also, a source close to the investigation says that, according to sweat, this was a plan long in the making. sweat told investigators beginning last winter sweat cut a hole in his cell first, then matt's cell. sweat would leave his cell every night in search of an escape route, wandering through the tunnels beneath the prison. the new york times reports that at one point sweat cut through a wall when steam started blowing unbearable heat on him. sweat says he rigged a fan to help cool him using electricity from the tunnel's lights. also an inmate told richard matt he heard noise coming from sweat's cell as the two were cutting through the wall with a hacksaw. the paper says matt explained it away, saying he was stretching canvas for one of his paintings which he made in prison. and it turns out sweat and matt had made a practice run the night before the actual escape. but when they emerged from a manhole, sweat told authorities there were just too many houses,