Accused Prison Employee Joyce Mitchell's Husband Emerges Amid Search for Convicts
Officials say Lyle Mitchell may have been unwitting target in alleged plot.
— -- The husband of the prison employee who has been accused of aiding two escaped convicts has appeared publicly for the first time since the murderers broke out of an upstate New York maximum-security prison 11 days ago.
Lyle Mitchell was pictured today as he left the office of his wife Joyce’s attorney. He would not answer any questions about the case.
He has not been accused of having any role in the prisoners’ escape, though sources tell ABC News investigators are looking into the possibility that he was an unknowing target in the alleged plot.
Law enforcement sources say investigators are looking into allegations Joyce Mitchell may have helped convicted killers David Sweat and Richard Matt escape because she believed they would help kill her husband and run away with her. Prosecutors will not comment.
Her attorney would not comment on any specifics of the case but said to reporters she was “distraught.”
"Let's just say that she's very upset," attorney Stephen Johnston said Monday.
Mitchell, 51, is charged with a felony count of promoting prison contraband and a misdemeanor count of criminal facilitation for allegedly helping the inmates escape from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, June 6.
She entered a plea of not guilty last week.