A burglar alarm in a Philadelphia suburb early Wednesday sounded the final hours of Danelo Cavalcante’s freedom. Law enforcement teams worked overnight through a storm to surround and capture the killer, ending an intense manhunt after Cavalcante’s escape from a Pennsylvania jail two weeks earlier.
Pennsylvania State Police said Cavalcante, 34, was arrested around 8:15 a.m. He was crawling through thick underbrush with a stolen rifle when a K-9 immobilized him by biting his scalp.
Police said Cavalcante was arrested soon afterward. An armored vehicle transported him to the state police’s Avondale barracks, where members of the search team took a victorious photo op with their captive.
“I’m not bothered at all by the fact that they took a photograph of him in custody,” Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said during a press conference. “They’re proud of their work. They kept the community safe. I say thanks to them and good job.”
Roughly 500 uniformed officers from various state, local and federal agencies assisted in the manhunt for the convicted murderer, who was captured without authorities or Cavalcante firing a shot.
That “successful conclusion” to the manhunt brought a sigh of relief for residents who lived inside the search area.
“You can go outside again,” Janice Antosh, who lives near South Coventry Township where Cavalcante was captured, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “You can go in your yard. You don’t have to worry about going in your garage and someone might be in there.”
A Monday night visit to an open garage showed how bold Cavalcante was becoming. He stole a .22-caliber scoped rifle while the homeowner was inside the garage. Cavalcante fled as the homeowner opened fire with a handgun but didn’t strike the escapee.
Residents were urged to lock themselves inside at night because a dangerous killer was armed. Some school districts ordered impromptu closures because of the uncertainty of where the murderer would roam.
Cavalcante was running out of steam.
A motorist spotted him near a roadway Monday evening, and police followed up the tip to find his tracks and discarded prison shoes a short time later. A resident reported soon afterward that her work boots were stolen from her front porch.
The home security alarm that sounded after midnight narrowed the police focus on Cavalcante’s whereabouts. An aircraft with thermal technology located his heat signature in a heavily wooded area about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia, and ground teams were moving in before a storm disrupted the search.
The aircraft returned after the weather cleared, and authorities covertly surrounded and captured Cavalcante.
Authorities were challenged by the escapee’s resourcefulness during his two weeks on the run.
Police first tried to contain Cavalcante to a large botanical garden in the southern portion of Chester County in the initial days after his Aug. 31 escape from Chester County Prison in southeastern Pennsylvania.
He evaded the perimeter, shaved his face and stole a van that he took 20 miles north to the area near Phoenixville by the end of last week.
Cavalcante was wearing a Philadelphia Eagles hoodie when he was arrested. Police didn’t know how he acquired it.
“I don’t know that he was particularly skilled,” Col. Bivens said. “He was desperate, and I’ve said that all along: You have an individual whose choice is go back to prison and spend the rest of your life in a place you don’t want to be or continue to try and evade capture.”
Cavalcante, who stands 5 feet tall and weighs 120 pounds, broke out of prison by crab-walking up a wall and clearing the prison’s razor wire.
More than an hour passed before prison officials realized the killer was missing. The tower prison guard on duty during his escape was later fired.
Cavalcante was sentenced to life in prison in August for the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in 2021.
Prosecutors said Cavalcante killed Brandao in front of her two young children after she learned he was implicated in a 2017 homicide in his native Brazil. Brandao has family in the Phoenixville area where Cavalcante was spotted just days ago.
“One of the first calls we made upon learning about this capture was to the Brandao family, who, as you can imagine, had been living in a complete nightmare,” Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said. “They are so grateful to the men and women who helped with this capture. They can now finally sleep again.”
Cavalcante’s escape also made headlines in Brazil.
Prosecutors in Tocantins state accuse him of “double qualified homicide” in the 2017 slaying of Valter Junior Moreira dos Reis in the municipality of Figueiropolis. Authorities said the killing stemmed from a debt owed to Cavalcante in connection with a vehicle repair.
Col. Bivens said police will try to interview Cavalcante before he is transported to a state prison.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.