2 convicted murderers practiced night before prison breakout

DANNEMORA, N.Y. — One of two convicted murderers who broke out of a maximum-security prison in June told police that they conducted a practice run the night before their daring escape, a district attorney said.

The escape by Sweat and 49-year-old Richard Matt launched a massive 23-day manhunt amid the rugged northern New York terrain involving more than 1,100 law enforcement officers.

Wylie said Sweat claimed he used only a hacksaw blade — not power tools, as officials had reported — to cut holes in the steel walls of his and Richard Matt’s cells as well as a 24-inch steam pipe they crawled through.

Sweat said he prowled the tunnels within the maximum-security prison from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. — after lights-out and before the morning headcount — in the days preceding his June 6 escape with Matt, according to Wylie, who was briefed by state police on the surviving inmate’s statements.

Authorities said the two reached the tunnels via an interior catwalk — narrow utility corridors between cellblocks providing access to the bowels of the prison — they were given access to by a corrections officer who has since been charged in connection with the breakout.