两名重犯从美国高度安全的监狱越狱

AS IT IS 2015-06-13 Men Escape American High Security Prison 两名重犯从美国高度安全的监狱越狱

Two men escaped from a maximum-security prison in the American state of New York last Saturday, June 6. The escape received a lot of attention in American media and around-the-clock coverage¹ on cable news networks.

It is hard to escape from prison in the United States. It is also fairly rare and getting rarer. The latest numbers show less than point two percent of the prison population escaped in 2012. That is about 2,500 people out of 1.3 million.

The number is not insignificant². But, it is a huge drop from twenty years earlier. In 1993, more than 14,000 prisoners escaped. And the entire U.S. prison population that year was about 780,000.

Some prisoners just walk away...

These numbers are for all prisons. In many cases, the prisoners walked away from work details or boot camps. Escapes are rare from prisons with the highest level of security, called maximum-security prisons. Only one maximum-security prisoner escaped in the years from 2009 to 2013.

The most recent escape was especially shocking. Two men escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Dannemora, New York. The prison was built in the Adirondack Mountains in 1845. There have been other escapes from Clinton prison. But none of those escapees were free as long as the most recent, convicted murderers, David Sweat and Richard Matt.

... While others have to dig through walls

The two men had cells next to each other. Each dug a hole through his cell and used power tools to cut through sewer³ pipes. On the night of the escape, they stuffed their bed coverings with clothes to make it look like they were asleep.

Investigators⁴ believe that the two travelled inside the walls of the prison along a narrow walk. Then they climbed down and made their way to sewer pipes and crawled to freedom through a manhole in a street in the town of Dannemora.

The men left a note on one of the pipes. It had a cartoon picture of an Asian person and the message, “Have a nice day.”

A Hollywood worthy⁵ prison break

The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, the news media and others have compared the Dannemora prison break to the 1994 Hollywood movie, “The Shawshank Redemption.”

In that movie, Tim Robbins plays Andy Dufresne, a man found guilty of killing⁶ his wife and her lover. The character always says he is innocent of the crime. Andy spends many years in a prison in Maine before escaping through sewer pipes. And he also had a close friendship with another prisoner. But, unlike David Sweat and Richard Matt, Andy escapes alone.

Help from the inside

Police say Sweat and Matt had help from at least one prison worker. Joyce Mitchell is said to have developed a relationship with both men. She told police Matt made her feel “special.” And, police say, the prison in the last 12 months investigated a report that Ms. Mitchell and David Sweat had become close.

Police say prison officials reportedly separated the two but did not find enough evidence to take any action against Joyce Mitchell.

Investigators say Ms. Mitchell had planned to drive the prisoners away after they were out of the prison. But she reportedly had a change of mind. She went to a hospital instead, suffering from a panic attack.

Police say Joyce Mitchell is cooperating with them in their investigation⁷. They also say their investigation shows that she did not provide the prisoners with power tools. But they say she did bring illegal material into Clinton.

Ms. Mitchell is married to another worker at the prison. Her family has strongly defended her, saying she would not assist the escape. But, her former husband says Joyce Mitchell was unfaithful during their marriage and expects she is cheating now.

Police continue to search for the escapees. Search dogs picked up the prisoners’ scent⁸ within a couple of kilometers from the prison. But it is not clear when in the last week the men might have been there.

Words in This Story

insignificant – adj. small or unimportant

convicted – v. to prove that someone is guilty of a crime in a court of law

sewer – n. a pipe that is usually underground and that is used to carry off water and human waste

panic – n. a state or feeling of extreme fear that makes someone unable to act or think normally

unfaithful – adj. having a sexual relationship with someone who is not your wife, husband, or partner

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

3 sewer   

n.排水沟，下水道

参考例句：

• They are tearing up the street to repair a sewer. 他们正挖开马路修下水道。
• The boy kicked a stone into the sewer. 那个男孩把一石子踢进了下水道。

4 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。