Joyce Mitchell

17 Stories

A Break for Prison Seamstress Who Helped Killers Escape

Joyce Mitchell to go free after 5 years in prison

(Newser) - The former upstate New York prison worker who helped two convicted murderers escape in 2015 is about to go home. Joyce Mitchell, sentenced to up to seven years in prison for providing material support to Clinton Correctional Facility escapees Richard Matt and David Sweat, is expected to be released from...

Seamstress Who Helped Cons Escape Hears Parole Fate

It's a no for Joyce Mitchell, who aided Richard Matt and David Sweat in Dannemora breakout

(Newser) - The upstate New York prison break that Joyce Mitchell played a role in four years ago captivated the nation, but her recent attempts to make her own way out from behind bars apparently didn't captivate the parole board. The New York Daily News reports the 55-year-old seamstress—who famously...

Inmate Gives 100+ Hours of Interviews on Brazen Escape

New book recounts David Sweat's escape with Richard Matt

(Newser) - The inside story of one of the US' most famous prison breaks is told in a new book from New York Daily News reporter Chelsia Rose Marcius, who spent more than 100 hours interviewing surviving inmate David Sweat, who was shot and captured three weeks after escaping from New York'...

As Showtime Readies Series, Seamstress Is Denied Parole

Joyce Mitchell helped 2 inmates escape from New York state prison

(Newser) - A state board has denied parole to a tailor who played a key role in a prison break that's the subject of a Showtime miniseries being filmed in the northern New York region where it happened. Joyce Mitchell will remain behind bars for at least two more years for...

Key to Inmates' Storied Escape: 'Lazy' Guards

Sweat managed to get out of cell 85 nights in a row

(Newser) - Guards at Clinton Correctional Facility were supposed to carry out overnight rounds, observing "skin and breathing or other movement," but "we got lazy," Officer Ronald Blair says in a 154-page report on the institutional flaws that enabled the brazen escape of David Sweat and Richard Matt...

Seamstress Owes $80K for Killers' Prison Break

It's 'every legal dollar' the state could get out of her

(Newser) - The prison seamstress who helped two convicted murderers escape a New York prison by smuggling them tools hidden inside meat last summer must pay nearly $80,000 in restitution, NBC News reports. That's in addition to the up to seven years Joyce Mitchell is currently serving for her role...

Prison Seamstress: 'I Live With Regret Every Day'

Joyce Mitchell sentenced to up to 7 years in 'worst mistake I have ever made'

(Newser) - Joyce Mitchell , the prison worker who helped two convicts escape an upstate New York correctional facility in June, wept during her sentencing Monday. "If I could take it all back I would," Mitchell said "in a choked voice," per NBC News . "I live with...

Seamstress: I Helped Convicts 'to Save My Family'
 Seamstress: 
 I Helped Convicts 
 'to Save My Family' 
'today' interview
Sep 14, 2015 12:42 PM CDT

Seamstress: I Helped Convicts 'to Save My Family'

Joyce Mitchell says prisoners knew where they lived

(Newser) - The former prison seamstress who helped two murderers escape in New York in June says she did so out of fear for her family. Richard Matt and David Sweat had discovered where her mother and older son lived, and Joyce Mitchell felt she was in too deep to refuse their...

Prison-Escape Helper: 'I Just Got in Over My Head'

Joyce Mitchell says Richard Matt had 'complete control'

(Newser) - Ex-prison seamstress Joyce Mitchell is in an upstate New York jail awaiting sentencing for her role in helping inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt escape the Clinton Correctional Facility in June, but she took the time to talk to Matt Lauer recently to explain where her head was at during...

Prison Worker Spills on Sexual Favors, Murder Plan

Joyce Mitchell tells investigators she gave oral sex to inmate, touched his genitals

(Newser) - In a glimpse into what the Washington Post calls the "rose-tinted romances of prison life," statements offered by prison worker Joyce Mitchell lend insight as to why she helped two felons escape the Clinton Correctional Facility last month. In statements acquired by the New York Times , NBC News...

Joyce Mitchell Pleads Guilty in NY Prison Escape

Prison seamstress admits charges in escape of Richard Matt, David Sweat

(Newser) - A New York prison employee has pleaded guilty to helping two killers escape last month. Joyce Mitchell, a tailor shop instructor at Clinton Correctional Facility, was jailed shortly after Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped on June 6. Matt was shot and killed three weeks later. Sweat was captured and...

NY Inmates' Plan Unraveled Over Chinese Food

Mitchell 'had a moment of clarity' while dining with hubby

(Newser) - The plan was set: Joyce Mitchell would pick up inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt after their prison breakout in a car packed with sleeping bags, tents, a fishing pole, and a shotgun, and the three would drive to kill Mitchell's husband, Lyle, before taking off for Mexico . But...

Escapee's Note to Daughter: 'See You on the Outside'

Richard Matt had Joyce Mitchell connect with her: official

(Newser) - Richard Matt 's daughter feared her father would pay her a visit while he was on the lam, and she had good reason to think he might, according to police. "I always promised you I would see you on the outside," Matt wrote in a letter...

Escapee: Only One of Us Had Sex With Prison Worker

And more tidbits from the captured escapee

(Newser) - Captured escapee David Sweat is apparently continuing to talk, and per CNN , he's talking about sex. A former inmate of the prison who worked in the tailor shop with Sweat and Joyce Mitchell three years ago had this to say about their relationship to ABC News : “We had...

NY Escapees Did a Practice Run

David Sweat says they began sawing through their cells 6 months ago

(Newser) - Here's one reason David Sweat and Richard Matt managed to bust out of prison: practice. The newly captured Sweat has told state authorities that he and Matt did a practice run the night before the actual escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility, reports CNN . It's not clear how...

Captured Escapee Speaks: The Plan Was Mexico

David Sweat says he and Richard Matt parted ways 5 days ago

(Newser) - A day after New York prison escapee David Sweat was shot near the Canadian border by Sgt. Jay Cook , he's apparently talking to investigators to fill in the gaps in the breakout scheme he and dead escapee Richard Matt carried out. Per Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sweat revealed he and...

Guard Charged in Escape Took Paintings From Convict

Gene Palmer says it was all an innocent mistake

(Newser) - A prison guard has now been charged in connection with the great escape from a New York prison. The accused is Gene Palmer, whose name surfaced Tuesday in reports that he delivered hacksaw blades hidden inside frozen hamburger meat to escapee Richard Matt. Palmer, 57, who has been on paid...

17 Stories