DANNEMORA, NY — She cheated on him with the two convicted killers she helped escape, and even plotted with them to murder him, cops say — so now, the husband of jailed prison worker Joyce “Tillie” Mitchell wants some answers.
Lyle Mitchell paid his wife a surprise visit Tuesday at the county lockup, spending an hour grilling her over a telephone, divided by Plexiglas.
Joyce’s lawyer, Stephen Johnston, tried to portray the visit as a doting husband standing by his scandal-plagued spouse, saying, “I know that he will do whatever he can to support his wife.”
But later, Lyle Mitchell’s lawyer, Peter Dumas, said that “nothing could be further from the truth,” according to NBC.
“There’s no way I’m standing behind her,” the lawyer quoted Lyle as saying.
The hubby had some questions for his wife concerning reports that she conspired with David Sweat and Richard Matt to murder him once the convicts got away, Dumas said.
Wearing a baseball cap and with newly grown facial hair, Lyle showed up at the Clinton County Jail in Plattsburgh at 8 a.m., Sheriff David Favro said.
It was the couple’s first time together since Joyce was busted Friday, and Lyle kept his cool as other inmates and visitors gawked at the couple.
“He acted quite normal . . . There was nothing outlandish,” the sheriff said. “No fist clenching or pounding or outrageous emotions at all.”
Sources have told The Post that Joyce had sex with one of the killers, Sweat, while she was his supervisor at the Clinton Correctional Facility sewing shop. Once their relationship was discovered, she switched her affections to the other killer, Matt — who convinced her to help them escape.
Joyce confessed to multiple behind-bars romps with Matt, CBS reported Tuesday.
She was busted Friday on charges of smuggling in tools to help the convicts escape.
Despite his anger at Joyce, Lyle ducked questions from a reporter when he emerged from her lawyer, Johnston’s, office following his visit.
Johnston described Lyle as a “nervous wreck” and said he probably “doesn’t know the full story” about his wife.
Joyce, meanwhile, was transferred later to the Rensselaer County Jail in Troy.
Tuesday marked Day 11 of the manhunt for Sweat and Matt, who remained on the loose despite the efforts of more than 800 local, state and federal law enforcement personnel.
Searchers will shift and expand their focus beyond a section of Cadyville to other areas around Dannemora “based upon information gathered during the investigation,” State Police said.