[Costello:] Former prison worker, Joyce Mitchell, says she's not the monster everyone thinks she is. Mitchell who has confessed to aiding killers break out of prison this summer broke her silence to NBC News, describing from behind bars how because of depression and troubles at home she got caught up in a complicated web with two convicted killers who she eventually helped to escape. She also talked about how she sneaked in tools for the killers.
[Joyce Mitchell, Former Prison Worker:] I give them the star bit, four full size hack blades, I gave them a chisel and punched. That's all that I gave them.
[Matt Lauer, Nbc News:] That's a lot.
[Mitchell:] It is.
[Lauer:] So, you'd go in during the day. You'd see at least Mr. Matt in the tailor shop.
[Mitchell:] Yes.
[Lauer:] And he would say to you, hey, we breached the wall of our cell. We got out of the wall. We're back in the crawl he would let you know this?
[Mitchell:] Yes. He actually had told me at one point, in one spot, that they had found a tool box, and Mr. Sweat picked the lock and they found power tools in it.
[Lauer:] What was your reaction when you were hearing these stories? Wasn't it all so astonishing to you that they were getting out of their cells at night? And they were going behind the walls of the prison?
[Mitchell:] They were waiting until after, I think it's the 11:00 bed check, and then they would go.
[Costello:] Patrick Johnson joins me now. He's the former warden at Chittaqwa County jail. Welcome thank you for being with me this morning.
[Patrick Johnson, Former Warden:] You're welcome. Thank you.
[Costello:] Just how she describes it, Joyce Mitchell, it's bizarre, isn't it?
[Johnson:] It really is. And nothing from the interview really surprised me this morning. I thought she tried to transfer a lot of her blame on being depressed and having problems with her husband and her relationship and that a lot of people who go through depression do similar type things and don't act rationally. But the bottom line is, she's responsible for everything she did. She made those decisions and she should be held accountable for them.
[Costello:] Well, on one hand she said she was flattered because, you're right, she was having problems with her husband and she thought her husband didn't have love her. So she was flirty with the prisoners. Then she used to bring them baked goods, like brownies and cookies, which is also kind of strange to me. Do prison guards usually bring cookies and brownies to inmates.
[Johnson:] No, they don't. That's a red flag when they start asking for favors from staff, whether they're corrections officers or whether they're support staff. She should have reported that immediately to her supervisors. She said she didn't know who she could trust inside the prison. She's the one who wasn't being trustful. She was the one bringing these products into the facility. The other thing on one hand, she was flirting with them and flattered her and she obviously liked it at some point. And then of them said he was going to kill her husband and maybe harm her family. Then she became afraid for her family and that's why she agreed to deliver these tools to these president but that doesn't law make sense to me. It doesn't make sense. At that point you know, she was in pretty deep and enforcement officials and the
[Costello:] Patrick Johnson, thanks for your insight. I appreciate it. I'll be right back.