Convicted killer Danelo Cavalcante who escaped Pennsylvania prison once fled Brazilian juvenile detention center by climbing over a 14-foot wall
- Danelo Cavalcante escaped from a juvenile detention center in Palmas, Brazil in 2006
- His first brush with the law came in a 2004; he also shot and killed a student in 2017 before fleeing to the United States
- Cavalcante was captured by Pennsylvania authorities September 13, two weeks after climbing out of the Chester County Prison
A convicted killer who was on the run for two weeks after escaping a Pennsylvania prison once fled a Brazil juvenile detention center by climbing over a wall.
Danelo Cavalcante was sent to the facility as a 17-year-old after he tried to kill a male by stabbing him during a robbery in 2006, according to Brazilian news magazine Fantastico.
Tocantins Civil Police officer, Adriano Borges, told the outlet that Cavalcante had been only held at the youth detention center for two months and took advantage of a disturbance caused by other juvenile offenders and managed to jump over a 14-foot wall.
The then-teenager was seen traveling by foot along a road and was chased by a police officer, who shot him. Cavalcante was rushed to a medical facility and then taken to another juvenile center the same day.
Borges said that Cavalcante’s first brush with the law came in 2014 and that he was arrested on several occasions for petty theft, assault and gun and knife possession.
Danelo Cavalcante once escaped from a juvenile detention center in Tocantins, Brazil, in 2006
![Danelo Cavalcante is spotted by a surveillance camera 'crab-walking' his way to freedom at the Chester County jail on August 31](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/18/20/75243359-12532309-Danelo_Cavalcante_is_spotted_by_a_surveillance_camera_crab_walki-a-3_1695064181598.jpg)
Danelo Cavalcante is spotted by a surveillance camera ‘crab-walking’ his way to freedom at the Chester County jail on August 31
Authorities in the Tocantins capital city of Palmas were already aware that their hands were tied with a criminal at such a young age.
‘Although he was a minor, at the time he was already a guy who was very dangerous,’ Borges said.
Cavalcante was eventually released from the youth detention center and continued with his criminal ways, which worsened in November 2017 when he allegedly murdered his friend, Valter Moreira, in Ficarópolis over money he was owed over a vehicle repair.
Although an arrest warrant was approved by a Tocantins court a week after the killing, the order was not filed with the National Prison Bank’s registry, which allowed him to board a flight in January 2018 to Puerto Rico.
Cavalcante he killed his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandão, stabbing her 28 times in front of her two children at her Chester County, Pennsylvania home on April 18, 2021.
Virginia authorities apprehended him the next day while he was trying to flee to Mexico.
Prosecutors say he stabbed Brandão in front of her two children to stop her from reporting him to United States authorities over
He was convicted in late August and sentenced to life in prison.
![Deborah Brandão (pictured) was stabbed dead in April 2021 by Danelo Cavalcante, who feared that she would turn him over to police because she knew he had murdered a person in Brazil](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/18/19/75054353-12532309-D_bora_Brandao_pictured_was_stabbed_dead_in_April_2021_by_Danelo-a-2_1695063354554.jpg)
Deborah Brandão (pictured) was stabbed dead in April 2021 by Danelo Cavalcante, who feared that she would turn him over to police because she knew he had murdered a person in Brazil
![Walter Junior (pictured) was murdered over a debt on November 5, 2017 by Danilo Cavalcante in Tocantins, Brazil](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/18/19/75305561-12532309-Walter_Junior_pictured_was_murdered_over_a_debt_on_November_5_20-a-1_1695063354535.jpg)
Walter Junior (pictured) was murdered over a debt on November 5, 2017 by Danilo Cavalcante in Tocantins, Brazil
![Danelo Cavalcante tried to run away, but a K-9 chased him through the woods, bit him and brought an end to the manhunt September 13. He was treated for injuries at the spot](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/18/20/75493173-12532309-Danelo_Cavalcante_tried_to_run_away_but_a_K_9_chased_him_through-a-2_1695064181507.jpg)
Danelo Cavalcante tried to run away, but a K-9 chased him through the woods, bit him and brought an end to the manhunt September 13. He was treated for injuries at the spot
However, Cavalcante managed to escape from the Chester County Prison by crawling up a wall August 31.
Surveillance camera footage showed how he ‘crab’ walked between two brick walls before he climbed a fence and jumped over razor wire in the middle of the day.
The daring escape sparked a massive manhunt as Cavalcante led police through the Pennsylvania woods.
A Drug Enforcement Administration aircraft was able to locate him the night of September 12 and he was finally arrested the following morning after a U.S. Customs and Border Protection K-9 chased him through the woods in South Coventry Township.
Cavalcante was bitten by the dog and treated for injuries on the scene.
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