Woman Who Helped Killer David Sweat Escape is Up for Parole Hearing

The woman who helped two prisoners escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility in 2015, including the killer of Broome County Sheriff Deputy Kevin Tarsia, is up for parole.

Joyce Mitchell is serving 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison for aiding David Sweat and Richard Matt’s escape.  She has twice previously been denied parole.

The woman was employed in the prison tailor shop when she began relationships with Sweat and Matt resulting in the plot to help the men escape the lockup in Northern New York and kill Mitchell’s husband.

The woman lost her nerve after the escape plan hatched but Sweat, who gunned down the Broome County Sheriff’s Deputy at Grange Hall Park in Kirkwood early on July 4, 2002, and Matt broke out of the prison in Dannemora and eluded authorities for nearly a month.  Matt was shot dead by authorities near the Canadian border while Sweat was recaptured and is currently being held at the Attica Correctional Facility.

Mitchell was denied parole in February and August of 2017.  No date has been set for the next hearing but it is expected sometime next week.