The Latest: Guard charged in connection with escape in court


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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The latest on the capture of one convicted murderer from a maximum-security prison and the killing of the other. (all times local):

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4:25 p.m.

A New York corrections officer charged in connection with the escape of two killers from a maximum-security prison has appeared briefly in court.

Suspended Clinton Correctional Facility guard Gene Palmer was charged last week with promoting prison contraband, tampering with evidence and official misconduct.

He appeared in court Monday in Plattsburgh with his new lawyer. Palmer waived his right to a preliminary hearing, clearing the way for potential grand jury action.

Palmer is the second employee to be charged since inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat used power tools to cut their way out of the prison June 6. Matt was killed Friday. Sweat was captured Sunday.

Palmer told investigators he had no knowledge of the escape plans.

He is free on $25,000 bail.

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11:55 a.m.

Albany Medical Center says escaped murderer David Sweat has been upgraded from critical to serious condition after doctors determined overnight the he didn't need immediate surgery.

He's expected to stay at the hospital for a few days while his condition stabilizes.

Authorities say Sweat was running from a state trooper who shot him twice Sunday afternoon less than two miles from the Canadian border.

The 35-year-old Sweat was arrested, taken to the hospital in nearby Malone to be stabilized, then airlifted to the trauma center in Albany.

The other escaped murderer, Richard Matt, was shot three times in the head and killed Friday afternoon in Malone, about 30 miles from the maximum-security state prison the two men broke out of on June 6.

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11:50 a.m.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the two inmates who escaped from a maximum-security prison more than three weeks ago had initially planned to go Mexico.

Authorities say Richard Matt and David Sweat had planned on being picked up June 6 by a prison worker named Joyce Mitchell. The governor says they were to kill her husband and drive to Mexico, but Mitchell backed out.

Cuomo says Sweat has started to relay some information about the escape.

Cuomo told the Capitol Pressroom that when Mitchell failed to pick them up, they instead headed north on foot toward Canada.

The governor says the two men split up about five days ago. He says Matt had blisters on his feet and Sweat felt his older escape partner was slowing him down.

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7:30 a.m.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the escaped murderer who was shot by a state trooper near the Canadian border is in "critical but stable" condition at an Albany hospital.

Cuomo told CNN on Monday morning that David Sweat had a bag containing maps, tools, bug repellent and Pop Tarts when he was shot twice by Sgt. Jay Cook on Sunday afternoon less than two miles from the border in Constable, New York.

Cuomo says Sweat initially was listed in stable condition but was downgraded to critical after being flown to Albany Medical Center on Sunday night.

The other escapee, Richard Matt, was shot and killed Friday afternoon in Malone, about 30 miles from the maximum-security state prison the two men broke out of on June 6.

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7 a.m.

The family of the veteran state trooper who shot and wounded an escaped murderer in a northern New York field says he was on roving patrol when he happened to spot the convict.

Judy Cook tells The Press-Republican of Plattsburgh (http://bit.ly/1NoGhBu) that her 47-year-old son, Sgt. Jay Cook, "just happened to be in the right place at the right time" when he shot David Sweat twice Sunday afternoon in the town of Constable, near the Canadian border.

Cook is a 21-year veteran of the state police. He's a native of the neighboring town of Burke, and his mother says he has been patrolling the area along the border for years.

Officials say Sweat is in critical condition at an Albany hospital.

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