ALBANY, NY - Wednesday was the anniversary of the day in 1929 when more than 1,000 prison inmates in Dannemora rushed the prison walls in a mass escape attempt. On Thursday, New York State Police officers and the Department of Corrections are still trying to understand how two inmates escaped that same prison in June.
A former inmate who knew David Sweat and Richard Matt inside says he watched them manipulate prison employees to gain their confidence, according to a report by WGRZ sister station WNYT in Albany.
"It was hell while I was there."
Erik Jensen isn't proud of his past.
"I got greedy," he says.
That greed got the best of him, landing him in and out of prison for several years. Between June 2011 and March 2012, home for the downstate man was Clinton Correctional Facility.
Before the world knew Richard Matt and David Sweat as the infamous prison escapees, Jensen knew the duo as two guys he worked with in prison.
Sweat trained Jensen in the prison tailor shop.
"He could sew any piece of clothing. He was talented, very talented," says Jensen.
Jensen believes that Sweat, one of the smartest people he's ever met, was the mastermind in the historic prison break.
Jensen watched Sweat, a master manipulator, become friendly with several prison workers.
"It was almost like he was coworkers with them," he says. "Dave had a lot of pull like that."
He also had a lot of special privileges.
How do two convicted murderers, Richard Matt and David Sweat, land on an honor block? Jessica Layton of WNYT NewsChannel 13 has the answer.
