The convicted murder escaped the same way another inmate broke out of the prison back in May.
As the manhunt for escaped killer Danelo Cavalcante continues, the Pennsylvania prison from which he escaped has released video showing how he did it — and the footage has some feeling serious deja vu.
On Wednesday, Acting Warden of Chester County Prison Howard Holland participated in a press conference on the search for Cavalcante, revealing how the inmate was able to break free from their custody last Thursday.
The killer was convicted earlier this summer of brutally murdering his ex-girlfriend in 2021. According to prosecutors, the 33-year-old stabbed Deborah Brandao 38 times after she learned he was wanted for another murder in Brazil; he allegedly killed her in front of her two young children.
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As Holland pointed out, Cavalcante’s escape “was similar in the methodology of the escape” by fellow prison inmate Igor Bolte back in May. Like Cavalcante, Bolte also escaped from the institution’s exterior exercise yard.
Per the warden, Cavalcante entered the yard a little after 8:30am last week, before making his escape about 20 minutes later. He “escaped from the prison, having crab walked up a wall, pushed his way through razor wire, run across the roof, scale another fence and push his way through more razor wire.” He wasn’t marked as missing until around 9:45am, following a headcount when the other inmates all returned from their time outside.
While Holland said there were improvements made to the area “intended to address the escape route from the yard to the roof area,” they clearly weren’t enough to prevent Cavalcante from getting out.
The warden said that security consultants were brought in after Bolte’s escape and additional razor wire was added to block access to the roof, while adding that the counter measures used at the prison are the “industry standard.”
Escaped Murderer Danelo Cavalcante 'Squeezed' Through Police Perimeter, Spotted In New Trail Cam Images
Cavalcante’s escape “brought to light” the fact that the additional razor wire wasn’t not sufficient and the area “should have been bolstered by additional means,” something Holland promised was being addressed. The warden also revealed the prison’s plan to fully enclose all outside exercise yards, as well as the installation of additional cameras, adjustments to the position of officers and “additional security assets” to “enhance our security measures” quickly.
He went on to call out “one key difference” between the escapes of Cavalcante and Bolte, noting how the tower officer on duty for the latter saw him following his escape and Bolte was apprehended within minutes. For Cavalcante, the officer “did not observe nor report the escape” — with Holland saying the officer’s behavior is a “key part of the investigation.”
“With the time it took him to go up, and we all saw the video, it wasn’t very long,” Holland added. “It’s feasible that we didn’t see it because we just weren’t focused on it.”
During the same presser, police also revealed a shift in the search area after a resident of Pennsbury Township said they saw Cavalcante in a creek bed behind their home. The home is located several miles east from where the escaped prisoner was last seen on a trail cam Monday night in nearby Longwood Gardens botanical gardens.
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