Upamanyu Biswas
In the thriller show ‘Escape at Dannemora,’ prison inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat make a daring escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, with help from civilian employee Joyce Mitchell. The latter builds a relationship with Matt and Sweat while working in her tailor shop within the facility, albeit not without attracting the attention of security staffers. Eventually, Sweat is removed from the tailor shop owing to Mitchell’s closeness with him, leading to a new instructor named Mr Lobell being installed in the shop. He becomes an integral part of the story as the day of Matt and Sweat’s escape from the prison looms closer over the horizon.
Mr. Lobell is a Fictional Inmate in Clinton Correctional Facility
‘Escape at Dannemora’ is based on the real-life prison break story of the 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape. For the most part, it is an authentic retelling of the actual case, even when it comes to the details. However, in certain places, the show deviates from the true events, which include the character of Mr. Lobell, also known as Murder, who is a fictional inmate incarcerated within CCF. He was created by scriptwriters Brett Johnson, Michael Tolkin, Dustin LaValley, and Jerry Stahl as an additional player within the escape plot. After David Sweat’s removal from the block, Mr Lobell is promoted to the position of instructor. As Joyce Mitchell, the civilian supervisor of the shop, had a personal relationship with Sweat, she takes his dismissal as a huge blow and channels her frustrations toward Murder in the process.
Later in the narrative, Murder becomes the target of an internal investigation after he is caught smoking in a hidden part of the tailor shop. The prison staffers are put up to the task by Richard Matt, who tries to deflect the attention of the higher-ups towards Murder so that he and Mitchell can plan their escape in peace. Ultimately, it leads to a feeling of animosity between Murder and Matt, as the former is unhappy that Matt ratted him out to the guards. Subsequently, they plan to meet up in the courtyard on the day of the escape to hash out their differences. However, the whole affair turns turgid when a fight breaks out between Murder and some other inmates on the grounds of a racially charged confrontation. This part of the story is vaguely inspired by reality.
In the actual version of events, a few days prior to the prison break, a fight broke out between inmates in the main recreation yard. It involved around 30 prisoners and potentially threatened the operation led by Richard Matt and David Sweat. The facility is put under lockdown in the show as the authorities de-escalate the fight. Therefore, there is some semblance of truth in the antics conducted by Murder. However, for large parts of the narrative, his role is seemingly fabricated as he becomes a constant source of anger and frustration for Joyce Mitchell. Therefore, whether or not Matt had a real altercation with a prison inmate seems purely incidental, as the character is a fictional creation with a specific purpose in the story.
Read More: Escape at Dannemora: Is Dennis Lambert Based on a Real Corrections Officer?
