one instance both escapees were hiding near a cabin when three people came to check on it. they listened in on their conversation. they waited for the coast to be clear then they left. in another instance, sweat says, he was hiding in a hunting tree stand when an officer working the search walked by. walked right by him. this happening some time after he separated from matt which was five days before matt was shot and killed. now, sweat was prepared to be on the run for quite a while according to investigators. his backpack loaded with maps a compass a transitter radio and batteries. he scored some marijuana during weeks on the run. sweat telling authorities even though their get away fell apart when the prison employee joyce mitchell failed to show up with their get away car they still tried to go to mexico. that s where they wanted to go because that s where matt had connections which obviously, didn t work out. now the hammer is falling at dannemora at the clinton correctional facil
to pick him and richard matt up and head south. they would kill mitchell s husband and get in the car and drive to mexico on the theory that mitchell was in love with one or both of them. reporter: instead, they headed into the woods. sources tell cnn sweat and matt split up five days ago because matt was slowing sweat down and had become ill. a new york state police officer out on patrol by himself, spotted sweat wearing camouflage near a barn in the town of constable, new york. he spotted a male who was basically jogging up along the side of the road. he approached him. and as he exited the car, the male turned to him. he says hey come over here. the male kind of ignored him. reporter: the officer pursued sweat on foot repeatedly ordering him to stop. when he refused, the officer opened fire shooting sweat twice in the torso. sweat was unarmed. sweat airlifted to a trauma
but i guess we can see what he said so far, right? he implicated joyce mitchell that she was going to pick them up and that she was involved in the escape plan. he also discounted gene palmer having any participation in the escape plan. that is corroborated because we know the governor of new york said that in fact sweat was going to go to mexico with joyce mitchell and we also know that lyle mitchell told nbc news that he, in fact was going to be killed and sweat told that to investigators. so there is some corroboration here because you always want to know are they going to be truthful, a convicted murderer does not have the propensity for telling the truth. but you better believe it they re going to ask him for names because they need answers. absolutely. sara ganim, jean casarez, thank you so much. and let s talk about all of this with someone who knows the prison system well. that s retired superintendent of at ka correctional facility james conway.
the fbi is now investigating a heroin ring possibly operating within the walls of the maximum security prison involving both inmates and guards. we re learning that the two escapees david sweat and richard matt planned to go to mexico with employee joyce mitchell. when she didn t show up, they headed to canada. sweat now in serious condition speaking from his hospital bed in an albany new york hospital. abc s marci gonzalez is there. reporter: stopped in his tracks by two gunshot wounds but doctors say escaped inmate david sweat s condition is improving. and from his hospital bed, he is talking with investigators. reportedly confessing he and fellow fugitive richard matt planned to run away with former prison worker joyce mitchell. they will kill mitchell s husband and get in the car and drive to mexico on the theory that mitchell was in love with one or both of them. reporter: claiming that when mitchell didn t show up, they instead headed out on foot for canada. sweat captured
the alleged ring came to light as investigators tried to figure out how richard sweat and david matt managed to escape the maximum security prison. sweat now speaking from his hospital bed about the escape. they would kill mitchell s husband and then drive to mexico on the theory that mitchell was in love with one or both of them. but when the inmates managed to escape, prison employee joyce mitchell was nowhere to be seen. then they decided to go to canada. federal investigators are looking into an accident at the main airport in san francisco. a coast guard helicopter went down yesterday afternoon during a routine test flight and flipped on its side. the two pilots climbed out with minor injuries. investigators believe the helicopter malfunctioned. turning now to a tragic plane crash in massachusetts. one family killed, another family survived after the private plane slammed into a house. victims now identified as a tennessee doctor, his wife and