David Sweat and Richard Matt, two convicted murderers who survived three weeks on the run after breaking out of a maximum security New York prison, split up after arguments over the latter's alcohol abuse and inability to keep up, according to CNN.
After their escape from Clinton Correctional Facility, the pair broke into a hunting cabin, where Matt hit the bottle hard, Sweat claims. Matt was already out of shape and suffering from blisters on his feet. The heavy drinking led to even more discord, after which the two fugitives decided to go their separate ways, according to Syracuse.
Five days after the split, Matt was shot and killed. Authorities could smell alcohol on his body from a few feet away after he was gunned down. Few days later, Sweat was shot and apprehended less than two miles from the Canadian border.
Sweat provided authorities with additional details about the prison break from his hospital bed in Albany. Sweat and Matt broke out of the facility twice, he told investigators. They carried out a dry run the night before the escape, but decided to return to their cells after coming out of a manhole that was too close to nearby houses.
Initially, authorities were led to believe that the prisoners carried out the escape with the help of power tools, but Sweat revealed that they came across a sledgehammer in an underground passage. The men used the sledgehammer, inadvertently left behind by a construction worker, to break down a wall on their way out of the prison.
Sweat told investigators that he and Matt cut through their cell walls and a steam pipe inside the prison using hacksaws they obtained from prison tailor Joyce Mitchell, who smuggled the tools inside hamburger meat. Mitchell was supposed to be their getaway driver but got cold feet, prompting them to go on the run.
