N.Y. killers now among 15 Most Wanted fugitives

Nearly two weeks after they escaped a maximum-security prison in northern New York, murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat were added Thursday to the U.S. Marshals Service's list of the 15 Most Wanted fugitives.

The Marshals Service offered up to $25,000 for information and leads to the capture of Matt, 48, and Sweat, 35, who used power tools to cut their way out of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., on June 6. That reward is in addition to the $100,000 already dangled by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Matt was serving 25 years to life for beating his former boss to death and then dismembering him. Sweat was serving a life sentence in the killing of a sheriff's deputy.

With no confirmed sightings of the pair, the New York State Police has scaled back the 16-square-mile search area near the prison and expanded the hunt. More than 600 law enforcement personnel from several agencies are continuing to check seasonal camps, abandoned buildings, trails and railroad beds.

The State Police has asked homeowners and hunters to check their surveillance or trail cameras for possible signs of the fugitives.

As of Thursday, more than 1,500 tips had been received.

Prison authorities Thursday ended the lockdown that had been in place since the escape and said visitations were to resume Friday.

In one major change, authorities shut down the so-called honor block where Matt and Sweat were housed, the Albany Times Union reported. Inmates kept there had greater freedoms for good behavior, including cooking, socializing and wearing street clothes. The looser restrictions may have aided their escape.

The biggest help they got may have come from a prison tailor instructor who has been accused of smuggling tools to Matt and Sweat, police say. Joyce Mitchell has pleaded not guilty to charges and remains in jail.

Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie said Mitchell told investigators the killers had discussed murdering her husband, Lyle, who also worked in the prison tailor shop. Investigators do not believe he knew of the escape beforehand or helped in any way.

Joyce Mitchell had planned to drive them to a wooded area about seven hours away but told investigators she suffered a panic attack and went to the hospital, Wylie said. After the escape was announced, she warned her husband that Matt and Sweat intended to come after him.

"She advised him after the escape of what happened, including the possible murder plot," Wylie said.

Joyce Mitchell also admitted she had sex with Matt in the tailor shop, he added.

Her attorney told CNN: "I don't believe she was involved in any attempt to kill her husband."

"Just because she heard something doesn't mean she was going to act on it," attorney Stephen Johnston said. "She did not want to be a part of it and did not."

For his part, Lyle Mitchell is "still blown away by this, still in shock," his attorney, Peter Dumas, told ABC News on Thursday.

Joyce Mitchell "is a woman that he was in love with for 21 years. He doesn't want to see anything bad happen to her, but he knows it's going to," Dumas said.