CONKLIN, N.Y. -- The manhunt is over for David Sweat -- the man who planned and executed an escape from the Clinton Correctional facility three weeks ago.

His mother, Pamela Sweat, speaking from her home in Conklin, she was relieved her son was captured alive, and called the past few weeks a living nightmare for the family. Now they're ready to put this all behind them.

Although the two haven't seen each other in years, Sweat says she often kept in touch through her son through letters. He also sent the family paintings on special occasions.

"I've gotten a couple of them that were birthday cards or Christmas cards, that has little horses on them  cause he knows I like horses," Pamela Sweat said.

That was until they stopped two months ago. For 23 days, while her son was at large, Sweat says she could barely sleep.

She says she often found herself wondering how he was doing in the cold and rain, but on Sunday, she knew something had changed.

"When our guards over here just left we knew something was up. And then I got phone call from friends and family to let me know he was captured," she said.

David Sweat was convicted of killing a Broome County Sheriff's deputy in 2002, and since then Sweat says it has haunted her family.

"When it first happened in 2002, everywhere I went, they were looking. They were watching us like we were the guilty ones and we didn't do nothing," she said.

And once again, Sweat says she found herself in the similar position following her son's escape, relying on loved ones for support.

"The community shunned me because of it. My daughter and my other daughter have been close to me. And my friends and my family," she said.

For now though, Sweat says she and her family are relieved her son has been captured and will return to jail. It's where she says he belongs for the rest of his life.

"I know that's where he should have stayed. And if that's what he needs to do then that's what he needs to do. Go back and do what hes got to do," she said.

Sweat says she would like to go visit her son once he returns to prison, if he is relocated closer to Broome County.