Law enforcement officers investigating the escape of two convicted murderers from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, are focusing on the manhunt for the pair and looking for potential accomplices.
Here's the latest from Dannemora, New York:
Investigators seek accomplices, answers in prison escape
As investigators seek accomplices who may have helped two convicted murderers escape a maximum-security prison, many other questions remain about the brash, elaborate breakout.
How could nobody hear prisoners slicing through a steel wall, breaking through brick and cutting their way in and out of a steam pipe or why did those who heard stay silent? How did the inmates hide the hole, the dirt and dust? Where were they headed, and how?
Investigators questioned prison workers and outside contractors Monday to try to find out who may have supplied power tools used in the weekend escape from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. There are reports this morning that investigators are focused on a woman employed at the prison. Meanwhile law officers continue to question drivers and searched trunks, but authorities say David Sweat and Richard Matt could be anywhere, perhaps Canada or Mexico.
History of violence plagues prison where breakout occurred
The maximum-security prison where two convicted killers pulled off a "Shawshank Redemption"-style escape has a reputation for brutality.
A 2014 report by the Correctional Association of New York, an independent non-profit that inspects state prisons and report on conditions, found Clinton Correctional Facility is a place where there is little oversight, guards regularly beat inmates, and racial tension festers between prisoners and correction officers.
The report found that while 63 percent of inmates statewide are locked up for violent crimes, at Clinton, that figure is about 90 percent. Inmates there report among the highest rates of inmate-on-inmate fights in all state prisons, driven by gang feuds and drug disputes.
Notable past inmates include mobster Charles ``Lucky'' Luciano and rappers Tupac Shakur, Ol' Dirty Bastard and Shyne.
Northern New York village taking it all in stride
The northern New York village of Dannemora remained in a lockdown Monday with troopers and corrections officers manning roadblocks.
Dannemora Resident and Village Historian Pete Light tells WBFO most people are taking it all in stride.
"As far as the people within the village, the only thing that's been bothering them is being able to get around. They've got a lot of streets blocked off and it creates a lot of time," says Light. "The people are used to seeing the prison walls. A lot of these people work within the prison. It's a natural thing for them to be comfortable around it, more then a lot of people."
Light notes the prison dates back to 1845, so this is the first escape in the 170 year history of the facility.
