$1 lakh reward for 2 murderers who escaped prison

 The hunt for two murderers who cut their way out of a New York state prison near the Canadian border heightened on Monday after a $100,000 reward was offered for information leading to their capture.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said they may have crossed into Canada or left for another state.

The two men escaped by cutting through steel walls and pipes, and authorities were investigating how they obtained the power tools. Officials gave no details on how the men managed to avoid detection.

The prison, called “Little Siberia” by locals, houses nearly 3,000 inmates, is surrounded by farmland and forests and is about a 45-minute drive from Montreal. The governor said today that investigators are looking into whether civilian employees or private contractors helped the men obtain the power tools. Cuomo said during appearances on television morning news shows that he’d be “shocked” if a prison guard was involved in the escape.

David Sweat, 34, was serving a sentence of life without parole for the 2002 killing of a sheriff’s deputy. Richard Matt, 48, had been sentenced to 25 years to life for kidnapping, killing and dismembering his former boss in 1997.