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Tag: prison escapes

  • Escaped Pennsylvania killer Danilo Cavalcante has been captured. Here’s what happens next | CNN

    Escaped Pennsylvania killer Danilo Cavalcante has been captured. Here’s what happens next | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    The convicted murderer who escaped a Pennsylvania prison late last month is once again behind bars, now facing additional charges, after a nearly two-week manhunt that captured national attention and put the surrounding community on edge.

    Danilo Cavalcante, 34, was sleeping when police found him in the woods of South Coventry Township on Wednesday morning, lying on top of a rifle he had stolen from a nearby resident days earlier, a law enforcement source told CNN.

    A helicopter flying above the search area had picked up on a heat signal on the ground, and a tactical team swooped in after a storm cleared out. Cavalcante tried to flee by crawling through thick underbrush with the rifle in hand, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said.

    A police dog was released on him, biting him and preventing him from using the rifle before police took him into custody, capping a dramatic dayslong manhunt, according to Bivens.

    Cavalcante is now being held in a Pennsylvania maximum security prison, State Correctional Institution – Phoenix, in Montgomery County, where he’s to serve a life sentence for his previous murder conviction.

    He now also has been charged with felony escape, and is due to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on September 27, court records show.

    An attorney has not been listed on court documents for Cavalcante and the public defender’s office declined to comment at this time. Pennsylvania authorities updated the spelling of Cavalcante’s first name to Danilo in court documents Wednesday.

    The inmate, who was convicted last month of first-degree murder for the killing of his former girlfriend and sentenced to life in prison, escaped from Chester County Prison in a rural area some 30 miles west of Philadelphia on August 31.

    He managed to evade authorities for 13 days, hunkering down in wooded areas, moving at night, and in the early days, surviving off stream water and a watermelon he found at a farm, authorities said.

    During his time on the run, Cavalcante slipped through search perimeters, was spotted inside homes, stole a dairy van, changed his appearance, showed up at the doorsteps of people he knew years ago, stole a firearm and got shot at by a homeowner.

    When he was captured in South Coventry Township – roughly 20 miles from the facility he escaped from – Cavalcante had the appearance of someone who was in the woods for an extended period of time, and looked to have been stressed, Bivens said Wednesday.

    “Which is exactly what we were trying to do all along,” Bivens said. “The whole point was to keep him stressed, keep him moving, and keep him off his game.”

    More than 20 officers in tactical gear and camouflage uniforms took Cavalcante into custody Wednesday, escorting him to an armored vehicle. He was handcuffed with blood on his face and wearing a Philadelphia Eagles hoodie, video showed.

    His capture came as he planned to leave the country, according to Robert Clark, supervisory deputy US marshal for Pennsylvania’s eastern district.

    “His endgame was to carjack somebody and to head north up to Canada and he intended to do that in the next 24 hours,” Clark told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday.

    Clark, who did not speak with Cavalcante, cited what deputy marshals told him about an interview that the prisoner had with law enforcement officials after his capture.

    “He said the law enforcement presence where he was, was immense and he felt that he needed to leave,” Clark said.

    About 500 law enforcement officers – including members of the Pennsylvania State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and US marshals – had set up a perimeter in South Coventry Township this week to search for Cavalcante from the ground and the air.

    Clark told CNN Cavalcante was forthcoming with investigators after his capture, and “answered everything that was given to him” and “had no hesitation.”

    “Everything we thought about Cavalcante in his flight, was true,” Clark said. “He was a desperate man, he was actively avoiding apprehension.”

    Escaped inmate Danilo Cavalcante is shown after being captured on Wednesday

    Cavalcante left the prison by “crab-walking” between two walls, scaling a fence and traversing across razor wire and then disappeared into the forest.

    Police faced challenges finding him within the initial search perimeter in the densely wooded area, even after he was sighted several times in the area of a botanical garden and elsewhere in Chester County.

    “Shortly after he escaped from the prison, he had hunkered down in an area that was very, very secluded, very, very wooded and he didn’t move for the first couple days,” Clark said, citing Cavalcante’s post-capture interview with investigators. “He survived on a watermelon that he found at a farm, he drank stream water, he was hiding his fecal matter under leaves and foliage so that law enforcement couldn’t track him.”

    But officers came close to him several times.

    Cavalcante told investigators that officers searching for him nearly stepped on him three times – or came within yards of him – as he hid in the woods, Clark said without indicating when these near-encounters happened.

    “Three times, he described that law enforcement officials almost stepped on him within 7 or 8 yards,” Clark said. “That just proves to you how thick the vegetation and the foliage was.”

    Cavalcante decided to leave that area when he saw the increasing law enforcement activity there, Clark said.

    He had been surveilling the locations where he stole a truck from a dairy farm on Saturday, as well as a property where he stole the rifle this week, Clark said.

    The rifle Cavalcante took from an open garage Monday night added a heightened sense of danger to the search, and prompted authorities to urge residents to stay inside and lock their doors.

    “Our nightmare is finally over,” Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said Wednesday morning.

    Ryan said one of the first calls she made after Cavalcante’s capture was to the family of the woman he killed, 33-year-old Deborah Brandão. Prosecutors say Cavalcante stabbed Brandão 38 times in front of her two young children in Pennsylvania in April 2021.

    Her family had been “barricaded inside their homes not feeling safe anywhere” since his escape, Ryan said.

    “They were shrieking with joy and happiness that he’s incarcerated,” Ryan said. “They have lived their own personal nightmare.”

    Brandão’s sister, Sarah Brandão, said in a typed statement after Cavalcante’s capture that her family is “profoundly grateful for the support and hard work performed” by law enforcement.

    The escape and days that followed evoked the feeling of losing her sister again, Sarah said.

    “The past two weeks were extremely painful and terrifying, as they brought back all the feelings of losing my sister and the idea that this criminal could hurt us again,” the statement, which was translated into English, reads.

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  • Convicted killer who escaped Pennsylvania prison was spotted overnight and changed his appearance, police say | CNN

    Convicted killer who escaped Pennsylvania prison was spotted overnight and changed his appearance, police say | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Danelo Cavalcante, the convicted killer who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison, was seen overnight Saturday, according to state police, who said the fugitive had “changed his appearance” as the manhunt enters its 11th day.

    “He is now clean-shaven and wearing a yellow or green hooded sweatshirt, black baseball cap, green prison pants, and white shoes,” Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement early Sunday, adding he was spotted near in northern Chester County near Phoenixville.

    Cavalcante, 34, is also said to be driving a 2020 white Ford Transit van with Pennsylvania plates and a refrigeration unit on top, according to police. The van had been reported stolen by a local dairy farm, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office said.

    Nearly 400 officers have joined the round-the-clock search operation for Cavalcante, who fled Chester County Prison on August 31 by “crab walking” between two walls, scaling a fence and traversing razor wire.

    The sighting Saturday is just the latest: Police Lt. Col. George Bivens, who is leading the search, told reporters Friday there had been “probably eight or nine” other credible sightings since Cavalcante’s escape. Two sightings on Friday were confirmed within the general perimeter where tactical teams, K-9 dogs and a helicopter are scouring for any sign of the fugitive, according to Pennsylvania State Police Trooper James Grothey.

    Cavalcante’s escape came about two weeks after he was convicted of first-degree murder for the 2021 killing of his former girlfriend, Deborah Brandão, 33, in Chester County. Authorities said Cavalcante stabbed Brandão 38 times in front of her two children, who are now in the care of her sister.

    Cavalcante is also wanted in a 2017 homicide case in Brazil, his native country, a US Marshals Service official has said.

    The inmate’s escape from the prison about 30 miles west of Philadelphia has instilled fear within his victim’s family and distressed nearby residents like Ryan Drummond, who told CNN he saw Cavalcante in his Pocopson Township home the night of September 1.

    Describing it as an “acute moment of terror,” Drummond said he heard noise in his house and noticed an old French door off the side of their deck was slightly ajar.

    “That’s when my stomach dropped,” he told CNN’s Michael Smerconish.

    Drummond told his wife to call 911, he said, and saw Cavalcante “walking methodically” out of the kitchen into his living room before leaving the house via the French door.

    Cavalcante was seen in or around Chester County’s Longwood Gardens – about 3 miles from the prison – several times last week. On September 2, the fugitive was seen on surveillance video about 1.5 miles from the prison, authorities said. On Monday, a security camera recorded the fugitive at Longwood Gardens, authorities said.

    An area resident then reported seeing Cavalcante on Tuesday in a creek bed on the resident’s property. On Wednesday, a trail camera image showed Cavalcante in or around Longwood Gardens, but officials learned about this sighting Thursday evening, according to Bivens.

    Guests were asked to leave the botanical gardens Thursday as the entire venue closed for the manhunt. Police swarmed the botanical gardens, but did not catch the killer.

    Despite Cavalcante’s elusive streak, Bivens said he is confident the fugitive will be caught.

    “We’ve got a large perimeter secured,” he said Friday. “That is a pretty secure perimeter that we can push hard against with the tactical team.”

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  • Terror suspect on the run after escaping London prison | CNN

    Terror suspect on the run after escaping London prison | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    A serving member of the British Army awaiting trial on terror charges escaped from prison in London on Wednesday, the city’s Metropolitan Police said.

    Daniel Abed Khalife went missing from Wandsworth prison, in the southwest of the British capital, shortly before 8 a.m. UK time. He had been awaiting trial for terror offenses and alleged breaches of the Official Secrets Act.

    Khalife is a soldier accused of planting fake bombs at a military base, according to the PA Media news agency.

    “Police are issuing an urgent appeal to the public to help trace a 21-year-old man who has escaped from prison,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

    “Khalife was on remand at HMP Wandsworth, awaiting trial in relation to terrorism and Official Secrets Act offences,” it continued. “From our initial enquiries, it is believed he escaped from the prison at approximately 07:50hrs.”

    According to the Met statement, Khalife was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, red and white checkered trousers and brown steel toe cap boots.

    He is of slim build, has short brown hair and is around 6ft 2ins tall.

    Police believe that he most likely remains in the London area at this time, although he may have traveled further afield.

    Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “We have a team of officers who are making extensive and urgent enquiries in order to locate and detain Khalife as quickly as possible.”

    “I also want to reassure the public that we have no information which indicates, nor any reason to believe, that Khalife poses a threat to the wider public, but our advice if you do see him is not to approach him and call 999 straight away,” Murphy added, referring to the UK’s emergency services phone line.

    British airports and ports are also experiencing disruption after counter-terrorism police alerted the country’s airports and ports to Khalife’s escape.

    Manchester Airport was facing delays of up to 30 minutes on Wednesday afternoon after introducing extra security checks, according to PA Media.

    Meanwhile, Port of Dover Travel posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Due to a police matter, there are currently enhanced checks on outbound traffic at the Port of Dover and other portals within the UK.

    “Please be advised this is currently resulting in some delays at the port.”

    UK prison escapes are a rare occurrence. Data from the British government shows that there was just one escape across England and Wales in 2021-22, none in the proceeding period, and only a handful in the years prior to that.

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  • The daughter of the woman killed by Pennsylvania prison escapee Danelo Cavalcante told police he said he was going ‘to do something bad’ to their lives | CNN

    The daughter of the woman killed by Pennsylvania prison escapee Danelo Cavalcante told police he said he was going ‘to do something bad’ to their lives | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    The prisoner who is now the subject of a massive manhunt after escaping from a Pennsylvania prison last week had killed his ex-girlfriend in a brutal 2021 stabbing in front of her two young children, authorities say.

    Danelo Souza Cavalcante, a 34-year-old who was convicted just last month in the killing, escaped from the Chester County Prison some 30 miles west of Philadelphia on Thursday morning, sparking a search involving hundreds of officers.

    Investigators believe he escaped the facility by climbing onto the roof and fleeing from there, a law enforcement source told CNN.

    The manhunt’s range expanded Tuesday morning after he was spotted in trail camera footage in Chester County, just south of the perimeter authorities originally believed him to be in. Two school districts canceled classes amid the search.

    Cavalcante is a Brazil native who is roughly 5 feet tall with long, curly black hair and brown eyes, authorities have said. He is extremely dangerous and desperate not to get caught, officials have warned, and they’ve urged residents in areas near the prison to keep their doors locked, stay inside, check on each other and check their security cameras.

    Cavalcante also is wanted in a 2017 homicide case in Brazil, according to the US Marshals Service.

    Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

    Here’s what we know about him.

    Prosecutors say Deborah Brandão, Cavalcante’s ex-girlfriend, was outside her home with her two children on April 18, 2021.

    Cavalcante arrived, grabbed her by her hair, “threw her to the ground, and stabbed her 38 times in virtually every vital organ … causing her to bleed to death,” the Chester County district attorney’s office said in a Facebook post.

    Deborah Brandão is seen here in an undated picture.

    Brandão’s 7- and 4-year-old children ran to neighbors asking for help and Cavalcante fled, the district attorney’s office said.

    The 7-year-old girl told police that when Cavalcante began stabbing Brandão, he said he was going to kill her, court records show.

    He was arrested several hours later in Virginia, prosecutors said. Authorities believe he was attempting to flee to Mexico with the intention of heading later to Brazil, District Attorney Deb Ryan has said.

    Schuylkill Township police were dispatched to the home at roughly 4:17 p.m. on the day of the killing, and found Brandão on the ground “with multiple stab wounds to the chest,” the district attorney’s office said.

    A neighbor attempted lifesaving procedures on Brandão while they waited for emergency medical services to arrive, but she was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after.

    She was 33.

    After the stabbing, Brandão’s 7-year-old daughter told police Cavalcante showed up at their house and “said he was going to do something bad to their lives and pulled two knives out from a black bag that was behind his back,” according to a probable cause affidavit.

    The daughter said she was screaming and Cavalcante threw a rock at her, hitting her leg, police wrote in the affidavit.

    After running to the neighbor for help, the girl looked outside and saw Cavalcante leave in a black car, the documents said.

    Brandão had filed a protection from abuse order against Cavalcante in December 2020, according to the probable cause affidavit. The order alleges he had a history of assaulting Brandão and previously pulled a knife on her.

    “This was a senseless tragedy that has impacted countless people due to the defendant’s cold, calculated, and heinous actions,” Ryan, who led Cavalcante’s prosecution, said last month.

    “Ms. Brandão’s children are now left motherless and she will never have the opportunity to watch her children grow up, finish school, or have families of their own,” the district attorney said.

    Brandão’s daughter testified in the case and “helped obtain justice for her mother,” the district attorney said. The girl also identified Cavalcante in a photograph shortly after the killing and told police, “That’s him, that’s the guy that killed my mom. Please get him and put him in prison,” the affidavit shows.

    On August 16, 2023, Cavalcante was convicted of first-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime in the killing, according to the district attorney’s office. Just days later, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the office said.

    Attorneys for Cavalcante told jurors during the trial that he was provoked and “snapped” when he attacked Brandão, and said he acted in the heat of passion, according to the Chester County newspaper Daily Local.

    Officials are searching for 34-year-old Danelo Cavalcante, who broke out of the Chester County Prison at around 8:50AM Thursday, according to the Chester County District Attorney's office.

    ‘His depravity knows no bounds’: Chester County DA on escaped murderer

    While officers continued their search for Cavalcante over the weekend, authorities urged residents in Pocopson Township, which is next to the prison, to stay in their homes.

    Danelo Cavalcante is seen in this image from surveillance footage released by Pennsylvania State Police.

    “Lock your doors. Lock your cars. He is still considered an extremely dangerous individual,” Ryan, the district attorney, said in a Saturday news conference.

    “People need to be on high alert. … He has killed someone. He’s alleged to have killed another person. So people need to take every precaution possible: Lock your doors, keep your eyes on your kids and keep your eyes on your neighbors and your friends,” Ryan had said a day earlier. “Everyone needs to be on high alert.”

    Since his escape, there have been “several credible sightings” of him in an area within the township, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said in a Tuesday morning news conference.

    Surveillance footage on Monday also captured Cavalcante in Longwood Gardens, a popular tourist attraction just south of the area authorities were searching near the prison, prompting the search area to shift, Bivens said.

    The escapee also appeared to have obtained some items, including a backpack, a “duffel-sling type pack” and a hooded sweatshirt, Bivens said.

    Bivens added that residents in the area should be alert, use caution and be aware of their surroundings.

    “We’re asking them to lock their vehicles, if they don’t ordinarily do that,” he added. “And pay attention to what’s going on, pay attention to your neighbors, anything that’s unusual there. … But really, it’s vigilance that we’re looking for from people right now.”

    “He’s clearly in escape mode, but he’s desperate,” Bivens said. “His history is that he’s a dangerous individual. … If we identify that he’s in a very specific area, my recommendation then would be, ‘Stay in your homes.’”

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  • Pennsylvania police capture escaped prison inmate on the run for over a week | CNN

    Pennsylvania police capture escaped prison inmate on the run for over a week | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Michael Burham, the inmate with survivalist skills who escaped a prison in Pennsylvania, has been captured in a wooded area near Warren after more than a week on the run, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

    A Warren County official told CNN they “are preparing an isolation cell at Warren County Jail” for Burham but do not intend to keep him past Sunday. It is unclear where Burham will be transferred after that.

    Burham broke out of Warren County Prison in northwestern Pennsylvania shortly before midnight on July 6 using tied-up bedsheets and elevating himself on exercise equipment, according to a county spokesperson.

    Authorities described him as a “dangerous” inmate with military experience and survivalist skills after his escape from the 140-capacity facility that holds inmates awaiting trial or who are sentenced to two years or less behind bars.

    During the weeklong search, police found stockpiles of supplies, including clothing, food and other items in a wooded area near the city of Warren that they said they believed were used by Burham, authorities said Thursday.

    This is a developing story and will be updated.

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  • Mexico prison attack kills 14, dozens of inmates escape | CNN

    Mexico prison attack kills 14, dozens of inmates escape | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    At least 14 people died in a brazen armed assault on a prison in the Mexican border city of Juarez on Sunday, officials said.

    The Chihuahua state attorney general’s office said in a statement that 10 security guards and four prisoners were killed and 13 others were injured.

    The incident began around 7 a.m. (9 a.m. ET) on Sunday when gunmen in armored vehicles arrived at the prison and opened fire on security personnel, the prosecutor’s office said.

    Authorities said inmates took advantage of the situation and 24 prisoners escaped.

    It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.

    Relatives of inmates gather outside the prison, hugging and consoling each other amid news of the incident within.

    CNN has reached out to the attorney general’s office for more details about the status of the investigation.

    Ciudad Juarez, just across the US-Mexico border from El Paso, Texas, is one of Mexico’s deadliest cities and an epicenter of drug cartel violence. The rival Juarez and Sinaloa cartels have been fighting a bloody turf war in the region over lucrative smuggling routes and for drug-dealing territory in the city.

    Sunday’s violence was not the first time violence has erupted at the prison. Last August, hundreds of Mexican troops were sent there after a clash between the two cartels caused a riot and shootouts that killed 11 people.

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