Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Escapee's Autopsy Results Released

Richard Matt (killed) and David Sweat
ncpr.org
Richard Matt (killed) and David Sweat

Malone (AP) State police say an escaped inmate killed by authorities after three weeks on the run in the woods of upstate New York had been shot three times in the head.

New York State Police released details of Richard Matt's autopsy on Sunday.

Officials say Matt also had bug bites on his legs, blisters and minor abrasions that would be expected for someone who had been living in the woods. Toxicology results are still pending.

Matt was shot and killed by a member of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Tactical Unit on Friday.

A coroner who examined Matt's body says he had been eating and drinking during his time on the run, was fittingly dressed for the outdoors and largely unassailed by the swarms of bugs present in the woods where he was shot and killed.

Franklin County Coroner Brian Langdon said Sunday that Richard Matt was in good physical shape until his fatal confrontation with authorities.

He declined to say how many times Matt was shot on Friday but says the cause of death was multiple trauma.

Langdon says Matt's body was clean and he may have even showered and shaved in the time since his escape.

A second escapee, David Sweat, remains the subject of a massive manhunt in northern New York.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.