The manhunt for convicted killer Danielo Cavalcante has now entered its eighth day with details beginning to emerge about how he managed to escape from prison in Pennsylvania.
Cavalcante, 34, escaped from Chester County Prison days after he was sentenced to life without parole for stabbing his ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao, 31, to death in front of her two small children. He is also wanted for a 2017 murder in Brazil.
Authorities said during a press conference on Wednesday that he broke out by climbing onto a prison building roof from one of the exercise yards. Newly released surveillance video shows Cavalcante crawling up a wall at the prison before he disappears from the frame.
Police said that he later managed to jump down to an area of the prison that had less surveillance. A tower officer tasked with observing the site failed to report the incident and Cavalcante’s escape was only noticed later during a head count.
He was last spotted near Chandler Road, Pennsbury Township, on Tuesday evening. Local and federal law enforcement searched the area for hours but did not locate the fugitive.
Members of the public are urged to secure their homes from the dangerous killer.
‘He said he was going to do something bad to our lives’, daughter of Cavalcante’s victim told police
The daughter of Danelo Cavalcante’s victim told police that he showed up at their house and said he was going to do “something bad to their lives”, according to an affidavit.
The seven-year-old daughter of Deborah Brandao told police that he “pulled two knives out from a black bag that was behind his back”.
She started screaming and Cavalcante hit her with a rock, police wrote in the affidavit.
Cavalcante is also a suspect in a 2017 homicide case in Brazil, according to US Marshals Service.
Prison warden on administrative leave amid investigation into jail escape
Chester County Prison acting warden Howard Holland said that Cavalcante’s jailbreak was similar to another inmate’s escape back in May. During that incident, a tower officer immediately reported the situation to prison staff and the inmate was apprehended within minutes.
In Cavalcante’s case, his absence was not noticed for nearly an hour.
“While we believed that the security measures we had in place were sufficient, they have proven otherwise,” Mr Holland said. “And we will work to enhance our security … One key difference in [this] escape is the role of the tower officer whose primary responsibility is to oversee the inmate in the exercise yard.”
The state’s attorney’s office is now investigating the jailbreak. Mr Holland said that the actions of the tower officer, who is on administrative leave, are part of the probe and that appropriate action will be taken against personnel based on the results of the investigation.
- INDEPENDENT
