WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania — A convicted murderer was arrested last year after two weeks on the run in the rolling farmlands of southeastern Pennsylvania is scheduled to appear in court Friday for a possible plea on the escape charge.
Danilo Cavalcante, 35, a native of Brazil, escaped from a Chester County prison while awaiting transfer to the state penitentiary to begin serving a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. He escaped by scaling a wall in a prison exercise yard like a crab, then climbing over barbed wire and jumping off a roof.
His attorney, Lonny Fish, declined to comment on the case Thursday or say whether a settlement had been reached. Senior Deputy Attorney General Christopher Phillips said he would not know whether an agreement had been reached until after the hearing.
Cavalcante was convicted of murdering her ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao to prevent her from telling police about charges against him in connection with a 2017 murder in Brazil.
During his escape, he stole a truck from a dairy farm after finding the keys inside. He survived by stealing food, clothing and other items from homes.
As Chester County residents grow increasingly nervous, a homeowner found the fugitive in his open garage steal a gun and fired multiple shots at him from a pistol. But they missed Cavalcante, who remained on the run for two more days before being captured early one morning by searchers using thermal imaging from a plane above and K-9 search dogs on the ground.
Cavalcante is already serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Any sentence on the new charges — including escape, burglary and trespassing — could run concurrently with his life sentence or consecutively if the life sentence is overturned.
The scheduled hearing Friday afternoon comes nearly a year after his escape from the Chester County Jail on Aug. 31, 2023.