A historic-scale manhunt, as seen on Escape at Dannemora, was let loose in upstate New York in 2015. It was for two convicted murderers, Richard Matt, and David Sweat, escaping from Clinton Correctional Facility.
The attempt elicited considerable media coverage regarding the brazenness of the effort but more surprising in a co-conspirator: Joyce Mitchell, a married correction officer who reportedly fell in love with the inmates.
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Mitchell was not part of this plan; however, an investigation of the daring escape by the media revealed that she had aided them in making their escape.
According to the report by the New York Inspector General, hacksaw blades and chisels hidden inside frozen meat smuggled by Mitchell were passed onto Matt and Sweat by guards.
Her involvement led to criminal charges, a prison sentence, and public fascination that would ultimately lead to Showtime's dramatized retelling of her case in the mini-series Escape at Dannemora.
Joyce Mitchell helped with the real Escape at Dannemora
Mitchell's history with the inmates (in a fascinating twist, claims of a romantic affair with Matt and contradictory accounts of her relationship with Sweat) provided the backdrop for an escape from prison that was straight out of a thriller.
Mitchell, who had worked as a seamstress at Clinton Correctional for several years, had grown close to Matt and Sweat. According to Vulture, Mitchell later claimed that Matt intimidated her into helping in the escape, though she declared her love for Sweat and even sent him notes secretly.
She had allegedly been involved in sexual acts with Matt in the prison's tailor shop, an activity which complicated her relationships and involvement in the escape plan according to an inspector general's report.
As the inmates planned their escape, Mitchell agreed to a graphic part of the plan: Matt and Sweat would kill her husband, Lyle Mitchell, after their breakout, with Mitchell initially agreeing to drug him the night before the breakout.
As ABC reported, she had a change of heart and flushed the pills Matt provided to her to knock out her husband.
Mitchell was also to ferry out the escapees once they reached through a tunnel they had painstakingly carved out from inside the prison out to a manhole outside, but she abandoned the plan, insisting on having chest pains and checking herself in a hospital that night.
The arrest, prison charges, and sentence that followed the Escape at Dannemora
She was arrested a week after the jailbreak happened in June 2015 and was charged with promoting prison contraband and criminal facilitation.
In September 2015, Mitchell pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to between two and seven years in prison, plus fines of over $80,000 for the damages caused.
Even though Mitchell served only a few months of her sentence, which she began serving in February 2020 on community supervision until June 2022, the rest of her life after completing her sentence remains private. However, the story is still alive, especially through the 2018 Showtime series Escape at Dannemora.
The show explored her connections with Matt and Sweat. It also showed the attraction offered by the risky relationship combined with the psychological effects she endured from Mitchell.
Escape at Dannemora is now on Netflix.
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