Killer's Timeline: Murder, Conviction, Escape From Eastern PA Prison

CHESTER COUNTY, PA —For 12 days, escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante has evaded a massive manhunt initially centered around Chester County Prison and Longwood Gardens but now more widespread after Cavalcante stole a van and fled to northern Chester County this weekend.

He remains at large. He has been on the run since Aug. 31.

The murder

On April 16, 2021, Cavalcante fatally stabbed Deborah Brandao 38 times at her Schuylkill Township home on Pawlings Road in front of her children. On April 19, Cavalcante was charged with first-degree murder and related charges. He fled to Virginia, where he was arrested.

On Aug. 16, 2023, Cavalcante was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder in the murder of Brandao following a trial before Judge Patrick Carmody in the Chester County Justice Center. The jury deliberated for 15 minutes.

Cavalcante was sentenced on Aug. 22 to life in prison. He was taken to Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township.

The Escape

Nine days after Cavalcante was sentenced, he escaped from Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township. He was wearing a white T-shirt, with gray shorts. He is 5 feet tall, 120 pounds. A $20,000 award has been offered to anyone who has information that led to his arrest.

He was waiting in Chester County Prison to be taken to a state prison, which has a higher security level than county jails, but he never got there.

At 8:50 a.m. Aug. 31, Cavalcante escaped. Officers on duty missed Cavalcante scaling the wall by bracing himself horizontally between two walls and using his feet and hands to climb up to a roof, from where he escaped, according to Acting Chester County Prison Warden Howard Holland.

Holland said an officer on duty in a watch tower who missed the escape was fired, and the county commissioners are working on upgrading security measures.

The search

A team of over 400 law enforcement officers pleaded for the public’s help to find convicted murderer Cavalcante. For days, Cavalcante moved within a large police perimeter, breaking into homes for supplies, and periodically being spotted on video cameras from homes and Longwood Gardens.

On Sept. 4, Cavalcante’s mother called out for her son to surrender peacefully on a recorded message that was played from helicopters and vehicles searching for her son.

Unionville-Chaddsford and Kennett Consolidated School districts closed for a day because the districts are in the perimeter of the search. Longwood Gardens had to close on multiple days.

Over the weekend, Cavalcante got out of the police perimeter, stole a van from a dairy with keys left inside, and drove to the Phoenixville area. There he contacted two friends seeking help to no avail. The friends contacted police, who realized early Sunday morning that Cavalcante had broken out of the perimeter around Longwood.

Sunday morning, state police found the stolen van abandoned and out of gas in East Nantmeal Township, which is northwest of Phoenixville and not far from the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange at Morgantown, Berks County.