I experienced in that community. But also the level of trust. I mean, I'm *** stranger to them with my team and I, we knocked on people's doors and they were more than happy to very carefully open them for us and and to this day the people who I worked alongside during this assignment well I'm, I'm very good friends with them and we always reflect. On the 3 weeks at Dannemora, this is *** small town. Back to Chris Paone, the correspondent says while the prison break made headlines everywhere, the coverage of reporters specifically serving the North Country was vital. You guys were generating the most news and really keeping your area informed, and that's what you're there for. That that is the ultimate goal of journalism is to is to give people important and potentially life saving information. And you guys did that throughout the whole thing, and that was *** real pleasure to watch. It made our jobs really easy. In the last 10 years there have been books, movies, and even *** limited series on Showtime about the escape from Dannemora. NBC Five's Lauren Granada spoke with Eric Jensen, who was formerly incarcerated at Clinton. After his release, he worked alongside Ben Stiller as *** consultant and technical advisor for Stiller's Showtime series. I know exactly what it's like on the other side of that wall right there standing on the corner of Cook and Emmon Street in Dannemora, New York, Eric Jensen remembers Clinton Correctional Facility 13 years ago. It's not like I was wrongly convicted or anything. I made bad decisions. I made horrible decisions to put myself inside these places. Jensen served 12. In New York State for charges related to armed robbery, promoting prison contraband, and criminal enterprise big buildings that come up right there. He worked in the tailor shop with inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat along with seamstress Joyce Mitchell until his release in 2012. It was just *** manipulation. They were very good at what they did. They were conniving. They were master manipulators. escape artists. After the escape 10 years ago, Jensen brought his experience to the big screen, working on Ben Stiller's limited series Escape from Dannemora. I did everything prison related from casting to production to wardrobe. I made *** little cameo. And it was something that I really enjoyed because you can take something inside of your mind when you see it on paper and then you see it come to fruition and it's something tangible now. Jensen says the eight episode show was heavily inspired by the inspector General's report of the escape. That was 1111 thing Ben was very serious about if he was going to do this, he wanted to tell the story. As true as possible information wise today Jensen has his own production company and as he stands outside of Clinton Correctional Facility, it feels like right now it's it's surreal. He's proud of how far he's come. It's kind of, you know, you want to say an accomplishment, but you don't. You know, you don't give yourself *** pat on the back because you did something bad. You, you congratulate yourself because you're, you keep moving forward. That's about it in Dannemora, Lauren Granada, NBC 5 News turning point in my life when I. By the time it was all over, some neighbors say the community was closer after those 28 days. Coming up, why they believe the North country has stayed strong through it all. Quiet, friendly, and safe, we met with community members across the North country who use those words to describe the place they call home. Now 10 years later, we asked how they feel *** decade after the escape. The neighborhood looks like *** scene out of any typical American town with the exception of the prison Clinton Correctional Facility in the middle of Dannemora. You're kind of close. Like most of the nearly 3000 neighbors here who are or have been employed by the prison, I've dealt with almost 40 years working for the state. Stanley Berg worked as *** corrections officer for the facility. He recalls the prison escape 10 years ago. I always check my property. Make sure nothing was there. Berg described the surreal images of heavily armed officers scouring the typically quiet town after the two inmates broke out and recalls the true sense of fear among families. It was very unnerving because nobody knew where they were. The mix of fear and anger in the community. We all just made sure everybody had weapons. Everything was loaded, everybody knew. After speaking with many neighbors across the north country, it brought everybody closer. The community came together very well. Everybody looked out for each other's back and neighbors checked on neighbors. The sense of hometown pride and camaraderie was always prevalent just as it was 10 years ago. Lauren Granada, NBC 5 News. The community here in Dannemora and across the North country remembers, and they say they will always be grateful for the law enforcement officers who kept them safe. That does it for our special coverage. For more on the 10 year anniversary, you can visit our website or stream this special again on very local. Thanks for joining us.