The investigation into the two escaped inmates from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora has shifted focus to a second prison employee. The subject of the focus is a correction officer who may have provided pliers or other hand tools to the convicts, Richard Matt and David Sweat. The Times Union reports that the officer, Gene Palmer, has been placed on administrative leave as investigators look into whether the officer might have been duped into providing the tools or knowingly assisted the convicts. Palmer could face charges of promoting prison contraband or facilitating the escape.
Meanwhile Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie told NBC that Joyce Mitchell, a prison employee who has been charged with assisting the inmates, smuggled tools into the prison in hamburger meat.
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