00:00:04
[thoughtful music] BOB DICESARE: Richard
Matt was talented. You have to be
smart to orchestrate
00:00:10
an escape from prison. GABRIEL D. BERNADO:
He was the most cunning, evil, sadistic person
I ever investigated in 38 years.
00:00:19
BOB DICESARE: The
idea of torturing another human being for
$10,000, killing that person,
00:00:28
it's just evil. It's evil. JAMIE SCALISE: He
dismembered the body with a hacksaw blade
and disposed of it
00:00:35
in the Niagara River
behind me here. [intriguing music] GABRIEL D. BERNADO:
After all these years,
00:00:40
it's still a puzzle-- how a man can be that cruel. JAMIE SCALISE: I get
a phone call saying,
00:00:46
your father has
escaped from prison, and there's a helicopter
over your house.
00:00:50
This was a real-life
"Shawshank Redemption." SWAT teams combing back
yards, looking for him.
00:00:57
LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: It just
blows my mind how they did this, how they pulled this off.
00:01:04
JAMIE SCALISE: I spent my
whole life trying to not be Richard Matt's daughter.
00:01:08
And you know what? I'm Richard Matt's daughter. I can't change that.
00:01:14
[title music] [thoughtful music] GABRIEL D. BERNADO: I can see it
was just like it was yesterday.
00:01:45
It's still in my mind, and
it will always be in my mind. My name is Gabriel D. Bernardo.
00:01:53
I was a police
officer for 38 years. On January 5th, 1998, I
remember I was on duty
00:02:01
at 2:45 in the afternoon. A fisherman had recovered
a body-- or a body part. So I went down to the scene.
00:02:12
I came about here,
and I actually walked through this area
over here, on the rocks,
00:02:17
down by the rocks. I got right close to the water. And it was a human torso. And so I confirmed it.
00:02:27
I radioed back, and I said,
send the dive team down here. NARRATOR: Police forensics
identified the torso found
00:02:36
in the Niagara River as
belonging to 76-year-old William Rickerson. He had been strangled
to death, and his body
00:02:44
had been cut up using a saw. A disgruntled ex-employee
was the prime suspect. GABRIEL D. BERNADO:
Why a human being would
00:02:53
do this to another human being,
I still don't understand it why. 28 years later, and that
case is still with me.
00:03:04
I could not believe that my
ex-husband was a brutal killer. [sentimental music] LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: My
name is Lucy Longo.
00:03:16
I am the ex-wife
of Richard Matt, and I was married to
him for two years. I met Richard Matt in 1987.
00:03:25
I was 27, and he was 21. Richard and I met
at my niece's house. I was introduced to him as
Rick, so I called him Rick.
00:03:37
He was very handsome. He was funny. He just seemed like
a real nice guy. NARRATOR: Lucy and Richard soon
began a romantic relationship.
00:03:52
LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: It was a
whirlwind romance, absolutely. Rick loved the outdoors, so
we'd go to the park a lot.
00:03:59
We'd go camping. But it was a short
period of time, like within maybe
a six-month span,
00:04:04
if that, that he proposed
to me, which was a shock, threw me by surprise. But I was pretty excited.
00:04:13
[thoughtful music] NARRATOR: Richard Matt was
born on June 25th, 1966. He was the second eldest
of his 12 siblings
00:04:29
who all grew up together
in a foster family in North Tonawanda near Niagara
Falls and the Canadian border.
00:04:38
Before he turned 18, Matt had
already been in serious trouble with the law. BOB DICESARE: He was actually
accused of an assault by a woman
00:04:47
that he had been living
with at that time, and he did end up
serving time for that.
00:04:56
LUCY CIFFA-LONGO:
I knew that he had gotten into some
trouble in the past and that he was out on parole.
00:05:01
I just assumed it
was minor things. It wasn't really
discussed a whole lot. The way I saw things
was, he has a past,
00:05:10
but everybody deserves
a second chance. ANJULA MUTANDA: When we
first meet someone new
00:05:17
who we are attracted
to, what tends to happen between two people is,
we look for things in common.
00:05:24
Even if they might have been
things that she wasn't sure of, she might have just sort of
selected them out and pushed
00:05:30
them to the side, which is
pretty common when we first get together with someone.
00:05:37
NARRATOR: After
a year of dating, the couple married at their
local church on June 15th, 1988.
00:05:45
LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: It was
a beautiful, sunny day, and this is one of the
happiest days of my life.
00:05:49
[sentimental music] I remember how excited I was
and how handsome he looked. And we were gonna start
a new life together.
00:06:03
One year and five days later was
the happiest day of my life-- --when I gave birth
to my daughter, Jamie.
00:06:17
JAMIE SCALISE: My
name is Jamie Scalise. I'm the daughter
of Richard Matt. My mom being the youngest
of four and the only girl
00:06:23
was a daddy's girl
herself, so I think she wanted that opportunity,
at least, for me, to say,
00:06:31
she tried to implement
that relationship. And if he reciprocated,
that would be his choice.
00:06:37
[thoughtful music] LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: My father
was my knight in shining armor, and more than anything, that is
what I wanted for my daughter.
00:06:48
After Jamie was born,
I recall clearly that Rick came up
to the hospital with one of his buddies.
00:06:54
I was so excited when
they first walked in. The nurse brought Jamie
in, and they stayed
00:06:59
for less than 15 minutes. I was crushed. I'm just looking
over at my baby. It was heartbreaking.
00:07:17
NARRATOR: By 1990, just two
years into the marriage, Matt had become an absent figure
in the lives of his family,
00:07:24
spending time away from
the home and not being there for his baby daughter. LUCY CIFFA-LONGO:
His personality
00:07:30
kind of changed a little bit. He would go out late at night. He told me that he was
meeting one of his old buddies
00:07:37
that he was a cell mate with. Don't worry about it. Everything is fine. NARRATOR: Matt was also back
on the wrong side of the law.
00:07:47
LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: Richard
got into some trouble. He was sent to
Attica prison, and I
00:07:53
don't even remember exactly
what he did that he's in Attica. But we had communication
again, trying to still make
00:08:00
the marriage work, even
though my whole heart was telling me otherwise. NARRATOR: That same
year, Lucy and Richard
00:08:08
divorced, and he disappeared
from their lives completely. LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: My main
goal was to protect Jamie.
00:08:17
We got to change her last name. I had no money,
so my father ended up paying a lawyer
to legally change
00:08:25
her name to my maiden name. JAMIE SCALISE: I don't
think I knew for a while that I was born a Matt.
00:08:33
I really didn't
know much of him. He wasn't spoke of. I just knew he was somebody
that wasn't in my life,
00:08:39
that I really wasn't overly
invited to talk about it. My mom was a single
parent for a while,
00:08:44
for all of my adolescence,
really, growing up. LUCY CIFFA-LONGO:
My job is to protect
00:08:50
my daughter from this point on. I am now her mother. I am now her father. I am now her provider, and
I am now her protector.
00:08:57
[thoughtful music] NARRATOR: For the
next seven years, Jamie grew up with her mom
at their home in Tonawanda.
00:09:13
In 1997, Richard Matt would
dramatically reappear as part of a murder investigation.
00:09:19
GABRIEL D. BERNADO: On
December 5th, 1997, we got a report of a missing person--
00:09:25
Mr. William Rickerson. He was what they
call a food broker. He used to sell food wholesale
to local restaurants.
00:09:33
He was missing for
a couple of days. NARRATOR: Gabe
brought his detectives to William Richardson's empty
property to investigate.
00:09:42
We had checked the
upper part of the house. Nothing seemed to
be really disturbed.
00:09:48
One of my detectives,
he goes down the cellar and finds one drop of blood
at the bottom of the stairs.
00:09:55
So something bad
had happened here. Something bad. NARRATOR: A month later, a human
torso washed up on the shores
00:10:07
of the Niagara River. I'll never forget it because
I went down there, and sure
00:10:12
enough, right there, there was a
lower portion of the human body floating in the water.
00:10:18
I brought my dive team in
there, and it's cold as hell. The dive team worked
in terrible conditions.
00:10:25
They recovered legs, pajamas. NARRATOR: DNA testing on
the blood spot in the house,
00:10:33
as well as body parts, confirmed
both belonged to the missing William Rickerson.
00:10:39
A missing person inquiry
had turned into a homicide. Police began their investigation
by talking to William
00:10:50
Rickerson's employees. They quickly learned
that a worker who had been fired by
Rickerson held a grudge
00:10:57
against his former employer. [intriguing music] BOB DICESARE: Richard
Matt felt that he
00:11:02
was owed money after being fired
when he worked for Rickerson. Also, he had heard
that Rickerson
00:11:07
had $10,000 in that house. That's probably was
his real motivation. He wants the money.
00:11:16
NARRATOR: Richard Matt had
a plan on how to get it. [music intensifies] On the evening of December 4th,
Matt called an acquaintance,
00:11:26
Lee Bates, and then
asked for a favor. GABRIEL D. BERNADO:
He didn't have a car,
00:11:31
so Richard Matt calls Lee Bates. Lee Bates picks him up. NARRATOR: Matt
instructed Bates to drive
00:11:39
him to the house of his former
employer, William Rickerson. GABRIEL D. BERNADO:
He knocks on the door,
00:11:45
and Rickerson opens the door. Richard Matt wants
money and demands money. And Mr. Rickerson replies,
he doesn't have any money.
00:11:54
At that point,
Richard Matt hit him, knocks him down several times. And at one point,
according to Lee Bates,
00:12:02
he actually put a knife
sharpener into his ear and pushes it into his brain. That was his goal--
00:12:13
get him to talk. But Mr. Rickerson wouldn't talk. He wouldn't tell him
where the money was.
00:12:19
[suspenseful music] They end up taking
him, putting him in the trunk of their car,
and going on a long drive
00:12:26
to Ohio and back,
covering 300 miles. GABRIEL D. BERNADO:
Every once in a while,
00:12:34
he would cry out in pain. I believe three
ribs were broken, so that had to be painful,
bouncing around in the trunk.
00:12:42
And no water, no food. BOB DICESARE: I'm sure at that
point, Richard Matt's thought
00:12:48
was, we can't just let him go. If we let him go, we're doomed. We're gonna be
fingered for this.
00:12:55
He knows who I am. Richard Matt, after
punching Mr. Rickerson, strangled him somehow.
00:13:05
He dies in the trunk of the car. NARRATOR: Richard
Matt and Lee Bates drove William Rickerson's
body back to North Tonawanda,
00:13:17
to an island in
the Niagara River. GABRIEL D. BERNADO: We're
on Tonawanda island.
00:13:24
The island is used for
boating and fishing. [thoughtful music] The day of the killing, he
drove here with the body.
00:13:31
He hid the body by the trees and
then came back two days later with a hacksaw, cut off the
head, the arm, the legs,
00:13:42
and threw the body parts
into the Niagara River. BOB DICESARE: River has a
pretty good current to it.
00:13:50
Certain parts of that river,
if I get that in there, they'll wash. They'll ultimately end
up down Niagara Falls.
00:13:57
They'll end up in
the lower Niagara. No one is gonna find this. GABRIEL D. BERNADO: If there's
no body, there's no evidence.
00:14:04
He wanted to destroy
the evidence. What better way? Cut him up and just
throw him in the river.
00:14:09
[intriguing music] Then the fish will eat
them, eat the body parts. NARRATOR: Within days of
the torso being found,
00:14:19
21-year-old Lee Bates gave
himself up to the police and confessed to being part of
the murder of William Rickerson.
00:14:27
GABRIEL D. BERNADO:
Richard Matt told him while we were doing all
this, you open your mouth,
00:14:31
and I will kill you. He actually
threatened Lee Bates. Oh god, yes. And Lee Bates knew
Richard Matt meant it.
00:14:37
Oh god, yes. Lee Bates was fearful. But he still came forward,
still give us all the facts.
00:14:45
He still did the right thing. BOB DICESARE: Lee Bates is
granted a less harsh sentence
00:14:51
if he's willing to
testify about Richard Matt and what actually
took place then.
00:14:56
And he accepted that
offer and testified that Matt had basically
orchestrated everything.
00:15:04
NARRATOR: The hunt for
Richard Matt was on. 31-year-old Richard Matt was on
the run in Mexico after becoming
00:15:13
the prime suspect in the
murder of his former boss, William Rickerson. [intriguing music]
00:15:19
LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: I was
in disbelief, disgust. I was glad that I was no longer
in his life or my daughter.
00:15:29
Like, you've got
to be kidding me. Murder? Murder, really? NARRATOR: With her
ex-husband on the news,
00:15:38
Lucy decided she had to tell
their nine-year-old daughter, Jamie, about her father before
she heard it from someone else.
00:15:48
JAMIE SCALISE: She
told me the truth. She told me that he
had murdered somebody,
00:15:52
that he had fled to Mexico
right around that time. And that's why the
officers were around,
00:15:57
people were coming to the house. She asked if I
had any questions. I said no. It really wasn't a topic
of open conversation.
00:16:05
So it was just something
that was kept private, kind of that skeleton
in the closet.
00:16:11
LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: I said,
so do you understand this? His name is never to be
mentioned in this house, ever.
00:16:16
She says, OK, Mom. OK, Mom. And that was it. ANJULA MUTANDA: Lucy
wants to protect her child
00:16:22
from any further distress. Jamie may have
learnt in that moment that if she asks
any more questions,
00:16:29
that might upset her mum. So they've both now gone into
protection mode, one as a parent
00:16:37
and one as a child. And that can be a very difficult
place to find yourself as a kid.
00:16:45
Jamie learns at that
point to suppress any questioning about her dad. NARRATOR: Two months after
Richard Matt had killed
00:16:56
his former boss, and as the
police tried to track him down in Mexico, Matt killed again.
00:17:03
GABRIEL D. BERNADO:
He had gone into a bar and gotten into a fight. For some reason, he had a
knife, and he kills the man,
00:17:10
stabs him several times. BOB DICESARE: The man he killed
was an American-- wrong place,
00:17:16
wrong time. A desperate man. Again, I need money. I need to survive. I'll do anything, at
this point, right?
00:17:24
He'd already killed once. Does that surprise me? No, it doesn't. It doesn't surprise me one bit.
00:17:30
I'm surprised he
didn't cut his head off after stabbing him nine times. He's such a-- [sighs]
an evil person.
00:17:37
God. NARRATOR: Matt was arrested
by the Mexican authorities and immediately placed
into prison without trial.
00:17:50
LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: After I
found out that he was arrested, I felt peaceful
because if he did this,
00:17:56
he doesn't belong
on the streets. With him in custody,
I felt safe. [thoughtful music]
00:18:08
Richard didn't know
where Jamie and I lived, so he would send letters
to a mutual friend.
00:18:15
And they'd give me
the letter and say, you decide what you want to do. Me being protective over her
and wanting a good life for her,
00:18:24
I didn't want to give
her these letters. I just wanted nothing
to do with any of it.
00:18:30
I wanted to be as
far away as possible. My main focus was to keep
this little girl safe.
00:18:45
NARRATOR: In 2003, another
letter arrived from Mexico. This time, Lucy
handed it to Jamie.
00:18:54
LUCY CIFFA-LONGO:
She's older now. Jamie's 14 years old. I'm not 100% sure why I decided
to give her that letter.
00:19:04
Part of me just
wanted her to know that as crazy as all the
stuff that he's done,
00:19:08
she's still on his
mind somewheres. He asked in that letter
for me to possibly put aside
00:19:16
what I had heard about
him and that it would have meant everything
in the world to him
00:19:20
to have a relationship with me. And he knew what it was like
at 14 to not have a father.
00:19:24
[somber music] I think for him, at
that point, that guilt was setting in as to the
repercussion of his actions.
00:19:31
And I kind of looked at it
like, you're not around. You're not here anyways.
00:19:34
Now you're gonna try
and be a part of my life through some measly letter? And I said-- I
dismissed it, really.
00:19:43
I have a father who
has done bad things. I have a father who
is in a Mexican prison
00:19:48
after fleeing from a murder. ANJULA MUTANDA: That speaks
to someone who is struggling
00:19:59
to make sense of her father and
his motives and his relationship to her. And at that point in time,
it sounds like it's harmful,
00:20:10
but she doesn't know. [intriguing music] JAMIE SCALISE: My curiosity
kicked in, but at that point,
00:20:17
I didn't want my mom to
know I had questions. So my best friend and
I went to the library,
00:20:23
and I started researching what
came up about Richard Matt. I found out that my
father was a monster.
00:20:33
I think that was the first time
that I took in what he did. I must have looked in shock
because I remember my girlfriend
00:20:41
saying, are you OK? So I must have lost
color, looked frightened. And I just shook my head
yes and kept reading.
00:20:52
I knew a murder happened. I didn't know that he was
viewed by law enforcement
00:20:57
like he was the most evil person
that they had come across. So I did not say
anything to my mom.
00:21:05
I kind of kept it a
secret, and I was satisfied with that at the time. I still didn't feel like I
needed to contact my father.
00:21:14
[intriguing music] NARRATOR: In January,
2007, when Jamie was 17, Richard Matt was
extradited back to the US
00:21:23
after serving nine years
in the Mexican prison. GABRIEL D. BERNADO:
The Mexican authorities
00:21:28
turned him over to us, then
we could triumph our murder. He was back in the news.
00:21:35
There was that name again-- Richard Matt, the evil,
manipulative person. This person to be feared
is being brought back.
00:21:45
[thoughtful music] NARRATOR: The trial for the
murder of William Rickerson began on March 10th,
2008-- over a decade
00:21:53
after the crime was committed. BOB DICESARE: The trial began
in Niagara County court.
00:21:59
Three charges of second
degree murder, three charges of first degree
kidnapping, and a couple
00:22:04
charges of first degree robbery. And if I remember right, the
trial lasted about one month.
00:22:12
The jury finds him guilty. He was sentenced to
25 years to life. JAMIE SCALISE: He was
a double murderer.
00:22:20
That sets a tone for how
you feel about this person, about what happened,
and about yourself, too.
00:22:26
You can't help but have that
person's reflection and shame be projected onto
you as a person
00:22:32
being a product of your blood. You're that person's relative. I'm that person's daughter.
00:22:42
[thoughtful music] NARRATOR: Matt's
accomplice, Lee Bates, was already serving 15 years
for second degree murder.
00:22:50
Richard Matt was sent to
Clinton Correctional Facility, located in Dannemora, New York.
00:22:57
BOB DICESARE:
Clinton Correctional is like this fortress that
towers over everything.
00:23:02
Intimidating to look at
that, to think, oh my gosh, what's it like to
be inside there?
00:23:10
JAMIE SCALISE: I had
no contact with him, but I thought about it more
than I ever had in my life.
00:23:14
If I were to ever contact him, I
wanted it to be on my own terms. [sentimental music]
00:23:24
NARRATOR: Three
years later, in 2011, Jaime received another letter
from her father, now aged 44.
00:23:33
JAMIE SCALISE: I was 21. I was married at
the time, getting ready to buy my first home.
00:23:37
I was a young adult.
I was on my own, and I was at a
different point in life. And I remember I didn't
open it in front of anybody.
00:23:45
This letter finally tugged
at the heartstrings. He describes his
treatment in Mexico.
00:23:53
I was tortured many
times by the guards because I was an American. I was beaten until I passed out.
00:23:59
I was cut, stabbed, shot,
starved, without food for days. I was placed 20
feet below the floor
00:24:05
in a hole for 27
months in darkness with cockroaches
crawling all over me. As much as I wished
for death down there,
00:24:11
I never gave up, and
never let them break me. My will to live came from you. You were and are the most
important thing to me in life.
00:24:22
That line really did captivate
me and hit home, I think, like he intended the first
letter to when I was 14.
00:24:30
Something about him saying
that was just so special to me. [thoughtful music] And I felt like it was
genuine and sincere
00:24:39
and that he truly
wanted to meet me. He wanted to right the wrong
of him not being a father.
00:24:45
And I knew it was time. I knew it was time to finally-- [music intensifies] --dive into this part of my life
that I had put off for so long.
00:24:55
[intriguing music] NARRATOR: Richard Matt
was a double murderer and serving a life sentence
in Clinton Correctional
00:25:06
Facility in New York. He had reached out by
letter to his estranged daughter, Jamie, who he hadn't
seen since she was a baby.
00:25:14
But she had rebuffed
his attempts until now. JAMIE SCALISE: I didn't
tell my mom that I
00:25:21
received the letter at all. I think I was just
almost kind of bred to keep this topic a secret
in all different aspects.
00:25:29
I think that part of me said,
I'm gonna do this on my own. And I think I wanted to have
control of the situation.
00:25:37
I didn't want anybody's input. ANJULA MUTANDA:
As she gets older, she feels more like she has
a right to do what she wants
00:25:45
as an adult in her own life. She has agency, and she wants
to take full control back.
00:25:51
She does not want to
be told by anybody what she can and cannot do. This is her choice
and her choice alone.
00:25:59
NARRATOR: Jamie
responded to the letter. JAMIE SCALISE: He had asked
me in the letter to set aside
00:26:04
what I knew of him, the monster
that I knew that he was, and if I would just give him
a chance to get to know him.
00:26:11
I said, I will set
these things aside. I said, but I want the
truth at some point.
00:26:17
And he agreed. We wrote letters
weekly, back and forth, for at least a good six months.
00:26:27
I remember feeling like a kid
on Christmas shortly after that, going to the mailbox
every day to see if I
00:26:31
had a letter from my father. And that's how he
referred to himself, was in our writing,
your father, Rick.
00:26:37
[sentimental music] And shortly after
that, the verbiage started changing to, love, Dad.
00:26:44
We covered a lot of
ground very fast. NARRATOR: In June, 2011,
without telling her mom,
00:26:54
Jamie made the decision to visit
her father for the first time. JAMIE SCALISE: It was
about a seven-hour drive.
00:27:03
I was calm. I felt a sense of peace,
but I was nervous. I was nervous, I think,
more about the process
00:27:09
of entering a maximum security
prison than meeting my father. I do think it's
funny that we spent
00:27:19
so much time smiling at each
other during that visit. And then we get the
opportunity to have a photo,
00:27:25
and he isn't doing much smiling. [laughs] This was such a big
moment, a monumental moment,
00:27:30
in both of our lives,
and we knew that. I'm not a crier. In most situations, the
normal thing to do probably
00:27:38
would have to gone
in and cry and hug. And we did that,
minus the crying. [sentimental music]
00:27:44
He felt like my father, and
I don't remember feeling fearful of him whatsoever.
00:27:51
And that first visit,
it felt very natural. It felt like seeing
your long lost father, who wasn't a murderer
at that point in time.
00:28:03
ANJULA MUTANDA: She needed
answers for herself. What I see here is somebody
empowering themselves
00:28:10
to complete the picture
for herself, rather than, I've been told this by my mum,
and then I've been told not
00:28:16
to talk about it ever again. And that suggests to me that
all that time in her past,
00:28:23
she has been suppressing
those questions, and she's not going to lose
that opportunity again.
00:28:30
NARRATOR: Jamie and
her father spent the visit catching up on life
with no mention of his crimes.
00:28:39
JAMIE SCALISE: Seeing my
father as a convicted killer, it brought out a lot of emotion.
00:28:42
Even looking back at
these photos, knowing I'm standing next to a killer. I'm standing next to somebody.
00:28:49
His arm is around me. This person is
touching me, whose same hands did such evil,
horrible things to other people.
00:28:56
[thoughtful music] That is something that
it's very striking. It doesn't sit with you well.
00:29:03
But I never went back
to being fearful of him. I felt secure for him where
he was at that point in time.
00:29:13
I was there for probably
about four hours. I knew we were absolutely gonna
continue our relationship.
00:29:20
I was already excited to
go back for the next visit. I think I felt a sense
of pride in myself,
00:29:27
that I had made that trip-- --that I had finally
met my father. [intriguing music]
00:29:40
NARRATOR: Richard Matt
revealed more about himself to his daughter as she
paid further visits to him
00:29:45
over the next couple of years. Jamie's mom, Lucy,
still had no idea that her daughter was in
contact with her father,
00:29:55
and her ex-husband. JAMIE SCALISE: It was probably
two years into this relationship
00:30:01
that I was going out
of town, and my mom was looking after my house for me. I cleaned up everything,
mopped the floors,
00:30:09
and set the table, and just
wanted everything to look nice when she came home. And I went out to
grab the mail, and I
00:30:15
saw Rick's name and Clinton
Correctional Facility, and then a big package. I was like, [gasps] oh
my gosh, he found her.
00:30:28
JAMIE SCALISE: He had sent
me a painting in the mail. I had come to learn that my
father was a brilliant oil
00:30:34
painter in prison, and he wanted
to do some paintings for me. When I came back into
town, she said, there's
00:30:43
something on your bed for you. And I went in there and saw
what it was, and it was like,
00:30:48
oh, I'm in trouble. [laughs] NARRATOR: Jamie came
clean to her mom about the new relationship
with her father.
00:30:59
JAMIE SCALISE: And I
didn't know what to expect. I think part of me was afraid.
00:31:02
I was afraid to tell my mom. I was afraid that she would
be disappointed in me. And it was the exact opposite.
00:31:08
[thoughtful music] LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: I was very
accepting because I knew, she's a human being.
00:31:14
It's her natural instincts
that want to know. She was protecting me,
doing it out of respect
00:31:24
because she knew where I
stood, that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.
00:31:31
NARRATOR: Matt and Jamie
did eventually discuss the murders he'd committed. JAMIE SCALISE: When my
father decided to open up
00:31:39
about the crime that had
happened with Mr. Rickerson, I think he told me
the truth, but I
00:31:45
think he gave me the version
that he thought appropriate for his daughter to hear.
00:31:51
There was something
about it that I know wasn't the full story. He had remorse for what he
did, but the most remorse
00:32:03
that he had in
context was the fact that his actions caused him to
not be able to be in my life.
00:32:15
These photos here are
four of the six visits that I had with my father
at Clinton Correctional.
00:32:20
Each one of these visits
were from 2011, '12, '13, and I believe we did get to
see each other end of '14.
00:32:30
[intriguing music] In June, in 2015, I was at one
of my best friend's weddings,
00:32:41
and my phone was buzzing,
buzzing, buzzing, buzzing. My mom was calling. Before I could even do
anything, I answered the phone.
00:32:45
I'm like, what? I'm working this wedding. You know this is a big day. What is going on?
00:32:50
She goes, Rick escaped. He's out. I panicked, instantly
knowing, they're coming here.
00:32:58
They're coming for me. And authorities
are now searching in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
00:33:05
This prison break right
out of a Hollywood script. [intriguing music] LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: It was June 6
of 2015, and I turned the TV on.
00:33:14
Richard Matt and David Sweat
had escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility. My mouth hit the floor.
00:33:20
Right after that was
banging on my door. The sheriffs, the SWAT
team, the FBI, Border Patrol
00:33:29
lined up all down my street. JAMIE SCALISE: I
talked to my husband, and he said, well,
just pulled up home.
00:33:34
He goes, and the
SWAT team is here. He goes, and so is Border
Patrol, and so is local PD.
00:33:40
So my house was surrounded. There was a helicopter
over my house. She had an agent outside
her house at all times.
00:33:50
Any time she left that
house, they'd follow her. JAMIE SCALISE: Word had gotten
out, whether I liked it or not,
00:33:56
that I was related to
one of these people. I had spent in my
whole life trying not
00:34:01
to be Richard Matt's daughter. And now it was right in front
of me, and I had no choice.
00:34:08
[somber music] This was left behind
in my father's cell. Time to go, kid. With the date on it.
00:34:16
That is directly to me. He would joke often
and call me kid. This here was left
by my father as well.
00:34:25
That said, you left me no choice
but to grow old and die in here. I had to do something.
00:34:30
That's more directed towards
some type of law enforcement. Immediately after
leaving these messages
00:34:37
was when my father made
his way to freedom. [intriguing music] BOB DICESARE: I would
stand at the front window
00:34:43
during this escape
and wonder, is this guy around here somewhere? Is he back? Is there unfinished business?
00:34:51
I had loaded guns on
every floor in my house. Didn't know when he would
show up, if he would show up.
00:34:56
With a killer like that
loose, anything is possible. BOB DICESARE: Richard
Matt and David Sweat
00:35:04
have both committed murder,
are out there somewhere, and you don't know
where they are.
00:35:10
JAMIE SCALISE: It was
a three-week manhunt. They became the most
wanted men in America.
00:35:17
There was sightings throughout
the Adirondack Mountains. The dogs were starting to pick
up on certain things, where
00:35:21
they said they can confirm there
was DNA found at certain sites. They had started finding
empty bottles of liquor.
00:35:27
Once that became
publicized, I was fearful. I was fearful for my father,
if he was under the influence
00:35:33
of something. And I was fearful for others. You're desperate. You're hungry.
00:35:40
You're probably hurt. Who knows? You've been living in the
woods for three weeks.
00:35:46
I can't imagine what that
does to your mindset, and my biggest fear was
him hurting somebody
00:35:55
and negating
everything that we had discussed in our conversations. NARRATOR: It took the
police nearly three
00:36:06
weeks to track down the killer. Matt was finally found
in the town of Malone, only 10 miles away from the
prison he'd escaped from.
00:36:15
He had found a gun in
one of the hunting cabins in the Adirondack Mountains. [music intensifies]
00:36:20
And when they got close
enough, he raised the gun. NARRATOR: When
asked by a Customs
00:36:26
and Border Protection SWAT team
to put down the gun, he refused. The officer shot him in the
head and shot him three times.
00:36:38
And that was the
end of Richard Matt. [somber music] LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: My oldest
brother called me and says,
00:36:49
are you by a TV? I said, no. And he says, I just wanted to
let you know that Rick was shot,
00:36:54
and, he's killed. I was somber, quiet. What are you gonna do? I felt bad for Jamie because
she was just starting kind
00:37:11
of this relationship with him. It was a calm, but it was
the most upsetting thing
00:37:29
I'd ever heard in my life. I don't know who the
officer was that shot him,
00:37:36
but I would not
only shake his hand and give him the
biggest hug, but thank him for ending an evil life.
00:37:43
Thank you. Our community thanks you. [sentimental music] JAMIE SCALISE: I do believe
my father wanted to die,
00:37:54
and I believe he wanted
to die on his terms. And I think he got the wish
that he wanted because I know
00:38:00
he wasn't going back to prison. NARRATOR: David sweat was
captured three days later
00:38:14
and returned to prison to a
life of solitary confinement. In July, 2015, Jamie gave her
father, Richard Matt, a funeral.
00:38:26
JAMIE SCALISE: He was cremated,
and we did a very small service, almost in hopes that he made
it somewhere-- that he made it.
00:38:35
The suffering was done. The mind games were done. Nobody else got hurt,
and it was almost a way
00:38:40
to put everything to rest. Sadness did overcome
me, and I let it out. I cried like a baby,
which was probably
00:38:50
the first time in 20 years. [laughs] So the
emotion took over. LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: I
hope he's at peace.
00:39:02
I truly hope that he made
his peace with his maker. I hope he asked, most
important, for forgiveness,
00:39:12
and that he is resting,
truly resting, in peace. [intriguing music] GABRIEL D. BERNADO: So is
there a place for Richard Matt?
00:39:23
Certainly [laughs]
not in heaven. So full of evil. NARRATOR: Jamie has found it
difficult separating herself
00:39:37
from the murder of
William Rickerson at the hands of her father. JAMIE SCALISE: What my
father did to that family
00:39:45
is just unforgivably horrific. The guilt and the shame
that you feel over that, it's never gonna fully go away.
00:39:54
[thoughtful music] It's something I finally had to
separate myself from and, again,
00:40:00
know that I didn't
do those things, and there's nothing
that I could ever
00:40:04
do to bring peace to
that family in the way that they would truly deserve. LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: I
feel absolutely horrible
00:40:12
about the Richardson family. I can't even imagine or
begin to imagine what that family was put through.
00:40:21
That's heartbreaking,
beyond heartbreaking. My heart goes out to them. JAMIE SCALISE: I feel like
I've been able to process
00:40:33
my father's death and
the crimes that he committed in a healthy way. It's taken a lot of time.
00:40:40
I've learned a lot about myself. I wish that I did have a
longer relationship with him.
00:40:49
I do feel like this
happened so quick. It's like we just got started,
and then as fast as it started,
00:40:54
it ended. I feel like there was so
much more that I could have gotten to know about my father.
00:41:03
ANJULA MUTANDA: She has found
a sense of relief and release at discovering who her dad
was from her point of view,
00:41:09
and that is the
person that she loves. She can gain some form
of closure for herself.
00:41:18
It's like, I knew him. We had a connection. It was deep for me, and I
can close that mystery now.
00:41:33
LUCY CIFFA-LONGO: Now that
my daughter is a young lady and a mother herself,
she really, completely
00:41:38
understands where
I was coming from, that I wasn't the big, bad wolf. She knows that I protected her,
and I could not be more proud.
00:41:49
She's a great mom, and
she's a great friend. JAMIE SCALISE: My
father ultimately
00:41:56
wanted to be in Mexico. That was his happy place. That was freedom for him. I ended up taking a
trip myself to Mexico
00:42:05
with a vial of his ashes,
and I sprinkled his ashes into the ocean down there. So I felt like I
brought him home,
00:42:12
and he could finally
rest in peace, and that I could have
closure knowing that he's
00:42:16
right where he wanted to be. I think my lack of emotion
is not because I don't care,
00:42:26
not because I'm insensitive. I think it's because I was
raised to be strong for everyone
00:42:33
around me. And every now and
then, it'll get me. The tears will come out. I'll reread an old
letter, and it reminds me
00:42:42
that I miss you, Dad. I do. [closing music]