After the Two Killers Escaped from New York Prison, Guards Reportedly Unleashed Hell on Other Inmates

When convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped from upstate New York's Clinton Correctional Facility in June, parts of the public were practically rooting for them.

After all, even if one of the escapees had been convicted of dismembering his 76-year-old former boss, it was still darkly enjoyable for some to pull for the felons on the run. Adding to the made-for-tabloid quality of the story was a cast of characters like Joyce Mitchell, a 51-year-old civilian prison worker who admitted to having a sexual relationship with Matt, who, it was gleefully reported, had a huge dick.

But the duo's disappearing act had serious consequences. Just hours after the pair popped up through a manhole about a mile away from the facility, Clinton went into lockdown. Calls and visitors were refused, leaving spouses and family members fearing the worst. And now we know their fear was not misguided: Prisoners' Legal Services claims they've received more than 60 complaints from inmates who were threatened with waterboarding, sent to solitary confinement, and straight-up punched in the face as guards desperately tried to figure out what happened, the New York Times reports.

Some prisoners allege that, besides the physical abuse, they lost the hard-earned privileges they enjoyed on the honor block where well-behaved inmates (Matt and Sweat among them) resided. Some were transferred to other facilities and forced to do without the small pleasures that made life bearable on the inside, or else thrust into jobs that paid much less than their old ones.

"They took everything from me," one prisoner told the Times. "They did everything they could to blame the ones who stayed."

Patrick Alexander, an inmate who lived next to Matt and Sweat, told the Times he was taken out of his cell mere hours after they'd set up dummies, shimmied through a pipe, and left a mocking, racist note for guards to find the next day. Alexander alleged that three guards punched him and slammed his head against the wall while trying to extract information about his former blockmates' whereabouts. One even reportedly threatened him with a Guantanamo Bay–style waterboarding.

Another inmate described being choked by a plastic bag until he passed out, while a third claimed that he was beaten and then forced to sign a statement saying he hadn't been.

So while the nation was captivated by a salacious story involving an escape, two gullible prison workers who were motivated by the possibilities of sex and free paintings, and a manhunt, David and Sweat's old neighbors paid a heavy price.

And yet somehow, the abused inmates claim they don't hold any kind of grudge against the escapees. "I can't say what I'd do; I didn't have the time Sweat has," Alexander told the Times. "So no, I don't resent them. Maybe I should, but I don't."

Prisoners' Legal Services did not return a request for comment about how the New York Department of Corrections has responded—or might be responding—to their allegations. But it's long been known that Clinton is an absolutely dreadful place to end up, and that the mere mention of it strikes dread into the hearts of the Empire State's worst criminals.

In June, state officials announced that nine security officers had been fired from Clinton Correctional Facility and that three members of its executive team had been let go. The last we heard, the FBI was looking into the possibility that a drug-trafficking ring was operating there.

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