NBC10’s Brian Sheehan and Deanna Durante report on the capture of Danelo Cavalcante on Wednesday and what might come next in the investigation into what the convicted killer did during his 14 days on the run.
Convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante, 34, was apprehended on Wednesday, Sept. 13, after he spent two weeks on the run.
He had eluded police since he escaped from Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania, back on Aug. 31.
Over the course of 14 days, Cavalcante -- a Brazilian man who fluently speaks Portuguese, Spanish and some English and stands around 5 feet tall and weighs around 120 pounds -- led police on a getaway route that zig-zagged through Chester County.
Why was Cavalcante in prison?
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Cavalcante was in custody after he was convicted of the April 18, 2021 slaying of 33-year-old Deborah Brandao in Schuylkill Township. Court documents note Cavalcante stabbed Brandao, his ex-girlfriend, more than a dozen times in the chest, in front of Brandao's children who were just 7- and 3-years-old at the time.
After the slaying, officials said Cavalcante fled to Virginia before he was apprehended and brought back to Pennsylvania.
The week before his prison escape, Cavalcante was sentenced to life in prison without the chance for parole.
Cavalcante's history of violence doesn't end there. In Brazil, prosecutors in Tocantins state say he’s accused of “double qualified homicide” in the 2017 slaying of Válter Júnior Moreira dos Reis in Figueirópolis.
Law enforcement officials there allege this killing was over a debt the victim owed him in connection with the repair of a vehicle.
Day of the escape
Cavalcante escaped from prison on the morning of Thursday, Aug. 31, by using a method that Howard Holland, the warden of the facility, described as a "crab-walk." Cavalcante moved up a pair of walls set about five feet apart in the prison's exercise yard.
According to Holland, just before 9 a.m. that day, Cavalcante scaled the hallway wall and crawled through razor wire and onto a roof before vaulting a fence and pushing through more razor wire before escaping the facility.
A similar escape effort at the prison was foiled earlier this year when that individual was spotted by guards.
During Cavalcante's escape however, a guard that was on duty at the time didn't spot him and the prison wasn't locked down until nearly an hour after the convicted killer had already escaped.
The guard who was on duty that day has since been fired.
That morning, officials searched areas near the prison and, before 10 a.m., Cavalcante was reported to have been seen walking on Wawaset Road in Pocopson Township.
Teams of law enforcement officials searched that area that night and into the next day.
But, the search area soon expanded.
1.5 miles from the prison
On Saturday, Sept. 2, Cavalcante was spotted on a residential surveillance camera on the 1800 block of Lenape Road in Pocopson Township, about 1.5 miles from the prison.
By then, officials had expanded the hunt beyond areas around the prison to railroads, the Brandywine Creek and other possible routes out of Chester County, according to Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan.
Also, that weekend, West Chester University, with a main campus about six miles northeast of the Chester County County prison, cancelled classes due to the ongoing manhunt.
But, this wouldn't be the last school to close out of an abundance of caution as the search for Cavalcante continues.
His mother's plea
By Monday, Sept. 4, officials had stepped up their efforts to recapture the escaped Cavalcante.
Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said that officials had widened the search area after there were more reports of credible sightings of the escapee in Pocopson Township in areas north on Route 52 to Parkersville Road, southeast to Route 926 and west in the area of the intersection of Routes 926 and 52.
Also, police had taken to the tactic of playing a recording of Cavalcante's mother asking him to turn himself in peacefully.
As the search continued, Pocopson Township residents could hear the recordings in Portuguese being played from police vehicle loudspeakers and from a helicopter.
Spotted in Longwood Gardens
As the search stretched into Tuesday, Sept. 4, officials got a break in the hunt as he was spotted on a trail camera on the property of Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square.
Images shared by that camera showed that Cavalcante had -- at sometime since his escape -- obtained supplies of some kind in a pair of bags he could be seen carrying and a hoodie he was spotted wearing.
This sighting led to the closure of Longwood Gardens and area schools as officials moved their search zone once again in an effort to corral the escaped fugitive.
For the next few days law enforcement officials focused on searching the sprawling wooded areas near Longwood Gardens in the hopes of capturing Cavalcante only for him to slip through their fingers once again.
Cavalcante reemerges with new look
The next time Cavalcante appeared on police radar would be days later and miles away from the search area.
Police said Cavalcante traveled more than 20 miles northeast to East Pikeland Township and Phoenixville where, at about 10 p.m. Saturday, he visited the homes of two former work associates.
One homeowner, who was at dinner with his family, spoke with Cavalcante through his doorbell camera and called police after returning home and reviewing the video. The other wasn’t home when Cavalcante went to her home, but another female resident alerted her, police said.
Both called local police first, who then contacted state police around about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, Bivens said.
Early Sunday, he was spotted on residential cameras in the Phoenixville area -- only now he was clean shaven and appeared to be wearing a different outfit from the one he was photographed in when he was spotted in Longwood Gardens.
Bivens said that they believed that Cavalcante was able to elude the hundreds of officers on his tail by, possibly, navigating underground tunnels in that area that "cannot be secured."
Officials also said he was able to reach the Phoenixville area, about 25 miles away from the prison, by stealing a refrigerated van from Baily's Dairy in West Chester.
After releasing images of that van on Sunday, Sept. 10, the vehicle was found abandoned in East Nantmeal Township after, officials said, it ran out of fuel.
New search tactics
Sunday, officials set up a search area around where the van was found. Bivens said it was likely that Cavalcante was on the road once again by the time law enforcement officials had gotten to the abandoned vehicle.
“I do not have a report of a stolen vehicle; I anticipate that we will,” he said at a press conference on Sunday.
On Monday, Sept. 11, Bivens provided an update saying that officials had changed search tactics. They had been using a containment method and, he said, they had switched to using various means of efforts that, he claimed, have been successful in the past.
"We don't have a defined search area at this point," he said.
Just what this new effort entailed, Bivens wouldn't go into specifics. Though, he did say that there is a "whole array of technology that is being utilized," as the search continues.
Also, the reward for any information leading to Cavalcante's capture was increased to $25,000.
'He is armed'
Cavalcante was spotted again in South Coventry Township Monday (Sept. 11) night. This time, police said "he is armed," in a Tuesday morning social media post.
An emergency notification from Pennsylvania State Police was sent out by Chester County 911 at 10:46 p.m. reporting Cavalcante was spotted in the area of Ridge Road, Coventryville Road and Daisy Point Road in South Coventry Township possibly armed with a weapon.
On Tuesday, Bivens said that a homeowner in that area caught Cavalcante in his garage and fired at him. However, police do not believe Cavalcante was hit.
But, Cavalcante did escape with a .22-caliber rifle equipped with a scope and a flashlight, officials said.
NBC10 also confirmed with sources that Cavalcante's shoes and articles of his clothing were found in the area.
Narrowing in on Cavalcante
As of about 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 12, officials believed they had Cavalcante's location narrowed down to an eight to ten square mile area in and around South Coventry Township, not far from where the abandoned van was found.
“At this point, I believe his is beyond assistance and he is in that perimeter and we will find him,” said Bivens.
The capture of Danilo Cavalcante
Residents were being asked to lock all of their external doors and windows, secure their vehicles and remain indoors. They’re also being told to review their surveillance cameras and contact police if they spot anything suspicious.
Killer in custody
After two weeks on the run, Cavalcante was apprehended early Wednesday by officials in Chester County.
Bivens, of the Pennsylvania State Police, told reporters shortly after Cavalcante's arrest that, the night before, around midnight, a burglar alarm went off at a home on Prizer Road, within the search parameter in South Coventry Township.
But, when teams arrived at that property, there was no one to be found.
"But, it did bring some of our people to that area," said Bivens.
With more officers in that area, Bivens said they decided to wait out a storm and, at about 8 a.m., teams surrounded an area where there was a heat source found on thermal imaging.
"Cavalcante did not realize he was surrounded," said Bivens, noting that search teams had the element of surprise.
Once the convicted killer realized police had him surrounded, Bivens said that Cavalcante emerged from a hiding spot where he was laying prone and attempted to flee into thick underbrush, bringing the .22-caliber rifle that he had in his possession with him.
Bivens said officers released a dog who bit Cavalcante and he was taken to the ground, where he was apprehended, though, he continued to put up a fight.
"He was forcibly taken into custody," said Bivens.
Cavalcante was taken to a state police facility in Avondale and, Bivens said, he will be taken to a state prison where he will serve a life sentence.
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