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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Wnt (talk | contribs) at 21:40, 10 June 2015 (Initial draft focusing on the escapes... remarkable. So far relying on two sources; there are more though.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Richard Matt is a convicted murderer notable for several prison escapes, most recently from Clinton Correctional Facility.

Prison escapes

At approximately the age of 13, Matt escaped from a group home, hiding in Allegheny State Park and taking food and other supplies from vacation homes. He had been remanded to the home for stealing a houseboat.

In June 1986, at the age of 22, he climbed a fence to escape from the Erie County Correctional Facility. He had been serving a one-year sentence for assault. According to retired Tonawanda policeman David Bently, Matt evaded police for four days, hopping a freight train to his brother's house in Tonawanda where he was ultimately apprehended.

Prior to 2007, Matt nearly escaped a prison in Mexico, climbing to the roof before being shot by guards. According to his son, "He's been shot like nine times. It's like they can't kill him." He had been sent to the prison for beating an American man to death outside a bar, while staying in Mexico as a fugitive from charges stemming from the 1997 murder of William L. Rickerson in the United States.

In 2015, then 48 year old Richard Matt and 34-year-old David Sweat made an elaborate escape from Clinton Correctional Facility and become the objects of a national manhunt. He had been sent there to serve a life sentence for the murder of Rickerson, after being convicted at a trial in he was made to wear an stun belt and snipers posted outside the courtroom to prevent his escape.

References

1. ^ Kirstan Conley (2015-06-08). "Escaped killer has a history of breaking out of prison". New York Post.
2. ^ "Escaped murderers may be headed to Vermont, authorities say". Fox News. 2015-06-10.