The 'Nightmare' Manhunt for New York's Escaped Murderers Is Finally Over

The alternately terrifying and salacious 23-day manhunt for escaped murderer-Lothario duo David Sweat and Richard Matt came to an end over the weekend. Sweat, a 35-year-old convicted cop killer, was shot twice in the torso by a state trooper near the Canadian border around 3 PM Sunday. Photos show the shirtless fugitive being pumped with oxygen and shackled at the legs as New York State Police took him into custody.

"The nightmare is finally over," Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a news conference Sunday night, as reported by the New York Times. "These were really dangerous, dangerous men."

After Sweat and Matt made a ballsy escape from Clinton Correction Facility in Dannemora on June 6, State Police Major Charles Guess told CNN they could "literally be anywhere." But as it turns out, they hadn't strayed very far at all. Once DNA evidence pinned them to a cabin about 15 miles west of the prison, it was only a matter of time before cops closed in.

Matt, who was in prison for dismembering his ex-boss over some pocket change and subsequently became famous for allegedly having a humongous cock, was fatally shot in the head by a federal agent Friday. He was reportedly wielding a 20-gauge shotgun at the time, and a source told the New York Post he might have been wasted on some "grape liquor" in his final moments.

It's shocking that either inmate evaded police as long as they did. Joyce Mitchell, the 51-year-old prison tailor who reportedly slept with at least one of the escapees, allegedly helped the duo break out by smuggling tools into the prison. But when it came to driving the getaway car—Cuomo said Monday the plan was to head to Mexico—she bailed, forcing Sweat and Matt to improvise on foot. Sweat was about two miles from the Canadian border when he was confronted by State Police Sergeant Jay Cook, who eyed him jogging along the side of the road.

It appears as if the men stuck together for the majority of their time out from behind bars, eating peanut butter and possibly employing tricks from the movies like using pepper to conceal their scent from tracking dogs. They likely moved from cabin to cabin near Mountain View, a hunter's enclave described by one regional paper as a "wall of green" that's easy to get lost in.

Conditions were harsh. Bloody socks and an autopsy report on Matt show that the escapees' feet were torn up from constantly being on the move. It was also raining heavily during much of the pair's final days of freedom.

According to Cuomo, Sweat told investigators after his arrest that he and Matt parted ways about five days ago because the older man was slowing him down. It is unclear whether or not the burdensome weight of Matt's humongous dick contributed to his slower pace.

The Times reports that Sweat's condition has improved but that he will remain in the hospital for a few days.

Governor Cuomo has yet to reveal how much was spent on the exhaustive search for the inmates, which included more than 1,300 officers, saying only that it was "expensive" but "worth it."

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