Chesco Prison Officer Is Warned Of Cavalcante's Escape Plan: Reports

WEST CHESTER, PA —Several weeks before Danilo Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison, a correctional officer warned prison officials that the convicted murderer was "planning an escape," according to documents obtained by ABC News.

Chester County Prison Sgt. Jerry Beavers told authorities after the Aug. 31 escape that he had information in July that Cavalcante was planning an escape.
ABC obtained the information under Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law which was in an email Beavers wrote to Cpt. Harry Griswald several hours after the escape. The email was then forwarded to Acting Warden Howard Holland.

Cavalcante’s journey

Cavalcante, a Brazilian man who was wanted for murder in his homeland, was convicted by a Chester County jury on Aug. 16 of first-degree murder in the April 18, 2021 stabbing of Deborah Brandao in front of her children outside her home in the 300 block of Pawlings Road, Schuylkill Township.
While waiting for transportation to state prison, Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township by crab-walking up two walls to the roof at one of the exercise yards.

Cavalcante then led hundreds of officers on a manhunt while he was on the run for two weeks in wooded areas of Chester County before he was arrested on Sept. 13 in South Coventry Township. He was then charged with escape and related charges.

Cavalcante is in the state Correctional Institution at Phoenix, a maximum security prison in Skippack Township, Montgomery County.

Attorney General Michelle Henry’s office is prosecuting the escape charges. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 17 before District Judge Matthew Seavey, Kennett Square.

Prison probe

The day Cavalcante escaped, the officer manning the outdoor tower did not see it happen. The officer was fired, and the county prison board began upgrading security.

The Chester County Prison board approved the installation of 50 to 75 new cameras and funding for eight new full-time security officers to monitor the cameras.
The board also approved design upgrades to enhance security for exercise yards, awarding that contract for $94,000 contract to TransSystems, LLC, Ebensburg, Cambria County.
The prison board consists of the county commissioners, district attorney, sheriff, and president judge.

New prison policy change for escape risks

Prior to the Cavalcante escape and capture, Chester County Prison’s security measures for an inmate identified as an “escape risk” were only enacted and heightened when the inmate was being transported off prison property, according to Rebecca Brain, county spokeswoman.
Cavalcante was initially identified as an escape risk when captured in Virginia and committed to Chester County Prison in 2021.

During the time surrounding his trial, unsubstantiated information from an unknown source was received reinforcing Cavalcante’s status as an escape risk.

Chester County Prison’s escape risk policy has changed since August under the leadership of Acting Warden Holland, with strengthened security measures inside the prison as well as during prisoner transport off prison property.

This includes the assignment of different color clothing indicating a potential escape risk, and monitoring by one correction officer to one inmate – or two corrections officers to one inmate – when outside of the prison cell.

The change in the escape risk policy is one of many policy changes that have been enacted and are being enacted by Holland to bolster security and support the work of the prison’s staff.

Brain noted that the prior policy is indicative of why the prison board felt the need to make changes to the prison’s leadership.

The next prison board meeting is at 2 p.m. Oct. 25 in the commissioners board room.

A timeline of the manhunt provided by Patch is available here.