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PCBPD seeks stabbing suspect

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — Authorities are on the hunt for a suspect who allegedly stabbed a man six times, according to a Bay County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Joseph Patrick Grimes, 55, suffered sever injuries in the incident, BCSO reported.

BCSO dispatchers received a call Monday night at about 10:20 p.m. that a man had been stabbed on Commerce Drive. When BCSO deputies arrived, they found Grimes was suffering from six stab wounds, laying on his side near a dumpster, BCSO reported.

Grimes said he’d been attacked by a black male, who came up from behind, while he was dumpster diving. The man was wearing a sleeveless white t-shirt and blue jeans, he told investigators.

Authorities conducted a search of the area alongside a K-9 unit, but the suspect could not be located.

Grimes was taken to a local hospital with severe injuries where he underwent surgery. Investigators were unable Tuesday to speak with Grimes, BCSO said.

Officials are asking that anyone who has any information on the identity or location of the suspect, please call Investigator Stephen Rhinehart at 850-747-4700 or call Crime Stoppers.


Police capture Panama City woman wanted in murder plot

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NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Authorities have captured a Florida woman wanted on charges alleging she plotted to kill a suburban Indianapolis divorce attorney seeking money from her boyfriend.

Hamilton County Sheriff Mark Bowen announced Monday that U.S. marshals and a police SWAT team had arrested 51-year-old Renee Perillo of Panama City in a small Montana town. He provided no other details of her capture.

Perillo was being detained Tuesday in Hamilton, Montana.

Bowen says Perillo will face extradition to Indiana on charges including conspiracy to commit murder, theft and criminal trespass.

Her son, 21-year-old Richard Perillo of Laughlin, Nevada, faces identical charges after being captured June 11 near San Diego.

The two were free on $20,000 bonds after being arrested last month on lesser charges outside the Noblesville home of an attorney pursuing unpaid settlement money from Perillo's boyfriend.

Road construction set for U.S. 231, Harrison on Thursday

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PANAMA CITY — The southbound, right turn lane of U.S. 231 at Harrison Avenue will be closed Thursday to undergo maintenance, according to a Florida Department of Transportation news release.

FDOT reported a contractor will perform routine sign maintenance on the overhead structure at the intersection. Lane closures will remain in effect from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. All activities are weather dependent and may be delayed or rescheduled in the event of inclement weather. Motorists are reminded to travel with care through the work zone.

Juveniles arrested in string of home burglaries

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CALLAWAY — Three 15-year-old boys have been arrested in connection with a string of home burglaries, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.

BCSO reported Jerome Octavious Whitfield, Alex D. Williams and Darius Eugene Jemison allegedly walked through the area of Lance Street, Enzor Street and Pridgen Street, knocking on doors and asking residents if they would like their lawn mowed. The three allegedly would case the house and come back at another time to break in, officers said.

On one occasion, they mowed the lawn for a resident and when they observed the home owner leave to run an errand, they entered the house and removed various items belonging to the owner. When the owner arrived home he saw the three young men leaving quickly and observed grass cuttings on the rug in multiple rooms of the house, BCSO reported.

When the three were located, they had laptops, I pods, an X-Box 360 and assorted games from the X-Box and Playstation systems, according to the BCSO news release.

Jemison and Whitfield have been charged with four counts of burglary of a dwelling and Williams was charged with one count. The three were arrested and transported to DJJ.

PCPD seeks car burglary suspects

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PANAMA CITY — The Panama City Police Department is seeking the public’s help in identifying two suspects involved in multiple car burglaries.

The burglaries occurred between May 26-29, PCPD said. Security footage showed a heavy-set white male between ages 16-20 breaking into multiple vehicles along Bob Sikes Dr. and West 11th Street and again at the Marathon Gas Station located at 2630 East 11th Street, according to police.

The white male was joined by a black male, also believed to be ages 16-20, during the Marathon burglary, PCPD said. The suspect is driving a 1985-89 maroon Chevrolet S10 with an unknown tag, police reported.

Anyone with information is asked to call PCPD at (850) 872-3112 or CrimeStoppers at (850) 785-TIPS.

Gumbo seasoning dispute gets spicy, leads to stabbing

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — Police have arrested a man for allegedly stabbing a coworker at a local seafood market, according to a Panama City Beach Police Department news release.

Orlando Thompson, 26, was arrested Tuesday on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after a work squabble over gumbo seasoning “quickly escalated” into an armed engagement, PCBPD reported.

Police reported that at Buddy’s Seafood Market, 111 State 79, Thompson and a coworker, Caleb Halley, began arguing over the amount of spice that should be put into the restaurant’s gumbo. Thompson armed himself with a wooden board and Halley with a small wooden knife, PCBPD reported.

Thompson retreated and the skirmish seemed to be at an end. However, video surveillance from the business depicts Thompson’s return, swinging and thrusting a knife at Halley, police said.

Halley suffered three lacerations to his torso, one of which caused serious injury, police reported. He was treated with non-life threatening injuries at a local hospital after waiving down an ambulance.

Thompson was arrested and taken to Bay County Jail for first appearance on the charges.

Family remembers man who died in Bay County crash

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PANAMA CITY — Jerry Corneileus Wright was a devoted father and husband who worked excessively to provide for his family, family members said.

Wright, 64, of DeFuniak Springs, was removed from life support at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday at a local hospital after about a week of being unresponsive to stimuli following a crash. He was injured June 15 while driving his 2007 Chevrolet work van west on 388 near State 77. Wright had a “medical event” that caused him to cross lanes while he entered the tree line and struck several trees with the front end of his work van, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.

Family members said Wright suffered a heart attack behind the wheel, and after medical crews were able to resuscitate him, he was left brain dead.

“We tried to talk and motivate him, but his eyes would just roll back in his head,” Amanda Simmons, Wright’s eldest daughter, said Tuesday in an interview. “I couldn’t do it. As a daughter, it was heartbreaking.”

However, as Wright’s health declined, his liver failing, the family made the decision to remove him from life support.

“We decided there wasn’t a better day to let go of your dad than Father’s Day,” Simmons added.

Wright was a “workaholic,” Simmons said, working as a mechanic throughout the Panhandle. From Panama City to Pensacola, numerous auto-repair shops and garages recognized his Fleet-Mobil van rumbling down the road. And at the end of the day, Wright would have his wife sit down while he catered to the evening meal.

The work never stopped for him, Simmons said. The day of the crash, his van was loaded up and ready for him to make his rounds.

About a week later, nine of his closest family members gathered around his hospital bed to witness his final breaths. He was pronounced dead just before sunset Father’s Day, Simmons said.

“He was an honest, good dad,” she added. “He always said he loved us, and that was the last thing he told us — that he loved us.”

Man faces federal gun, drug charges

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PANAMA CITY — A Jacksonville man was arraigned in federal court Wednesday on charges police caught him with two firearms and a copious amount of marijuana and ecstasy during the height of Spring Break.

Christopher Desean Session, 30, appeared in the U.S. Northern District of Florida Courthouse to hear charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, intent to distribute controlled substances and of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. He could face up to 35 years in federal prison.

Session initially was arrested at about 6:30 p.m. March 14, according to Panama City Beach Police Department arrest records. He was driving a black convertible Ford Mustang in the 1100 block of Front Beach Road when PCBPD stopped him because one of his passengers was sitting on the exterior of the moving car, police reported. From inside the car, though, police said they could smell the strong odor of cannabis and began a search.

Officers reported they found 330 grams — or about 11.6 ounces — of marijuana and another 16 grams prepackaged for sale, 132 ecstasy pills, drug paraphernalia, $3,304 in various places, two handguns, ammunition magazines and a short-barreled AK-47 rifle. One of the pistols also had been reported stolen, according to police.

Session claimed everything in the car other than the firearms, police said. He and his two passengers denied knowledge of the guns, though the reportedly stolen handgun was in the glove box under some of the money. However, police later found photos of Session posing with the guns and drugs on a phone found in the car, police reported.

One of the guns was traced to a manufacturer in the eastern European country of Serbia. Another originated in Massachusetts, according to court records.

Session, who appeared shackled in court Wednesday, remains in custody. He also is charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. His previous convictions were also firearm-related, including an arrest for possession of a short-barreled shotgun, court records indicated.

A trial was set for July 20.


2 hospitalized after PCB wreck

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — Two women were rushed to the hospital with serious injuries after an early Wednesday morning wreck, according to Panama City Beach Police Department reports.

Tonya Stevenson, of Panama City Beach, was listed in critical condition Wednesday afternoon. Gwendolyn McNeil, of Southport, was listed in stable condition, PCBPD reported.

Police responded to the area of Porter Drive on Back Beach Road (U.S. 98) at about 3:40 a.m. Wednesday. Stevenson was driving west on U.S. 98 when she lost control of the vehicle, which collided with multiple trees in the center median, spun around and came to rest facing east in the westbound lanes of travel, officers reported.

Moments later, a white 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier, driven by McNeil, struck the resting Ford Sport head on.

Both drivers were transported taken to a local hospital with serious injuries. The investigation into the cause of this crash is ongoing.

JCSO arrests sexual battery suspect

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MARIANNA — Authorities arrested and charged a Jackson County man Wednesday accused of sexually battering a family member’s 15-year-old girlfriend, according to a Jackson County Sheriff’s Office news release.

James Daniel Sergel, 37, was wanted on charges of sexual battery and lewd and lascivious battery, officers reported. JCSO said they responded Tuesday at about 5:40 a.m. to the 4500 block of Pilcher Road on a call that Sergel had sexually battered a 15-year-old girl the night before. Sergel allegedly gave his underage family member and the 15-year-old alcohol until they passed out and then performed sexual acts upon the sleeping girl, JCSO reported.

Sergel locked the family member out of the house when he awoke and witnessed the incident. Once the family member was able to get into the residence, he witnessed Sergel performing another sexual act on the girl, officers reported.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call JCSO at 850-482-9624 or CrimeStoppers at 526-5000.

UPDATE: PCB fire injures 3 (VIDEO)

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — Three people were transported to Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart with severe injuries after an early morning fire Wednesday.

An adult woman suffered severe burns trying to exit the rear of the two-bedroom, one-story dwelling at 469 Lagoon Oaks Circle.

“In a panic, in the smoke, a woman went out the back door,” neighbor Lorraine Caposole said.

--- VIDEO: MORE FROM THE SCENE»»

Two teenage girls exited through a front window and suffered severe cuts. An adult male was able to make it through the front door without incurring a serious injury. Caposole transported the man to Bay Medical Center, stopping at a CVS along the way to buy shoes.

“Thankfully he had his wallet,” Caposole said.

Caposole added that one of the two girls lived at the house while the other was visiting.

Bay County firefighters responded to the 6:54 a.m. call by 7 a.m. Capt. Tim Howard said the blaze took about 45 minutes to control but several hours to extinguish. Howard described the house, its front facade completely black, as a total loss.

Howard believes the fire started in the back portion of the house. Neighbor Jean Meyer woke up to a crackling sound and saw the back porch of the house engulfed in flames. 

Howard would not reveal any the names of any of the people living in the house. The listed owner on the Bay Property Appraiser’s website is Randall Harmeyer, of Springfield, Va.

3 charged with felony child neglect

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LYNN HAVEN — Three parents are facing charges of felony child neglect after police said they found 12 people of varied ages and three dogs crammed into a two-bedroom apartment, according to Lynn Haven Police Department records.

Lakeecha Jackson Downing, 43, was most recently arrested Wednesday on a warrant in connection with the incident. Her husband, 46-year-old Robert Downing, and roommate, 26-year-old Aleethea Ruth, were arrested last Friday after LHPD discovered five adults, seven children and three dogs allegedly living together in a littered and reeking two-bedroom Minnesota Avenue apartment, arrest records indicated.

Police reported discovering several piles of feces at about 8:30 p.m. Friday in the home — some fresh, some old and dry. Most was on the floor in the children’s room, LHPD reported.

The odor of urine was so strong throughout the apartment that officers couldn’t remain inside longer than 15 minutes at a time, police said.

Garbage and dirty dishes were piled up, attracting flies and roaches. An open can of baby formula sat on the counter beside a jug of bleach, officers reported. Several other dangerous chemicals were on the floor within the children’s reach, and police reported they also observed one 2-year-old child attempting to eat a bottle of dish soap before they took it away.

The children were placed in the custody of the Department of Children and Families.

Lakeecha Downing was the lease holder and allowed all the other occupants to stay in the apartment, police said. She was charged with two counts of child neglect of her own children, which police said were subjected to an unsafe environment.

Robert Downing faces two counts of child neglect and three counts misdemeanor cruelty to animals for allegedly depriving the animals of sustenance. The dogs lived in the children’s room, LHPD reported, where the majority of feces were discovered. One dog had a loss of skin down its back, possibly from a burn or mange, police said.

Robert Downing posted a bond of $5,000 Tuesday and was ordered to not have contact with the children.

Ruth was charged with two counts of felony child neglect. She posted a $2,000 bond Tuesday.

Florida cockfighting ring busted after attendee orders pizza

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WINTER HAVEN (AP) — Authorities say central Florida cockfighting ring has been brought down because some of the attendees ordered a pizza.

Polk County deputies went to the Winter Haven home Monday and reported finding 123 roosters and chickens, a fighting ring, “boxing gloves” for practice and ceramic spurs for the actual fights. Investigators say nine of the roosters were bred at the property and had been prepped to fight.

The deputies learned about the operation from a pizza delivery driver who had taken an order to the home Friday night.

--- MORE NEWS OF THE WEIRD»»

Eliut Juse Serrano Hernandez, who lives at the home, faces multiple charges, including nine counts of possession of animals for the purpose of fighting. Deputies say the 38-year-old admitted to owning the roosters and to holding fights there once or twice.

Two others at the home were arrested on unrelated drug charges.

BCSO investigating credit card fraud

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PANAMA CITY — The Bay County Sheriff's Office is investigating the fraudulent use of a person’s credit card, according to a news release.

An investigation determined that a woman noticed someone had taken her credit card and used it to conduct several transactions at a retail business in Panama City Beach on June 13. The suspects are described as two white females with brown hair and appear to be in their late 30s or early 40s. The first suspect was a heavy-set female, medium height and was last seen wearing a blue, striped bikini top, dark shorts and a dark-colored cowboy hat. The second female was a short, thinner female and she was wearing a white tank top over a bikini top, a brown baseball cap and sunglasses.

If you know the identities of these individuals, have information relative to this investigation or have any questions or concerns, please contact Investigator Craig Romans of the Bay County Sheriff's Office at 850-248-2075 or by email at craig.romans@bayso.org.

Marianna sexual battery suspect arrested after 3-week manhunt

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MARIANNA — After a more than three-week-long manhunt, investigators arrested a man sought in connection with a group sexual battery on a juvenile, according to a Jackson County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Orinthid “O.J.” Hayes was arrested Wednesday at about 10:30 p.m. after he attempted to jump from a second story window at the Marianna Garden Apartments to escape authorities, JCSO reported. Officers had the window covered, and Hayes subsequently surrendered without incident.

Hayes was one of two men wanted in connection with a June 7 sexual assault on a 16-year-old girl, who allegedly had been provided with drugs and alcohol. Sometime after 3:30 a.m. she passed out in a truck in the parking lot of Club Secrets located on Forehand Road, just south of Marianna. She reported that she awoke to being sexually assaulted by Elliott “Ratchet” Batson as the truck was being driven by Hayes, JCSO reported.

At some point, the subjects swapped places and Batson began to drive as Hayes sexually assaulted the victim. She was dumped at the Marianna Garden Apartments after the attack and had to walk home across town at around 5 a.m., officers reported.

Batson was arrested at the apartments the day following the incident, but Hayes avoided arrest until Wednesday.

Batson and Hayes were charged with sexual battery on a person over 12 years of age involving multiple perpetrators. The mitigating circumstance of multiple offenders upgrades the charge to a life felony.

A woman named Trina Shatelle Bellamy also was arrested June 12 and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and delivery of a controlled substance to a minor, based on evidence that she provided the victim with alcohol and marijuana on the evening leading up to the assault, JCSO reported.


Man sentenced 12 years for lewd and lascivious battery

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PANAMA CITY — A 45-year-old man was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison for the lewd and lascivious battery of a 14-year-old girl, according to court records.

Carlos Beale, of Panama City, faced up to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of having sexual intercourse with the juvenile on one occasion on June 2 and attempting to molest a child. He was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison.

Man stabbed in PCB gumbo argument dies, suspect charged

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — A man accused of stabbing a co-worker during a dispute about gumbo seasoning now faces a manslaughter charge after the victim died from his injuries, according to the Panama City Beach Police Department.

Officials reported that Caleb Halley died about 3:30 p.m. Thursday from injuries he suffered in a stabbing at Buddy’s Seafood Market at 111 S. State 79.

The man accused of stabbing Halley, 26-year-old Orlando Thompson, has been rearrested and charged with manslaughter, PCBPD reported.

Police reported that Thompson and Halley began to argue Tuesday afternoon over the amount of spice that should be put into the restaurant’s gumbo. The disagreement quickly escalated, and Thompson armed himself with a wooden board and Halley with a small wooden knife, PCBPD reported.

The confrontation subsided and Thompson walked away. But video surveillance from the business showed Thompson returning with a knife with a 15-inch blade and swinging and thrusting it a Halley, according to police.

Halley suffered three lacerations to his torso, one serious, police reported. He was taken to a local hospital with “non life-threatening” injuries after he waved down an ambulance.

However, he died Thursday.

Thompson posted a $25,000 bond earlier in the day. Officers found him at his home after receiving word of Halley’s death and charged him with manslaughter, police reported.

Thompson was taken to Bay County Jail to await a first appearance.

TV's Screech headed to jail

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PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. (AP) — Dustin Diamond, who played Screech on the 1990s TV show “Saved by the Bell,” apologized Thursday for his part in a Wisconsin barroom stabbing before being sentenced to serve 4 months in jail.

Judge Paul Malloy also sentenced Diamond to 15 months’ probation and ordered him to report to jail Sunday. Diamond was convicted earlier this month on two misdemeanor counts that stemmed from a Christmas Day barroom fight.

Diamond, appearing misty-eyed, left the courtroom without commenting.

The 38-year-old actor was cleared of a felony charge last month after a three-day jury trial. The jury found him guilty of carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct.

Malloy said the sentence “has to send a message to the community that we're just not going to live like this.”

The actor told jurors that he took out a knife that day to try to ward off people, including a woman who punched his girlfriend. He said he then accidentally stabbed a man during an altercation.

“I sincerely apologize to everyone involved,” Diamond said at the hearing Thursday. “This was the single most terrifying experience of my life ... This is all I've been able to think about for the last six months.”

Witnesses testified that Diamond's girlfriend, Amanda Schutz, pushed one woman at the bar and grabbed another woman's hand, initiating the bar fight. Schutz was also convicted of disorderly conduct last month and Malloy fined her $500.

Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol said during the trial that Diamond lied about what happened and that the actor had scripted his testimony.

Gerol showed body-camera footage of Diamond's statements to a Port Washington police officer the night of the fight. In the video, Diamond first said he might have struck the man with a pen. In a video of testimony later that night, Diamond said he had a knife at the bar, but hadn't used it to stab anyone.

Port Washington is 25 miles north of Milwaukee.

Since his role on the popular 1990s TV show about Bayside High School students, Diamond has been sued several times for delinquent taxes and in foreclosure proceedings for missing mortgage payments. He has appeared on reality TV shows, made a sex tape and most recently produced a tell-all documentary on Lifetime TV called “The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story.”

Panama City man injured in Gulf County crash

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A Panama City man was critically injured Friday in a single-vehicle crash in Gulf County, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

Charles Ray Tolbert, 76, was transported to Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health System after the crash on State 22 at 5 a.m., according to the FHP. Tolbert traveled eastbound in a 2002 Toyota Tacoma, when he lost control and went on to the south shoulder, the FHP reported. His vehicle struck a concrete culvert, went airborne, landed on its wheels, then tipped over and rested on its right side, according to the FHP.

Tolbert’s injuries were listed as critical on the FHP report. He was wearing a seat belt and alcohol was not a factor in the crash, according to the FHP.

The Latest: 1 of 2 escaped NY prisoners shot and killed

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MALONE, N.Y. (AP) — The latest on the hunt for two inmates who escaped from a maximum-security prison (all times local):

6:05 p.m.

Police looking for a killer who escaped from an upstate New York maximum-security prison three weeks ago are trucking floodlights into an area where they believe he's hiding.

An inmate who escaped with him on June 6 has been shot and killed nearby in a heavily wooded area in Malone, 30 miles from the prison.

An official with knowledge of the three-week manhunt says Richard Matt was killed Friday afternoon and David Sweat is being sought. The official wasn't authorized to talk about the development publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Police have blocked off roads in Malone.

Authorities say Matt and Sweat used power tools to break out of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, near the Canadian border.

A prison guard and a prison tailor shop instructor have been accused of helping the inmates escape by smuggling them tools hidden inside hamburger meat.

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Associated Press writer Michael Virtanen contributed to this report.

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5:20 p.m.

Police have blocked off roads in a heavily wooded area of upstate New York where an escaped prisoner sought for three weeks has been shot dead and another is still on the run.

An official with knowledge of the manhunt says Richard Matt was killed and David Sweat is being sought. The official wasn't authorized to talk about the development publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on Friday on the condition of anonymity.

Authorities say Matt and Sweat used power tools to break out of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, near the Canadian border.

Sweat was serving a sentence of life without parole in the killing of a sheriff's deputy. Matt was serving 25 years to life for the killing and dismembering of his former boss.

A prison guard and a prison tailor shop instructor have been accused of helping the inmates escape by smuggling them tools hidden inside hamburger meat.

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Associated Press writer Michael Virtanen contributed to this report.

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4:45 p.m.

One of two convicted killers who staged a brazen escape from an upstate New York maximum-security prison and had been hunted for three weeks has been shot and killed.

An official with knowledge of the manhunt says Richard Matt was killed and David Sweat is still on the run. The official wasn't authorized to talk about the development publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on Friday on the condition of anonymity.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (KWOH’-moh) says Matt and Sweat used power tools to saw through a steel cell wall and several steel steam pipes, bashed a hole through a 2-foot-thick brick wall, squirmed through pipes and escaped early on June 6 from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, near the Canadian border.

Sweat was serving a sentence of life without parole in the killing of a sheriff's deputy in Broome County in 2002. Matt was serving 25 years to life for the killing and dismembering of his former boss.

A prison guard and a prison tailor shop instructor have been accused of helping the inmates escape.

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Associated Press writer Michael Virtanen contributed to this report.

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4:30 p.m.

Police searching for two escaped inmates are converging on an area near the Canadian border where officers had concentrated their search, but the reason isn't immediately clear.

There was no immediate word from state officials about the response Friday.

It comes as searchers on the trail of Richard Matt and David Sweat found new evidence left behind by the pair. The area police are converging on is south of Malone, about 30 miles west of Clinton Correctional Facility.

Hundreds of officers looking for Richard Matt and David Sweat shifted the focus of their search slightly northwest to woods and fields around Malone

The pair escaped June 6.

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1:20 p.m.

Authorities say more evidence left behind by two escaped New York prisoners has been found in an area near the Canadian border where more than 1,100 law enforcement officers are concentrating their search.

State police Maj. Charles Guess says the items were found Thursday at a cabin and Friday morning in a field, both in the town of Malone, 30 miles northeast of the maximum-security prison David Sweat and Richard Matt broke out of June 6. Guess says the items have been sent to a forensic lab for testing.

He isn't revealing details about the items but refers to them as “significant.”

Other evidence was found last weekend in a hunting cabin in the neighboring town of Bellmont.

Guess says the search effort is moving north toward the Canadian border.

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9:45 a.m.

Police are again shifting the focus of their search for two convicted murderers who escaped from a maximum-security prison in northern New York three weeks ago.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers have spent most of the past week concentrating on a heavily wooded area 20 miles west of Clinton Correctional Facility, where David Sweat and Richard Matt broke out June 6. Authorities say DNA evidence confirmed the fugitives had been inside a hunting camp near the hamlet of Mountain View.

By Friday morning, fewer officers were around the hamlet while others were searching a few miles north in the town of Malone, near the Canadian border.

A small contingent of New York state troopers is stationed along power lines in the town, and motorists have to pass through a checkpoint.

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9:15 a.m.

New York state prison officials say the corrections officer charged after the escape of two convicted murderers has been suspended without pay.

Gene Palmer's suspension from his $72,644-a-year job comes after he was arrested Wednesday night on charges of promoting prison contraband, tampering with evidence and official misconduct.

Palmer has told investigators he provided paint, tools and prison catwalk access to Clinton Correctional Facility inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat, who escaped June 6. But the 57-year-old veteran guard says he had no idea they were planning to escape.

Before the charges came down, Palmer was suspended with pay from his job at the northern New York prison.

He is free on $25,000 bail.

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