2 murder convicts escape prison, NY state offers $100,000 reward for capture of the escaped prisoners

The U.S. Marshals Service issued federal arrest warrants Sunday for two convicted killers who escaped from a maximum security prison in upstate New York over the weekend.

The warrants charge Richard Matt and David Sweat with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, according to William O'Toole, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman. The warrants clear the way for the federal government to involve its considerable resources in the manhunt.

Matt, 49, and Sweat, 35, who were both serving life sentences for vicious murders, emerged through a manhole cover 200 metres from the prison walls and made off into the night. The pair were discovered missing from their cells Saturday morning during a "standing count" of inmates at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, state police said.

In this picture is the cell of 1 of escaped inmates looking at hole cut in wall as part of escape 

Using power tools smuggled into the jail, the pair cut holes in the steel walls of their cells, before following a series of pipes and tunnels under the 10-metre-high walls of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York state.

Have a nice day! A note left on the pipe the two inmates cut open as part of escape from Dannemora correctional facility

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the pair's capture.

 

Maj. Charles Guess of the New York State Police said Sunday.

"We're leaving no stone unturned, all available assets are being brought to bear."