Escaped Killers Fought About Whether to Stay in Cabin Before Splitting Up: Official
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Two killers on the run from a northern New York prison for three weeks disagreed over whether to hole up in hunting cabin — one worried about being captured while the other suggested they could kill or take hostage anyone who checked on the remote camp, state police said.
State Police Maj. Charles Guess told the Press-Republican of Plattsburgh that David Sweat and Richard Matt spent two or three nights at the cabin two weeks after their June 6 escape from the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility.
Sweat told investigators after his capture that he wanted to leave the cabin 30 miles west of the prison before someone discovered them. But Matt wanted to stay because the cabin had alcohol, heat and water. Matt argued that if someone did come, they could take him hostage or just kill him, Guess said.
"But Sweat said he wanted no part of that," Guess said.
The two convicted murderers also found a .20 gauge shotgun hidden between two mattresses, though they had no ammunition, Guess said, relying on Sweat's account.
Police say a New Mexico couple took their kids along when they threw fireworks at a sleeping homeless man, setting him on fire.
A hunter who leased the cabin along with several other corrections officers drove an all-terrain vehicle to the camp June 20. Alerted to potential danger by his dog, he noticed movement, drew his handgun and saw a figure scurry into the woods, police said.
David Sweat after being shot and captured.
David Sweat the moment he was captured
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Police escort ambulances from an area where law enforcement officers were searching for convicted murderer David Sweat, one of two convicted murderers who broke out of a maximum-security prison near the Canadian border, Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Constable, N.Y. Prison escapee David Sweat was shot and captured Sunday near the Canadian border, New York State police officials said.
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New York State officers search for convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat, Friday, June 26, 2015, in Malone, N.Y.
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FBI agents conduct a search for convicted murderer David Sweat on June 28, 2015 near Duane, New York.
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FBI agents conduct a search for convicted murderer David Sweat on June 28, 2015 near Duane, New York.
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Correction officers search vehicles at a roadblock along Highway 30 near a wooded area where they believed escaped convict David Sweat was hiding on June 28, 2015 near Malone, New York.
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Law enforcement personnel prepare to head out on a search for the escaped convicted murderers on June 26, 2015 in Chasm Falls, New York.
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CHASM FALLS, NY - JUNE 26: Correction officers search a wooded area as the manhunt for convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat continues on June 26, 2015 in Chasm Falls, New York. Matt and Sweat were discovered missing from a prison in nearby Dannemora on June 6. DNA from the two was reportedly found recently in a remote hunting cabin about 15 miles west of the prison. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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PLATTSBURGH , NY - JUNE 25: Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie addresses questions about the arrest of corrections officer Gene Palmer for his involvement in the escape of convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat on June 25, 2015 in Plattsburgh, New York. Matt and Sweat were discovered missing from a prison in nearby Dannemora, where Palmer worked, on June 6 and remain free. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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A New York State Department of Corrections officer walks out of the woods as officers search the area after a possible sighting of the two murder convicts who escaped from a northern New York prison two weeks ago on June 21 in Friendship, New York. State police said a woman on Saturday reported spotting two men who resembled the convicts near a railroad line that runs along a county road.
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A New York State Department of Corrections officer pauses while searching a cornfield after a possible sighting of the two murder convicts who escaped from a northern New York prison two weeks ago on June 21, in Friendship, New York. State police said a woman on Saturday reported spotting two men who resembled the convicts prompting the search. (Credit: AP Photo/Gary Wiepert)
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Corrections officers stop a vehicle as the search for two escaped prisoners from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora continued June 22 in Owls Head, New York.
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Law enforcement officers ride in an all-terrain vehicle while searching for two prison escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora on June 23 in Malone, New York.
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Law enforcement officers on all terrain vehicles pull out of the parking lot of a restaurant as they searched for two escaped prisoners from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora continues, on June 22, in Mountain View, New York. At this point, the manhunt for two convicted murderers has jumped from a railroad line near the Pennsylvania state line to a hamlet in far northern New York not far from the prison they escaped.
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Law enforcement officers gather while searching for two prison escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, on June 23, in Malone, New York.
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A corrections officer stands lookout along a road while searching for two escaped prisoners on June 22 in Bellmont, New York. Items recovered from a remote hunting cabin may have been linked to the pair of convicted killers who escaped from nearby Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.
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Law enforcement officers ride in an all-terrain vehicle while searching for two prison escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, on June 23, in Malone, New York.
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New York State Police troopers stand in the heavy rain at a roadblock while searching for two prison escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, June 23, in Malone, New York.
Richard Matt was serving 25 years to life at Clinton Correctional Facility for the killing and dismemberment of his former boss. Matt turned 49 the day before he was fatally shot three times in the head by law enforcement.
Cara Bowman
David P. Sweat was serving a sentence of life without parole in the killing of a sheriff's deputy in 2002.
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Joyce Mitchell stands with her attorney Keith Bruno during her arraignment in City Court June 12, 2015 in Plattsburgh, New York. Mitchell was arrested for allegedly helping two convicted murderers, David Sweat and Richard Matt, escape the maximum security section of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.
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A law enforcement agent looks through a sniper scope while another in camouflage assembles a weapon during a search for two escaped killers in Boquet, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
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Law enforcement officers check vehicles at a checkpoint on Monday, June 8, 2015, in Dannemora, N.Y.
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Law enforcement officers search for escaped prisoners near Essex, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
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Law enforcement officers walk the streets in Dannemora, N.Y., as they searched houses near the maximum-security prison in northern New York where two killers escaped using power tools, Wednesday, June 10, 2015.
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Law enforcement officers walk the streets in Dannemora, N.Y., as they searched houses near the maximum-security prison in northern New York.
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A member of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision emergency response team searches a wooded area with team members for two escapees from the Clinton Correctional Facility on Monday, June 8, 2015, in Dannemora, N.Y.
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A law enforcement officer checks a broken down building for escaped prisoners near Essex, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
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A law enforcement officer walks through a swampy area searching for escaped prisoners near Essex, N.Y., Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
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A member of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision emergency response team waves to a child on a school bus before the team enters the woods in search of two prisoners who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility on Monday, June 8, 2015, in Dannemora, N.Y.
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Law enforcement officers question a woman, Wednesday, June 10, 2015, who lives near the prison in Dannemora, N.Y., as they searched houses near the maximum-security prison in northern New York where two killers escaped using power tools.
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo discusses the escape path where two convicted murderers fled from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora, New York.
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In this handout from the New York State Governor's Office, shows where two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora.
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Andrew Cuomo inspects the room where two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora
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In this handout from the New York State Governor's Office, shows where two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora, New York.
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In this handout from the New York State Governor's Office, shows where two convicted murderers used power tools to cut through steel pipes at the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora, New York.
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In this handout from the New York State Governor's Office, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (R) is shown the manhole where two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility June 6, 2014 in Dannemora, New York.
They recovered bloody socks, prison underwear and other items at the scene and quickly developed DNA evidence showing both men were at the cabin. Hundreds of searchers focused their efforts on the heavily wooded area.
Matt was shot dead on June 26 in nearby woods. Sweat was shot by a trooper and captured two days later near the Canadian border and sent back to prison.
Sweat's frustration with Matt grew in the days after they fled from the cabin into the woods, Guess said.
