Problem Lyle News Today

Ive lost my job, respect, friends. im going to prison. ive lost a lot of time out of my life. im going to miss out on my granddaughter growing up. my son is getting married in october and im going to miss being with my husband for who knows how long. all i can get from him now is letters and phone calls. >> reporter: you told lyle a lot of lies. >> i did. >> reporter: and for some reason, hes decided to stand by you. >> because hes a very amazing man. and im very fortunate to have him in my life...

>> i knew that was the night it was gonna happen. and i didnt really know what to do. >> reporter: joyce says at the moment of truth, she had been overcome by confusion and fear. and instead of driving to the rendezvous location at midnight with a shotgun and supplies, she told her husband lyle she had chest pains and needed help. so when sweat and matt slid back the manhole cover and poked their heads up into the street, joyce was nowhere to be seen. >> i was so scared. and i ended up having a ...

Off a high rockface and needed joyces help. >> he wanted me to find a cliff to put my husband over. and im like, im not doing that. >> reporter: in the car? push him? >> in the truck. >> reporter: joyce says she refused so matt came up with a new plan. >> mr. matt wanted me to give my husband some pills. to knock him out. >> reporter: then, joyce says, once the prisoners got into her jeep on the night of the escape, the first stop would be her home. >> reporter: you would have drugged lyle, "the...

>> we stopped for supper that night on the way home, for chinese food. and she ate like she normally does. >> reporter: so as lyle and joyce dined that evening, joyce gave no sign she was the linchpin of an extraordinary plot and that the man she was with, who helped raise her son, was the target of a planned hit to be carried out later that night. as the clock ticked toward midnight, joyce was fully aware that david sweat and richard matt were leaving their cells, sneaking to that manhole cover...

He couldnt prove that joyce had sex with either inmate or joyces claim that there was a plot to kill lyle. >> they had contact with lyle, they thought he was a nice guy. and they actually didnt care that much for joyce because of the way she was treating lyle. >> reporter: you know, david sweat, after his capture, told authorities that it was your idea to kill lyle. >> it was not my idea. it was matts idea. >> reporter: today lyle himself and their son tobey believe joyces story and are standing...

Sparked by a stove that was disconnected from a gas line. now back to our msnbc special. >> reporter: as law enforcement hunted down the escapees david sweat and richard matt, joyce mitchell was called in with her husband lyle to the police station to face investigators. they wanted to know why she hadnt shown up for work that saturday, and they had other questions too. >> joyce mitchell was identified relatively early as somebody that had contact with both matt and sweat. >> reporter: authoriti...

>> like i said, i was -- >> reporter: where you could have stopped this. >> i was just so scared. >> reporter: whatever joyce might have done to stop the escape, sweat and matt had reached the point of no return. on june 5th, joyce was in the tailor shop when richard matt approached. >> he just happened to come in one day and said, "tonights the night." >> reporter: and whats the last thing you said to him? >> i just -- i kinda stayed away from him the rest of the day. >> reporter: you didnt say...

And it got out of hand. >> reporter: and when she gets out of prison, can you trust her? >> yes. 100%. >> reporter: do you understand why people in the region of the country where you live in are so furious? >> yes, i do. >> reporter: when she gets out of prison, lyle, can the two of you continue to live up in that area? is it possible? >> yes. >> reporter: but he has no idea when he and joyce might be together again. shes about to be sentenced. possibility is that she could spend seven years in...

>> i know. but i -- i was so scared. matt had other inmates watching myself and my husband through all of this. they knew where i went, when i went, and who i was talking to. >> reporter: how many times did you want to tell lyle what was going on? >> there were a lot of times i wanted to just sit down and tell him what was going on, but i knew that if i did, he would you know, hed go in and confront them. and it wouldve been just like mr. matt to do something to him right in the prison, and i co...

Law enforcement, says clinton county district attorney andrew wylie, it did not seem she was being completely honest. >> she was providing truthful information, but she wasnt providing everything. >> reporter: joyce admits that now. >> i was not completely honest with the state police at first. >> what did you lie about? >> about knowing that they had gotten out and the other parts of the story. >> reporter: but investigators made a startling discovery. the phone number for richard matts daughte...