Shawshank prison escape: Fugitive David Sweat arrested after massive three week manhunt

USA: Police last night took an escaped murderer alive after he spent three weeks on the run following a " Shawshank escape ”.

David Sweat was finally apprehended close to the Canadian border after he and fellow killer Richard Matt sparked the biggest manhunt in recent American history.

The men had escaped on June 6 from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, upstate New York.

Since Friday more than 1,200 police and State Troopers had been closing in on the fugitive narrowing his whereabouts down to a 22 square mile area.

The breakthrough came after police shot and killed accomplice Richard Matt close to a cabin near Lake Titus in Malone, New York, where he helped himself to a stash of alcohol.

Hours later, the 49-year-old tried to carjack a camper van, but the driver fled and called 911.

Within minutes, authorities had Matt surrounded and he was killed with three shots to his head after he failed to comply with their orders.

The development led to authorities then tracking Sweat, 35, after he attempted to make his way across into Canada.

On Sunday afternoon he was finally found and sources say he was was spotted by a State Trooper as he brazenly walked down a road.

When seen he was shot and wounded leaving him with injuries officials said were possibly life threatening.

A source close to the manhunt said: “We were always confident we’d find both men.

“Once Matt was discovered the clock was ticking for Sweat.

“It was only a matter of time.

“As last justice can once again be served and those people they installed fear in can now rest easy in their beds.

“They are a threat no more.”

The two men left decoy dummies in their beds, before fleeing through a hole cut in their cell with power tools.

They descended to a utility tunnel under the prison, smashed through a brick barricade, wriggling through 2ft pipe and leaving a "have a nice day" note and finally emerging outside the prison walls through a manhole cover in a nearby road.

The pair had been helped by Joyce Mitchell, a civilian worker who supervised the cons in the prison ’s tailoring department.

She has since been charged with aiding their escape by supplying them with tools after reportedly smuggling in hacksaws hidden in meat.

The dumpy grandmother, 51, is also accused of having regular sex with both killers inside prison and had planned to help them get away after breaking out.