NEW YORK: Hundreds of police closed in Saturday on a convicted murderer who busted out of a maximum-security New York prison, a day after authorities shot dead his fellow escapee in a three-week manhunt.

Richard Matt, 49, was killed on Friday in the town of Malone, less than 16 kilometres from the Canadian border, and the net appeared to be closing on his accomplice David Sweat.

Police believe they have the 35-year-old Sweat, who was serving a life sentence without parole for murdering a sheriff’s deputy in 2002, contained within a perimeter, CNN reported.

Matt’s bid for freedom reached a fatal conclusion on Friday after he apparently fired at a passing camper van, with more than 1,000 police and agents in hot pursuit.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2015

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