t.j. holmes and reena ninan. and we have to start with some new concerns about security at that new york prison where two murderers escaped. surviving escapee david sweat told police authorities that the men had been working for six months on the escape. they even had a test run on the night before they left for good. but prison officials now facing punishment. abc s linzie janis reports. reporter: a major shake-up behind the walls of this prison. the superintendent his security chief and ten guards and officials now on all indefinite leave as investigators learn the two killers started digging through the walls of their cells way back in january. does this mean their cells weren t checked in six months? i think that s an issue. reporter: prosecutor andrew weil wylie telling me david sweat admits the two men broke out of their cells night after night to scout the inside of the prison walls. he and matt even doing a dry run
and we have to start with some new concerns about security at that new york prison where two murderers escaped. surviving escapee david sweat told police authorities that the men had been working for six months on the escape. they even had a test run on the night before they left for good. but prison officials now facing punishment. abc s linzie janis reports. reporter: a major shake-up behind the walls of this prison. the superintendent, his security chief and ten guards and officials now on all indefinite leave as investigators learn the two killers started digging through the walls of their cells way back in january. does this mean their cells weren t checked in six months? i think that s an issue. reporter: prosecutor andrew wylie telling me david sweat admits the two men broke out of their cells night after night to scout the inside of the prison walls. he and matt even doing a dry run before the big escape, and after they broke free, they knew all too well they were amo
on charges that he helped the inmates escape. it s believed that gene palmer delivered tools inside frozen meat to the two prisoners. palmer had been on paid leave since last week as the search for those prisoners continues. abc s linzie janis reports. reporter: this man, prison corrections officer gene palmer, under arrest in the connection with the escape of convicted killers richard matt and david sweat. those four charges consist of two counts of tampering with physical evidence, one count of promoting prison contraband and the last charge is official misconduct. he would take both matt and sweat back behind the cells in the catwalk area. that is totally inappropriate behavior for a correction officer. reporter: police now combing these dense woods for the escapees and issuing a chilling warning. just about every cabin or outbuilding in the north country has one or more shotguns or weapons. they re extremely dangerous. they re cunning. reporter: police found their dna o
showing. this is not the first time we have seen this happen. abc s linzie janis reports. reporter: she may look at home but police say the woman rifling through this pantry is virginia realtor sara reeves allegedly using her easy access to this upscale home to steal prescription drugs. they say reeves takes the bottle in to the kitchen, pouring the pain medicine in to her own container and then putting the bottle back. surveillance video also capturing this possible clue reeves walks into the home wearing a coat and hat, but only puts on those yellow gloves once she s inside. those gloves preventing fingerprints maybe, but not preventing reeves from being caught red handed by the homeowners. you trust the people that come in to your house and it was just shocking. reporter: they say they just installed cameras after some jewelry went missing during an open house.
luther king holiday. i m reena ninan. and i m t.j. holmes. you were just saying about the weather, it seems like it caught a lot of people off guard. it did. the freezing rain so dangerous. my husband and daughter went out and slipped he s fine but you can t tell with black ice when it is there. that s the problem. what s going on. that s the story we start. extreme weather. we have seen it on both coasts now. your husband is all right, right? he s okay, thanks for asking. and the little one. she didn t slip. he was holding on to her. he didn t fumble. just watching daddy struggle. talking about the northeast here. we had an ice storm that is blamed for deaths. at least five deaths. major highway closures, pileups. ice is also responsible for several chain-reaction accidents in the west. abc s linzie janis reports. reporter: along the east coast a deadly mix. freezing rain instantly icing over roadways. look out! look out! reporter: sending cars out of control