Danelo Cavalcante planned carjacking to flee to Canada before capture - latest updates
Fugitive was left with a bloody face after suffering bite from Belgium Malinois dog Yoda as he was captured after almost two weeks on the run on Wednesday
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Escaped prisoner Danelo Cavalcante has revealed how he survived almost two weeks on the run from law enforcement in Pennsylvania, following his dramatic capture by a police dog called Yoda.
US Marshall Robert Clark told ABC News that the convicted killer had been very candid after he was captured on Wednesday morning. He told investigators how he evaded capture and survived in the woods by eating watermelon.
“He stated he intended to carjack somebody in the next 24 hours and that he was going to head north to Canada,” Mr Clark said. “He said on multiple occasions law enforcement officers almost stepped on him, [that] we were only five or six feet away.”
Pennsylvania officials said that tactical teams closed in on Cavalcante on Wednesday morning and the inmate began to crawl through heavy underbrush to get away. At that point, Yoda, a four-year-old Belgium Malinois, set out to subdue the escapee, leaving him with a face bloodied from a bite.
Cavalcante had escaped from Chester County Prison on 31 August – days after he was sentenced to life for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao. He is also wanted for a 2017 murder in Brazil.
Danelo Cavalcante evaded capture for two weeks on run by burying his faeces and surviving on watermelon
Escaped prisoner Danelo Cavalcante has revealed that he managed to evade capture for two weeks on the run by burying his own faeces and surviving on watermelon.
Cavalcante escaped Chester County Prison in Pennsylvania back on 31 August after he was handed a life sentence for murdering his former girlfriend.
It was not until almost two weeks later – on the morning of 13 September – that the escaped prisoner was finally back in handcuffs, after he was captured by a tactical team and police K-9 in a wooded area.
Since his capture, investigators have now revealed that Cavalcante complied with their questions and told them various details about his time on the run from the police.
Read more:
How Danelo Cavalcante survived for two weeks on the run
US Marshall said the escaped convict was ‘brutally honest’ when interrogated about his life on the run
Pennsylvania store manager recounts Cavalcante’s arrest
Jim Martin, the manager of a Little’s John Deere dealership, said that Cavalcante’s arrest took place just outside of his business.
“We saw them checking the tree lines and out of nowhere everybody started congregating back by the shed and then we saw him walk him up,” Mr Martin told NBC 10. “One camouflage had his rifle and walked him up and EMS started working on him in the parking lot.”
Cavalcante was hiding under logs in a shed when he was surprised by law enforcement.
WATCH: Chris Cuomo speaks with US Marshall who conducted Danelo Cavalcante capture
Prison escape, multiple sightings and a stolen rifle: Timeline of the Danelo Cavalcante manhunt and capture
Fugitive murder convict Danelo Cavalcante has finally been captured 14 days after his prison escape in northwestern Pennsylvania.
For nearly two weeks following his escape from the Chester County Prison on 31 August, Cavalcante not only eluded hundreds of US Marshalls, SWAT, FBI and state and local law enforcement officers but also managed to sneak past the established search perimeter time and time again - and even stole a rifle from a home.
Over the weekend, the fugitive drove more than 25 miles from his initial hiding spot in Longwood Gardens after stealing a van that he then discarded in East Nantmeal Township. Then on Monday night, he broke inside a garage in South Coventry Township and stole a .22 rifle before fleeing the scene.
Residents of the suburban Pennsylvania county grew increasingly frustrated as police scrambled to keep up with Cavalcante’s moves.
Finally, on Wednesday morning, police announced Cavalcante’s capture.
Here’s a timeline of the stunning case:
Timeline of the Danelo Cavalcante manhunt and capture
Chester County residents are growing increasingly frustrated as police scramble to keep up with the ‘dangerous’ killer’s moves, writes Andrea Blanco
Why was Cavalcante sentenced to life in prison?
Cavalcante was found guilty of the murder of Deborah Brandao on 16 August – more than two years after he stabbed her 38 times with a kitchen knife in Schuylkill Township back in April 2021.
Prosecutors said he killed Brandao to stop her from telling police about an active arrest warrant he was facing for another alleged murder in his home country of Brazil in 2017.
Cavalcante and Brandao reportedly met through mutual friends and moved in together with her two children not long after their two-year relationship began.
Prosecutors outlined his domestic abuse against Brandao during the trial.
It was reported that in June 2020, Cavalcante bit Brandao on her lip hard enough to draw blood and chased her and her children out of their home. Brandao and her kids hid in a neighbour’s apartment and a warrant was issued by police for Cavalcante’s arrest. However, he did not turn himself in.
Later that year, Cavalcante allegedly attacked Brandao again, chasing her with a knife, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Brandao then filed for a temporary abuse order against him, but this lapsed in March 2021 when she did not appear at a hearing.
According to evidence presented at the trial, the two kept in touch and police said Cavalcante drove to Brandao’s home to confront her in April 2021.
While Brandao’s children, then aged seven and three, were playing near by, Cavalcante pulled her hair and threw her to the ground. He then began to stab her repeatedly.
Brandao was later pronounced dead at Paoli Hospital, the outlet said. Two friends of Cavalcante testified during his trial that they helped the murder convict escape and gave him clean clothes so he could “disappear” for a while.
Prosecutors said Cavalcante killed Brandao to stop her from telling police about his outstanding arrest warrant for murder in Brazil.
He was captured in Virginia shortly after the stabbing, while police said he was attempting to return to Brazil.
At trial, the jury deliberated for just 15 minutes. He was sentenced to life in prison on 22 August.
Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante told officials he planned to carjack someone and flee US
A murderer who escaped from a Pennsylvania jail and was captured two weeks later told authorities he had been planning to carjack someone and flee to Canada or Puerto Rico, a law enforcement official said Thursday.
Interviewed at a state police barracks hours after his capture Wednesday morning, Danelo Cavalcante, 34, revealed to investigators he planned to get a car in an effort to slip a tightening law enforcement perimeter, Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark told The Associated Press,
“He said the law enforcement presence in this perimeter was becoming too intense, and that he felt that he needed to get out of the area,” Clark said.
Speaking in Portuguese through an interpreter, Cavalcante revealed other details about his life on the run since his brazen escape from the Chester County jail on Aug. 31.
Cavalcante said he drank water from a creek and ate watermelon he’d stolen from a farm and cracked open with his head.
He hid in foliage so thick that search teams came within a few yards of him on three separate occasions.
He covered his faeces with leaves in an effort to cover his tracks.
He stayed put for days at a time and only moved at night.
Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante told officials he planned to carjack someone and flee US
A murderer who escaped from a Pennsylvania jail and was captured two weeks later told authorities he'd been planning to carjack someone and flee to Canada or Puerto Rico
Pennsylvania police pose with captured Danelo Cavalcante after he led them on two-week chase
Pennsylvania state police posed for a group victory photo with Danelo Cavalcante at the forefront, after they caught the escaped killer on Wednesday.
A large group of police officers, all dressed in military camouflage uniforms, gathered around the escaped killer after an exhausting two-week manhunt.
In the video, you can see one military personnel hand his phone over to another officer, before all gathering around for a photo with the fugitive. Some officers posed by crouching on the floor, one kneeling with his gun in hand next to Mr Cavalcante. Another officer made sure his police K-9 was in the shot.
Mr Cavalcante was in cuffs and held by two police officers who got him into position for the photo.
Danelo Cavalcante killed his girlfriend in front of her children. Then his prison escape sparked a two-week manhunt
Danelo Cavalcante was sentenced to life behind bars for the April 2021 murder of Deborah Brandao. He broke free from jail days later, sparking a manhunt that lasted almost two weeks.
The Independent’s Faiza Saqib and Andrea Blanco report:
Danelo Cavalcante killed his girlfriend. Then he staged a prison break
Danelo Cavalcante was sentenced to life behind bars for the April 2021 murder of Deborah Brandao. He broke free from jail days later, sparking a manhunt that lasted almost two weeks, Faiza Saqib and Andrea Blanco report
Hundreds of police officers hunted for Danelo Cavalcante for two weeks. A dog secured his capture
Four-year-old Yoda subdued Cavalcante, allowing a US Border Patrol’s tactical unit to surround the murder convict.
The Independent’s Andrea Blanco reports:
Police hunted for Danelo Cavalcante for two weeks. A dog secured his capture
Four-year-old Yoda subdued Cavalcante, allowing a US Border Patrol’s tactical unit to surround the murder convict. Andrea Blanco reports
WATCH: Chester County communities return to normal with Cavalcante in custody
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