Recaptured convicted murder Cavalcante housed in maximum-security prison

Darryl Coote
·3 min read
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UPI
Escaped convict and convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante, seen here in his booking photo following his re-arrest, was captured on Wednesday, near Kennett Square, Pa., following a 14-day manhunt that had frightened residents and closed schools and public facilities while he was on the run. Photo via Pennsylvania Department of Corrections/UPI

Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Danelo Cavalcante, the escaped convicted murderer who was recaptured Wednesday following a two-week police manhunt through Pennsylvania's Chester County, was in the custody of a maximum security prison Thursday, officials said.

Cavalcante is being housed at State Correctional Institution Phoenix, a maximum security prison in Montgomery County, after the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections assumed custody about 3 p.m. Wednesday, the agency tweeted.

Officials provided a booking photo showing an unsmiling Cavalcante dressed in an orange prison uniform. The department confirmed his inmate number as QP8931 and said in a statement it has assumed custody of the 34-year-old "to serve his mandatory life sentence for first-degree murder."

Cavalcante escaped Aug. 31 from the Chester County Prison in West Chester, Pa., where he was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 2021 stabbing death of ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao.

He can be seen escaping the facility by chimneying up between two walls, video released by the Chester County District Attorney's Office shows. Cavalcante, a Brazilian national of Brazil, also is wanted there on murder charges from 2017.

The escaped prisoner led police on an intense manhunt through Chester County that saw him arm himself with a scope- and flashlight-equipped rifle until he was captured Wednesday morning.

Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bevins told reporters Wednesday that Cavalvante's capture came eight hours after authorities were notified of a tripped burglar alarm in the search area of Chester County.

A Drug Enforcement Agency helicopter then picked up a heat signal with the use of thermal imaging, and law enforcement circled the area.

About 8 a.m., authorities closed in on the area of the heat signal from where Cavalcante attempted to crawl away from in high brush. A deployed canine found the escaped convict and detained him until officers arrived, bringing an end to the two-week manhunt.

"At this time, he is single-celled and is provided out-of-cell treatment services," Maria Bivens, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman, told ABC News on Thursday.

"His meals are served in his cell, and he receives the same diet as all other inmates. Similar to other inmates, he will have to submit the appropriate paperwork to create an approved visitor/telephone list."

SCI Phoenix was put into operation in July 2018 and is a 3,830-bed state-of-the-art facility and has 1,2000 full-time employees, according to its website.