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A notorious cop killer known for a bold prison escape is now finding relief from the isolation of solitary confinement by acting as a loving father figure to his partner’s daughter, the Daily Mail can exclusively disclose.
David Sweat, age 44, who escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility ten years ago, never misses his Sunday calls to 10-year-old Olivia Malanik, during which he assists her with schoolwork.
Despite his criminal past, Sweat has developed a strong connection with Olivia, viewing her as his unofficial daughter and even using his commissary funds to pay for her karate classes each month.
Olivia’s bedroom walls are covered with artwork and sketches drawn by the notorious inmate, who is responsible for the 2002 murder of a sheriff’s deputy.
Their unlikely rapport dates back six years ago to when the youngster’s mother, Fran Malanik, started writing letters to Sweat inside his pokey 7ft by 10ft cell.
They began as pen pals, but turned into something more. They fell in love, became engaged and Malanik took Olivia into prison to meet the man she hopes to one day marry.
He is serving life without parole for the slaying of Deputy Kevin Tarsia, but bubbly Olivia told the Daily Mail: ‘He’s my dad, I love him, and I don’t believe the things they say.
‘He’s really funny and smart. He sends sketches and drawings of me, him and my mom with cute dragons and hearts.
Cop killer David Sweat has been locked up in solitary confinement for nearly a decade after his incredible Dannemora jailbreak in 2015. To survive its hellish condition, he plays the role of doting father figure to his fiancé Fran Malanik’s daughter
His unofficial adopted daughter Olivia, 10, (left) cherishes Sweat, as her biological father hasn’t been in the picture since she was nine months old. Sweat even pays for her karate lessons
Malanik was originally Sweat’s pen pal before they fell in love. She stuck by his side while he was transferred between six different lockups and kept in solitary confinement
‘My perfect dream is that dad gets out of prison and comes to live with us.’
The tender moment they met was captured in a series of Polaroid photographs that Malanik, 52, of Buffalo, New York, has shared exclusively with the Daily Mail.
‘She immediately blurted out the word “dad”. We looked at one another in amazement, but that’s the way it’s been ever since,’ said Malanik.
Sweat (pictured) was convicted of brutally killing Deputy Kevin Tarsia, 36, in 2002
‘David has been much more of a parent than her biological father who hasn’t seen her since she was nine months old.
‘He calls her every Sunday for an hour. He teaches her math over the phone, goes over her homework, gives her advice about boys. As far as she’s concerned, that’s her dad 110 per cent.’
Tarsia, 36, was shot 15 times and run over with a vehicle when he caught Sweat and two accomplices with stolen guns in the town of Kirkwood, near the New York-Pennsylvania border.
Jeffrey Nabinger, Sweat’s cousin and longtime criminal associate, finished the dying officer off with two bullets to the face from Tarsia’s own service weapon.
They both pleaded guilty to first-degree murder to avoid the death penalty, but Malanik and her daughter remain convinced he is innocent.
But to Olivia, Sweat is her dad, and his criminal past is both disregarded and unbelievable. In her room, the artwork and sketches he has drawn from his cell cover her walls
Malanik took bubbly Olivia to meet her future father six years ago and captured the moment in Polaroids that she shared with the Daily Mail
Olivia said her dream is for Sweat to get out of prison and live with them. Aside from the artwork, Sweat calls her every Sunday for an hour and teaches her math over the phone
More than a decade later in June 2015, Sweat and fellow inmate Richard Matt cut through their cell wall at the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, upstate New York before crawling to freedom through a labyrinth of pipes and tunnels.
After the breakout, which was likened to the film The Shawshank Redemption, the duo went on the run for three weeks.
They left a note for authorities to later find on one of the metal pipes they had cut through that said, ‘Have a nice day’ alongside a smiley face.
Matt was shot dead by law enforcement agents and Sweat was wounded and captured near the Canadian border.
The sensational breakout also exposed a love triangle inside the jail. Joyce Mitchell, a married prison seamstress, was found to have smuggled tools to the pair and planned to drive their getaway car before backing out. Mitchell served more than four years for aiding their daring underground escape.
Since then, Sweat has been switched between six lockups and kept in solitary confinement to minimize his chances of staging another jailbreak. Malanik, however, has stood by her man throughout it all, after writing to him following his recapture, and falling in love during twice-weekly visits.
‘When I first wrote to David, I sent him a bible and offered to be his friend,’ she recalled.
‘To be honest I was rooting for him when I heard about the escape. In my heart, I knew he wasn’t really responsible for murder.’
The infamous 2015 prison break from Clinton Correctional Facility was done alongside fellow convicted murderer Richard Matt, (pictured) who was shot and killed after he was found in a hunting lodge by police
The duo left a note (pictured above) for authorities to later find on one of the metal pipes they had cut through that said ‘Have a nice day’ alongside a smiley face
Sweat was captured near the Canadian border a few days after Matt was killed and was shot twice, in his shoulder and arm
Both Olivia and her mother told DailyMail.com that they don’t believe Sweat is guilty of murdering Deputy Tarsia because he denies firing the fatal shots
Sweat has a grown-up son from a previous relationship, but Malanik said that he disowned his father years ago after learning the details of Tarsia’s murder.
Malanik insisted that Olivia knew the unvarnished truth about her jailbird father, who is currently in the Special Housing Unit at Midstate Correctional Facility in Marcy, New York.
But the mother and daughter don’t believe Sweat is guilty of murder because he denies firing the fatal shots
‘Olivia knows the whole story inside out,’ said Malanik.
‘She’s not dumb, she knows how to use Google. She speaks two languages, plays the violin, she won first place in her very first competition in karate after he sent her $600 for lessons.
‘She’s been to every prison. She begs me to drive her five and a half hours to visit him, but we see less of him now because it’s so far away.
‘Honestly, I feel left out when they are on the phone together. In her mind, he’s God. I can’t even call him an a*****e without her getting mad.’
Malanik said that she had applied for permission to marry Sweat, but prison authorities had always rejected the couple’s requests.
‘David and I did also talk about him legally adopting Olivia, but imagine what a judge would make of that request,’ she added.
‘That hasn’t stopped him being a father figure for all these years. He doesn’t need a piece of paper to be her dad.
‘It’s hard to explain to the other parents what the deal is, but it doesn’t matter what they think.’
The couple’s plans to get married have been deterred by authorities who have rejected their numerous applications. They also discussed Sweat adopting Olivia, but knew that his criminal past would be a hard sell to the judge
Malanik was banned from seeing Sweat for 60 days in 2018 for allegedly reaching into his state-issued prison pants to fondle him during a visit to Attica prison
Sweat has gone on multiple hunger strikes, accusing authorities of trying to poison his food and disrupting his ‘family’ visits
Sweat has gone on hunger strike multiple times, accusing authorities of poisoning his food and disrupting his ‘family’ visits.
In 2018, Malanik was banned from seeing him for 60 days in 2018 for allegedly reaching into his state-issued prison pants to touch him inappropriately during a visit to Attica prison.
The former nurse insisted that she was checking a lump in Sweat’s groin that he had expressed concern about.
‘I’ve persuaded him to stop all the hunger striking stuff because the New York Department of Corrections doesn’t care if he lives or dies,’ she said.
‘Olivia does, she would be devastated.
‘It takes a lot for a man to step up and raise someone else’s biological child but David has done exactly that.’
