Michael Benson - Escape from Dannemora: Richard Matt, David Sweat, and the Great Adirondack Manhunt

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Benson is the author of many true-crime books, including The Devil at Genesee Junction, Murder in Connecticut, The Burn Farm, and Killer Twins. He has appeared on the CBS Morning News, On the Case with Paula Zahn, Southern Fried Homicide, Evil Stepmoms, and Deadly Sins, and is a regular on the Investigation Discovery networks Evil Twins and Evil Kin series. He is originally from Rochester, New York, attended Wheatland-Chili High School, and has a journalism degree from Hofstra University.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank the following persons and organizations without whose help the writing of this book would have been impossible: Jim and Jenny Baleno of Brushton, New York, my mom Rita Benson who had friends in the right places (Up North); Rod Bigelow; Barbara Briggs; William Chase, supervisor, Town of Dannemora; Patricia Desmond; Frank Dimatteo, author of President Street Boys; Beau Duffy, public information officer, New York State Police; Michael P. Dunn, chief deputy, Office of the Sheriff, County of Niagara; my literary agents Jake Elwell and Elise Erickson of Harold Ober Associates; Clinton County sheriff David N. Favro; Captain Fredric Foels, City of Tonawanda Police Department; retired North Tonawanda chief of detectives Glenn D. Gardner; editor Mary Garrett; Keith Gorgas; Katy Grabill; Chief William R. Hall, North Tonawanda Police Department; Tom Haushalter; Rich Henning; Mary Ellen Heyman; editor Stephen P. Hull; the North Tonawanda History Museum; Journey Home; Joshua Lamitie; Clinton Correctional Facility historian Walter Pete Light; Brian Monette; Clinton County legislator Colin Read; Joan Rocco, records access officer, Niagara County Sheriffs Office; Dene Savage, director, Business Development, Titus Mountain Family Ski Center, LLC; Edward Schintzius; Philip Semrau; Sherri L. Strickland; Susan Sylvia; Donna Taylor, treasurer-clerk, Village of Dannemora; Private Investigator Donald A. Tubman; and Kathy Vahue.

AUTHORS NOTE

Although this is a true story, some names and locations have been changed to protect the privacy of the innocent. When possible, the spoken word has been quoted verbatim. However, when that is not possible, conversations have been reconstructed as closely as possible to reality based on the recollections of those who spoke and heard the words. In places there has been a slight editing of spoken words, but only to improve readability. The denotations and connotations of the words remain unaltered. In some cases, witnesses are credited with verbal quotes that in reality only occurred in written form. Some characters may be composites.

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