A Pennsylvania man convicted of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend is believed to have been seen on surveillance footage running from police after escaping from prison Saturday morning.
Danelo Cavalcante, 34, was found to have escaped from the Chester County Jail in Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania around 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
Police believe they are closing in on him after he appeared to be seen on residential surveillance cameras on Route 52 in Pocopson around 1:43 a.m. Saturday morning.
Cavalcante walked through a wooded area before emerging from behind a small tree. He appears to have a backpack and something else in his right hand.
Just two hours earlier, on Friday evening at 11:30 p.m., an attempted burglary was reported in the same town with a population of just 5,000.
A witness said they saw someone who looked like Cavalcante’s description, but police have not yet confirmed he was behind the attempted theft.
Danelo Cavalcante, a Pennsylvania man convicted of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend, was reportedly seen on surveillance footage fleeing police after escaping from prison Thursday morning
Danelo Cavalcante, 34, escaped from the Chester County Jail in Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania around 8:30 a.m. Thursday
The possible sighting of Cavalcante came just two days after Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said the killer may be trying to get to his native Brazil, where he tried to flee while fleeing the original murder investigation.
“We have evidence that he was captured in Virginia, but the real goal was to go to Mexico and then to Brazil, his home country,” Ryan said, according to ABC News.
Ryan added Saturday that officials are urging residents to stay indoors and keep an eye on the homes of anyone who may have left for Labor Day weekend.
“We urge residents in the Pocopson Township area to stay indoors, lock your doors and lock your cars.” “He is still considered an extremely dangerous individual,” Ryan said.
West Chester University, a college about six miles from the prison, canceled classes Friday for safety reasons.
“The very last thing we want to see, short of someone getting hurt, is him breaking into someone’s house, getting a set of car keys and then going to the races,” U.S. Marshal Robert Clark added.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ryan added that the U.S. Marshals are working with local, state and other federal law enforcement agencies to find Cavalcante.
Police described Cavalcante as standing 5 feet tall and weighing just 130 pounds, but warned the public to stay away from the “extremely dangerous” criminal and to call 911 if they have any information about his whereabouts.
Earlier this month, a jury returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for just 15 minutes in the fatal knife attack on his ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao, 33, in 2021.
At the time, he was wanted for murder in his native Brazil, and prosecutors said he “silenced” her after she threatened to report him when she discovered his past.
Cavalcante was last seen wearing a white T-shirt with gray shorts and white sneakers and was seen on a side street about five kilometers from the prison after his escape.
Cavalcante stabbed his ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao, 33, in 2021 after she found out he was wanted for murder in his home country of Brazil
Officials said earlier this week that police were searching “everywhere” for the convicted murderer following his sudden disappearance. Ryan said it is unclear at this time how he escaped.
His prison break came just weeks after he was found guilty of first-degree murder on August 16, and on August 21 he was sentenced to life in prison after two of his friends testified against him.
According to the Inquirer, he killed Brandao with a kitchen knife he had used to cut meat for a barbecue earlier in the day.
The killer stabbed his ex-girlfriend more than 30 times and police are warning the public to stay away and report him if they see him
Jurors heard that he was angry with Brandao because she had threatened to turn him in to the police after she found out he had hacked her Instagram account to spy on her, Ryan said.
During his trial, prosecutors alleged the couple had an abusive relationship in which Cavalcante was “an angry and jealous boyfriend who needed to remain in control.”
On the day of the murder, Brandao was playing with her two children outside her home when she was confronted by the killer, who told her he was “going to do something bad to her life.”
He then stabbed her more than 30 times in the torso and neck, according to testimony heard during his trial, while her children screamed for him to stop.
While his lawyer said the stabbing was the result of their turbulent and toxic relationship, the jury was unfazed and immediately returned a guilty verdict. He was sentenced to life in prison on August 22nd.
In a recorded confession read during the trial, Cavalcante said there was “no reason” for Brandao’s killing. But prosecutors claimed the stabbing was the culmination of a long history of domestic violence.
Cavalcante was reportedly wanted in Brazil for the murder of a man who owed him money, and the 34-year-old is a former gang member. It is unclear whether there is a valid arrest warrant for him in Brazil or whether he is still wanted for questioning.
Brandao (left) was stabbed over 30 times by Cavalcante in front of her children
Cavalcante was last seen walking down a street in Pocopson Township, about three miles from the prison
After the stabbing, Cavalcante’s lawyer said he called his mother and sister to confess to the murder before reportedly gathering two of his friends, Francisco Lima and Michael Scahill.
The two men testified against him at his trial and in return received immunity from prosecution.
They said Cavalcante drove to a store where the three rented trailers were parked, where they admitted helping the killer wash Brandao’s blood from his hands.
Scahill testified that they gave him a change of clothes and told him to “go away.” Neither he nor Lima called police, claiming they believed the couple had been arguing and only learned of Brandao’s death later that day.
Cavalcante remained on the run for several hours before he was arrested by a state trooper in Virginia.
After his sentencing last week, Ryan said he was held in a facility for 30 days so he could plan an appeal before being transferred to a state prison. He had been held at the facility without bail since his arrest in 2021, and according to the Delaware County Daily Times, it is the first escape from the 700-inmate prison in decades.
The last escape from the site reportedly occurred in the 1990s, when an inmate hid in a laundry basket and sneaked away in a van.
Pennsylvania police have launched a manhunt for the convict, and officials say it is currently unclear how he escaped
The prosecution argued that Cavalcante had abused his girlfriend for years and that the 34-year-old had a criminal record that included assault.
In June 2020, police were reportedly called to an apartment the couple shared in Royersford, Upper Providence Township, after a disturbance broke out.
Brandao told police that Cavalcante flew into a rage during an argument and attacked her, biting her lip and drawing blood before chasing her and her children out of the house.
The incident prompted police to issue an arrest warrant for assault, and although Cavalcante’s sister told law enforcement he would turn himself in, he never did.
After a second incident in December 2020 in which he chased her with a knife, Brandao then received an interim protection order against Cavalcante.