One of the two men responsible for the "Shawshank Redemption"-style prison breakout Saturday sports a sizable eagle, globe and anchor tattoo, but Corps officials say he never served as a Marine. of the may be a Marine vet — or a Marine poser.
Images released of Richard Matt, convicted of killing and dismembering his boss, show that he has the Marine-style tattoo on his right shoulder. The Corps' eagle, globe and anchor, which in 1955 became the Corps' official emblem in 1955, and Matt's tattoo raised questions about whether he was a veteran. of the service, on his right shoulder.
But the Marine Corps has no record of Matt — described as white, 6 feet tall and weighing 210 pounds — serving, Yvonne Carlock, a spokeswoman with Manpower and Reserve Affairs, told Marine Corps Times.
The EGA could be an artistic add to the other two tattoos Matt, 48, has on his body: "Mexico Forever" on his back, and a heart on his chest and left shoulder.
Matt was serving a 25-years-to-life sentence for the 1997 murder, kidnapping and robbery of his 76-year-old boss, William Rickerson, whose headless torso and legs were found in the Niagara River in New York. The escapee is described as white, 6 feet tall and weighing 210 pounds.
Matt was in the maximum security section of Clinton Correctional Facility in rural Dannemora, N.Y., where he and neighboring cellmate, David Sweat, broke free through the prison's piping and sewage systems sometime between Friday night and 5:30 a.m. Saturday, according to reports.
Sweat, 34, who also has a set of tattoos — "Rebel" inked on his left bicep, and "IFB" on three fingers of his right hand — was sentenced to life without parole after he and another man shot and killed Broome County, N.Y., deputy, Kevin Tarsia, in 2002. Sweat is described to be 5-feet-11-inches tall and weighing 165 pounds.
The nationwide manhunt, entering its fourth day, continues for hundreds of state and local law enforcement until the two convicted killers are found.
Officials have questioned a female prison worker as a possible accomplice. Police and prison guards are also trying to understand how the men could have come into possession of power tools that helped them saw through steel walls and pipes, getting them from inside the prison to a manhole outside the prison walls.
Officials say this is the first prison break for the Clinton facility in more than over 150 years.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, speaking to CNN on Monday, said that at this point the men "could be anywhere in the country."
The state is offering up to $100,000 for information leading to Matt's and Sweat's capture.
