Convicted murderer "crab walks" out of Pennsylvania prison yard

A murderer on the loose in suburban Philadelphia escaped from a jail yard by climbing up a wall and over razor wire last week, prison officials said Wednesday.

Danelo Cavalcante, 34, received a life sentence last month for killing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in front of her children in 2021, and escaped while awaiting transfer to state prison.

Howard Holland, the interim warden of Chester County Prison, shared a timeline of the events: “At 8:33 a.m., Cavalcante's block entered the exercise yard. At 8:51 a.m., Cavalcante escapes from the prison, having crab walked up a wall, push his way through razor wire, run across a roof, scale another fence and push his way through more razor wire. At 9:35 a.m., Cavalcante's block returned to the unit from the yard. At 9:45 a.m., officers on Cavalcante block notify central control of a missing inmate and they conduct a special count. At 9:48 a.m., officers inform Central Control that Cavalcante was not there."

Cavalcante was serving a life sentence for murder at the Chester County Prison. He has been spotted several times in the area, according to the DA’s office, but had not been located.

Cavalcante was spotted Monday night at Longwood Gardens, where trail surveillance video captured him walking through the botanical garden grounds with a duffel bag, backpack and hooded sweatshirt.

The most recent sighting came Tuesday night when he was spotted in a residential area, but he soon disappeared into the woods. A resident called authorities.