Prison superintendent, 11 others on leave after escape

ALBANY, N.Y. – The superintendent at the prison where two killers broke out has been placed on leave along with his security chief and 10 other staff members amid an internal investigation into how the inmates pulled it off, a state official said Tuesday.

The 12-member group is in addition to the guard and the prison tailor shop instructor who have been arrested on charges they helped the escapees.

Officials would not say what connection, if any, the 12 had to the June 6 escape from the maximum-security prison or the failure to prevent it.

Meanwhile, the surviving convict, David Sweat, claimed from his hospital bed that he used no power tools to cut his way out, contrary to what authorities have said.

Sweat was wounded and captured Sunday near the Canadian border after three weeks on the run. His accomplice, Richard Matt, was shot to death last week.

Steven Racette, the $132,000-a-year superintendent of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, was removed along with Stephen Brown, deputy superintendent in charge of security, according to a state official who was briefed on the matter but wasn’t authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The 12 also include guards.

The Corrections Department said that three executives and nine other staff members were placed on paid leave as part of a departmental review of the escape. It did not identify them. The department said it is bringing in new leadership.

Matt and Sweat cut holes in their cells and a steam pipe and escaped the prison in a breakout that exposed security lapses and set off a manhunt.