The new-to-Netflix Netflix docudrama Escape at Dannemora focuses partly on Joyce Mitchell, but where did the show's central criminal end up today?
Played by Patricia Arquette in the series, Mitchell joins the likes of Life of Lies' Jennifer Pan and Crime Scene Berlin's Nightlife Killer as one of the many real-life criminals explored in a true-crime series on the streamer.
The seven-episode drama debuted on Showtime in 2018 before coming to Netflix on October 22 of this year, telling Mitchell's story as she aided in one of the most headline-grabbing prison breaks in recent American history.
Who Is Escape at Dannemora's Joyce Mitchell?
Joyce Mitchell, one of the central criminals of Netflix's newly released Escape at Dannemora series, first burst onto the scene in June 2015. She was arrested in connection to a prison escape at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York.
This 'pulled straight from the movies' breakout saw two criminals, David Sweat and Richard Matt, manage to escape from within the New York-based penitentiary by using tools procured from one of their local guards to remove sections of their cell walls and slithering through the building's plumbing system to get off the property.
This would cause a statewide manhunt for the two career criminals, lasting 22 days before authorities captured the pair at the U.S./Canada border.
While Mitchell was not a convicted killer like both Sweat and Matt, she was vital in helping the two escape.
Mitchell was an employee working in Clinton's tailor shop. Matt and Sweat befriended Mitchell during their time at the facility, with some even saying they occasionally seduced her while helping out in the tailor shop.
Following an investigation into the pair's escape, Mitchell was set to be Sweat and Matt's getaway driver, appearing outside the prison walls to hopefully grab the two escapees and drive them to Mexico (per ABC).
However, Mitchell, whose husband also worked at the correctional facility, got cold feet and never showed up on the day. This caused the escapees to head for the Canadian border instead.
Mitchell would pay for her crimes in helping Matt and Sweat in their escape attempt, though.
According to reporting from MyNBC5, she was charged with promoting prison contraband and facilitating criminal activity for her involvement in the planning of the escape and helping the pair "somehow" come into possession of the tools they needed to break out.
Where Is Joyce Mitchell Now?
While the two criminal masterminds at the heart of Escape at Dannemora were meant to spend the rest of their lives behind bars, that does not look to be the case for Joyce Mitchell.
Shortly after arriving in prison, Mitchell was denied release by the New York State Parole Board. But that did not mean she would spend the rest of her life in prison.
She was denied parole twice more before, in February 2020, The New York Post reported that Mitchell had been released from Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in New York after serving five years in prison.
As a part of her release agreement, Mitchell was supervised until at least 2022, when her seven-year prison sentence was supposed to end.
Since June 2022, Mitchell has not been seen or heard from, living a life outside of the spotlight.
It is unknown where she is living or what she is doing, but one thing is for sure: she has not returned to prison in the time since her release.
As for David Sweat and Richard Matt, Matt was fatally shot during the pair's capture near Lake Titus, New York, and Sweat is currently serving a life sentence behind bars.
Escape at Dannemora is streaming on Netflix.
