PUBLIC SAFETY

Elmira 2003 prison escape called 'widespread breakdown'

Jeff Murray
jmurray@stargazette.com | @SGJeffMurray

As authorities search for two convicted murderers who escaped Friday night from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, Southern Tier law enforcement officers are feeling an unsettling sense of deja vu.

The last prison escape in New York state took place in July 2003, when two convicted murderers fled the maximum-security Elmira Correctional Facility, only to be recaptured two days later.

Inmates Timothy A. Vail and Timothy G. Morgan slipped out of the prison after months of planning, but Vail was hurt during the escape and they were soon caught.

Timothy Vail, then 35, is taken from New York state police barracks in Horseheads, July 8, 2003, back to the Elmira, N.Y. Correctional Facility. State police apprehended Vail and Timothy Morgan, 26, two convicted murderers who escaped from a maximum-security prison by scaling down the side of the building using a rope made from bed sheets, officials said.
Elmira Correctional Facility escapee Timothy Morgan, then 26, is taken from the New York State Police barracks in Horseheads July 8, 2003, back to Elmira, N.Y. Correctional Facility. State police apprehended Morgan and Timothy Vail, 35, two convicted murderers who escaped from a maximum-security prison by scaling down the side of the building using a rope made from bed sheets, officials said.

Hampered by Vail's injuries, the two inmates were recaptured two days later by a team of state troopers and investigators who responded to a stolen-car report in the Village of Horseheads.

A report issued by the state Department of Correctional Services a year after the escape pointed to a "widespread breakdown" in the Elmira prison's security system.

The men used a stolen sledgehammer to chip an 8-inch-by-12-inch hole into the ceiling of their cell, climbed into the ventilation system and escaped to the roof. They left behind dummies in their beds, and used a 61-foot rope of bedsheets to descend the outer wall of the prison.

The state undertook several corrective actions at the Elmira Correctional Facility following the escape, including advising correction officers that it is their duty to "count actual living, breathing bodies" during their rounds.

Policies for inmate use of tools also were tightened down, and cell standards were improved to make it easier to detect any alterations to ceilings or walls.

One of two dummies used by Elmira prison inmates Timothy Vail and Timothy Morgan as viewed through the hole in the ceiling the two convicted murderers dug out then climbed through to escape on July 7, 2003. The inmates, who used bedsheets tied together to go over the four-story prison wall, were captured the next day. A prison report said lax oversight helped the inmates escape.

The state also built two fences topped with razor wire around most of the sprawling facility.

"The remedial actions deemed necessary in this report were implemented within the first two months of the escape," then-Commissioner of Corrections Glenn S. Goord said at the beginning of the March 2004 report. "In issuing this report, I want to assure the public and our employees that the Elmira Correctional Facility remains a secure work site, safe for the Chemung County community that surrounds it."

Investigators recommended the termination of three officers following the escape.

Every law enforcement officer in Chemung County was on high alert during those two days, knowing any suspicious activity could have been the work of the two escapees, said Chemung County Sheriff Christopher Moss, who was a lieutenant in the patrol division at the time.

"I think all residents around the county were apprehensive about where they had gone, and were they still in the area?" Moss said. "Law enforcement was vigilant. Any suspicious condition, clothes stolen, any burglary, all complaints were heightened, knowing these individuals might be responsible.

"Until you have a positive sighting, you have to think they are anywhere, especially still in the area," Moss said. "They didn't have a good plan for once they got outside the prison. Law enforcement did a good job of tightening down."

It seems like the two inmates currently on the run, Richard Matt and David Sweat, did a better job planning both the escape and the getaway afterward, Moss said.

Local law enforcement officials are also on high alert during the latest search, he said, especially since one of them has ties to Broome County.

Sweat was convicted of first-degree murder for killing Broome County Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Tarsia, then 36, on July 4, 2002.

Acting state Commissioner of Corrections and Community Supervision Anthony J. Annucci conducted a conference call over the weekend with all prison superintendents to make sure all facilities are safe and secure, department spokeswoman Linda Foglia said.

"He instructed each superintendent to conduct a full review of policies and procedures related to the prevention of escapes," Foglia said in an email. "In addition, staff were directed to take immediate steps to ensure inspections of their facilities and the review of security practices regarding the prevention of escapes."

Like the current fugitives, the two inmates who led police on the 2003 manhunt also were doing time for murder.

Vail was also from Broome County, and was serving a life sentence for the 1988 rape and murder of a Binghamton law office secretary.

Morgan, from Fulton, was convicted following the 1998 slaying of a cab driver in Gloversville.

Both men were transferred to other facilities after the Elmira escape.

Morgan is serving out his sentence at the Attica Correctional Facility. Vail is housed at Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Wallkill, Ulster County.

Follow Jeff Murray on Twitter @SGJeffMurray.