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Inmate went on ‘crash diet’ to fit through escape pipe

Richard Matt found he was too fat to fit through a two-foot wide steam pipe that was key to their escape

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Richard Matt.

Photo Clinton Correctional Facility

By C1 Staff

DANNEMORA — One of the two convicts who escaped from a maximum security prison in New York allegedly went on a “crash diet” because he was too fat to fit through a pipe that led out of the facility.

The Telegraph reports that Richard Matt allegedly shed 50 pounds ahead of last month’s escape in order to be able to shimmy through a two-foot wide steam pipe that was the key to their escape.

During a dry run of their plan, Matt discovered that he was too big and resolved to get in shape. The weight loss worked and Matt was able to squeeze through the pipe alongside his accomplice, David Sweat.

But his weight loss wasn’t enough to help him keep up with the younger Sweat, who soon grew frustrated that his partner was holding him back. Matt also seemed more interested in raiding campsites for alcohol.

Shortly after the two men parted ways, Matt was shot and killed, while Sweat was shot and recaptured.