(CNN) The two escaped murderers in upstate New York had planned to kill him, Lyle Mitchell said. His wife, Joyce Mitchell, is now behind bars, accused of aidingRichard Matt and David Sweat in their prison break.
His wife revealed the prisoners' alleged plan to harm him shortly after their escape, Lyle Mitchell told NBC's "Today" show in an exclusive interview that aired Tuesday. Matt originally told Joyce Mitchell he would give her pills that would knock her husband out, so she would have no problem leaving their home to come meet him.
"She told me that Matt wanted her to pick him up," Lyle Mitchell said. But Joyce Mitchell refused to drug her husband, and the convicts got tough on her, he added.
Matt and Sweat threatened to have someone inside or outside the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility kill or injure Lyle Mitchell. Mitchell believes they made the threat to coerce his wife into helping them carry out their plans.
Joyce Mitchell didn't show up for the planned rendezvous with Matt and Sweat on June 6. Instead, she checked herself into a hospital with panic attacks.
Had she kept the date, she'd be dead now, Lyle Mitchell believes. And he might be, too.
He still loves his wife, though he's mad at her, Mitchell said. But support her? "As of right now, I don't know what to think," he said.
DNA in cabin
Meanwhile, authorities are combing an area west of the prison after DNA from Sweat and Matt was found inside a burglarized cabin, a law enforcement source told CNN.
The discovery re-energized the search for the convicted killers, who haven't been seen since their escape worthy of a movie script -- at least not by authorities.
However, a witness on Saturday spotted someone running into the woods near a cabin in the Mountain View community, only 25 to 30 miles from the prison, according to acting Franklin County District Attorney Glenn MacNeill.
Investigators think the person spotted could have been one of the fugitive prisoners, MacNeill said.
Since then, law enforcement authorities have flooded the rugged terrain of Franklin County, swooping in on helicopters, cruisers and all-terrain vehicles to scour the region for the men.
Briefing reporters Monday, New York State Police Maj. Charles Guess declined to get into specifics about what was found at the cabin for fear of jeopardizing the search.
"It's a confirmed lead for us," he said. "It has generated a massive law enforcement response, as you can see, and we're going to run this to ground."
The break-in suggests the men "need provisions and are desperate," a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation told CNN's Deborah Feyerick. The huge manhunt for Matt, 48, and Sweat, 35, is now in its 18th day.
There's no evidence the fugitives have the kind of support network they would need to get far away from the maximum security facility after their plan to get a ride from prison tailor Joyce Mitchell fell apart, the source said.
Are they listening to police radio traffic?
Searchers are having to contend with difficult conditions in the area, which is surrounded by dense forest and near a winter ski resort.
(CNN)The two escaped murderers in upstate New York had planned to kill him, Lyle Mitchell said. His wife, Joyce Mitchell, is now behind bars, accused of aidingRichard Matt and David Sweat in their prison break.
His wife revealed the prisoners' alleged plan to harm him shortly after their escape, Lyle Mitchell told NBC's "Today" show in an exclusive interview that aired Tuesday. Matt originally told Joyce Mitchell he would give her pills that would knock her husband out, so she would have no problem leaving their home to come meet him.
"She told me that Matt wanted her to pick him up," Lyle Mitchell said. But Joyce Mitchell refused to drug her husband, and the convicts got tough on her, he added.
Matt and Sweat threatened to have someone inside or outside the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility kill or injure Lyle Mitchell. Mitchell believes they made the threat to coerce his wife into helping them carry out their plans.
Joyce Mitchell didn't show up for the planned rendezvous with Matt and Sweat on June 6. Instead, she checked herself into a hospital with panic attacks.
Had she kept the date, she'd be dead now, Lyle Mitchell believes. And he might be, too.
He still loves his wife, though he's mad at her, Mitchell said. But support her? "As of right now, I don't know what to think," he said.
DNA in cabin
Meanwhile, authorities are combing an area west of the prison after DNA from Sweat and Matt was found inside a burglarized cabin, a law enforcement source told CNN.
The discovery re-energized the search for the convicted killers, who haven't been seen since their escape worthy of a movie script -- at least not by authorities.
However, a witness on Saturday spotted someone running into the woods near a cabin in the Mountain View community, only 25 to 30 miles from the prison, according to acting Franklin County District Attorney Glenn MacNeill.
Investigators think the person spotted could have been one of the fugitive prisoners, MacNeill said.
Since then, law enforcement authorities have flooded the rugged terrain of Franklin County, swooping in on helicopters, cruisers and all-terrain vehicles to scour the region for the men.
Briefing reporters Monday, New York State Police Maj. Charles Guess declined to get into specifics about what was found at the cabin for fear of jeopardizing the search.
"It's a confirmed lead for us," he said. "It has generated a massive law enforcement response, as you can see, and we're going to run this to ground."
The break-in suggests the men "need provisions and are desperate," a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation told CNN's Deborah Feyerick. The huge manhunt for Matt, 48, and Sweat, 35, is now in its 18th day.
There's no evidence the fugitives have the kind of support network they would need to get far away from the maximum security facility after their plan to get a ride from prison tailor Joyce Mitchell fell apart, the source said.
Are they listening to police radio traffic?
Searchers are having to contend with difficult conditions in the area, which is surrounded by dense forest and near a winter ski resort.
The tools they used may have been smuggled inside a frozen chunk of hamburger meat, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN on Monday.
Investigators are looking into whether Mitchell convinced a prison guard to pass the meat to the inmates in a way that bypassed a metal detector, the source said. The two escapees were housed in an honor block where they were allowed to cook their own food.
Their escape set off a massive search for them and an investigation of employees and practices at the prison.
Mitchell has been charged with aiding the escapees, and a corrections officer has been placed on paid leave, authorities have said.
Accused of helping the fugitives by supplying tools like chisels and drill bits, Mitchell is in jail and has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.
Corrections officer used killers as 'sources'
The corrections officer placed on leave is Gene Palmer, a 28-year veteran of Clinton Correctional Facility who is cooperating fully with the investigation, his attorney Andrew Brockway told CNN.
Palmer knew Matt and Sweat for years at the prison and had received a painting done by Matt, Brockway said. But he wasn't aware the inmates were planning an escape, the attorney stressed.
Palmer used Matt and Sweat as "sources" for information that he would "use to ensure the safety of his coworkers and of the facility, and of other inmates," Brockway told CNN.
"He wants these two individuals to be caught, and anything that he can do to help law enforcement do their job, he's willing to cooperate," Brockway said Monday.
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