What we know about Danelo Cavalcante’s escape from Chester County Prison
Cavalcante, 34, was seen early Saturday morning on residential surveillance footage in Pocopson Township, about 1.5 miles from the prison. He is considered “extremely dangerous,” the DA said.
Investigators in Chester County announced Thursday that Danelo Cavalcante, a convicted murderer, escaped from custody early that morning.
Cavalcante, 34, is considered “extremely dangerous,” according to District Attorney Deborah Ryan, who urged anyone who sees him to call 911 immediately.
Cavalcante, an undocumented immigrant from Brazil, was convicted earlier in August of killing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, outside of her home in Schuylkill Township in 2021. Authorities have released little information about Cavalcante’s escape, saying that the matter remains under investigation.
In the meantime, Chester County Detectives and U.S. Marshals are searching for Cavalcante, who most recently lived in Royersford, according to court documents.
Who is Danelo Cavalcante?
Cavalcante is a native Brazilian who illegally immigrated to the United States after a warrant was issued for his arrest for murder in his home country in 2017, investigators said. He first traveled to Puerto Rico, where he obtained a fake ID, according to evidence presented during his trial earlier this month.
He settled in Chester County because he had a sister and friends that had arrived here ahead of him, he later told police. Cavalcante worked for a while in construction and other trades, prosecutors said, and rented a storage trailer that he parked at a lot in East Pikeland Township.
What are the circumstances surrounding his escape?
Acting Chester County Prison Warden Howard Holland said he would not answer questions about how Cavalcante escaped during a news conference Thursday afternoon because the matter was under investigation.
Investigators said Cavalcante’s absence was noticed just before 9 a.m., and that he was last seen at 9:30 a.m., walking southbound in Pocopson Township on Wawaset Road, which the prison is located on.
As soon as they saw Cavalcante was missing, prison administration locked down the facility, and notified law enforcement agencies, Holland said.
In an update Friday, Ryan said that there was no indication Cavalcante had any outside assistance in escaping. As of Friday afternoon, investigators believed he had not left Chester County, but they think his ultimate goal is to travel south, eventually back to Brazil, Ryan added.
On Saturday morning, the Chester County DA’s Office said Cavalcante was seen on residential surveillance footage on the 1800 block of Lenape Road around 1:43 a.m. Local police also received a report of an attempted burglary about two hours earlier, at 11:30 p.m. Friday, on the 1000 block of Ballintree Lane, also in Pocopson.
Who is searching for Cavalcante?
Detectives from the Chester County District Attorney’s Office are being assisted by Pennsylvania State Police troopers and U.S. Marshals, according to Ryan. Late Thursday, they announced a joint, $10,000 reward was being offered for information leading to his capture.
U.S. Marshal Supervisory Agent Robert Clark said Friday that the agency had received more than 100 tips from residents. The marshals employed helicopters, drones and other resources to search for Cavalcante in the heavily wooded areas near the prison.
By Saturday, authorities said they had narrowed their search to a deeply wooded area with hundreds of homes along Route 52 in Pocopson.
Cavalcante is 5 feet tall and 120 pounds, with black curly hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and pants, and white sneakers, Ryan said.
What happened between Deborah Brandao and Cavalcante?
Deborah Brandao, 33, met Cavalcante through mutual friends, according to court filings. She and her two children moved in with Cavalcante after they began dating, and their relationship lasted about two years.
During that time, prosecutors said, Cavalcante was violent and abusive. After an argument at their apartment in June 2020, Cavalcante bit Brandao on her lip hard enough to draw blood, and chased her and her children out of their home.
The three hid in a neighbor’s apartment until police arrived. A warrant for simple assault was issued for Cavalcante’s arrest, and he promised, through his sister, to turn himself in, investigators said. He never did, despite that arrangement.
In December 2020, Cavalcante attacked Brandao again, chasing her with a knife, investigators said. She filed for a temporary protection from abuse order against him as a result, but it lapsed in March 2021 when she did not appear at a hearing.
Cavalcante kept in touch with Brandao even after the order, texting her frequently, according to evidence presented at trial. Brandao eventually told him to leave her alone, threatening to tell police about his active warrant in Brazil if he didn’t.
The day after, Cavalcante drove to her home to confront her, police said. There, they got into an argument in Brandao’s front yard as her two children were playing nearby.
During the argument, Cavalcante yanked Brandao by her hair and threw her to the ground, according to Brandao’s 9-year-old daughter, who testified during the trial. He then began to stab her repeatedly with a kitchen knife he had brought from his home as her daughter screamed for him to stop and threw a rock at him.
» READ MORE: Chester County man stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death while her children watched, DA says
Cavalcante stabbed Brandao more than 30 times in her neck, chest and back, according to prosecutors. She was later pronounced dead at Paoli Hospital.
At the time of Cavalcante’s arrest, Ryan called Brandao’s murder “a cold blooded, premeditated, and despicable act.”
What was he convicted of?
Cavalcante was convicted of first-degree murder Aug. 16 after a three-day trial before Chester County Court Judge Patrick Carmody. It took the jurors just 15 minutes of deliberation to render their verdict, one of the fastest that prosecutors said they had ever seen.
During the trial, two of Cavalcante’s friends, Francisco Lima and Michael Scahill, testified that Cavalcante came to them after the fatal stabbing, requesting their help. The two said that they bandaged Cavalcante’s hands, which were injured during the attack, gave him a change of clothes and filled his car up with gas.
» READ MORE: Chester County man convicted of first-degree murder in killing of his ex-girlfriend
Scahill, a construction superintendent from Phoenixville, said that he took the bloody clothes Cavalcante wore during the attack and disposed of them at a site he was working on in Philadelphia. He said he did so because he was scared, and wanted to help his friend, despite knowing that Brandao had been killed.
Both Scahill and Lima testified during the trial in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Why was Cavalcante still in county prison?
After Cavalcante’s conviction on Aug. 16, he was sentenced to life in state prison six days later, a mandatory sentence for that charge.
He was awaiting transfer to a more secure, state-run correctional facility when he escaped Thursday, according to Ryan.
» READ MORE: The former Chester County Prison warden retired the day before a convicted murderer escaped, officials said
Ryan later said that the county’s policy is to hold inmates in the local prison for 30 days after their sentencing, in order to give them an opportunity to file an appeal.
Cavalcante’s attorneys filed such an appeal on Friday, asking for a new trial in Brandao’s murder, according to Ryan.