EXCLUSIVE: Captured fugitive Danelo Cavalcante stalked his ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandão from a Pennsylvania Walmart to her new home before fatally stabbing her
Captured fugitive Danelo Cavalcante stalked his ex-girlfriend from a Walmart murder victim to her new home before stabbing her 38 times in front of her two young children, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Deborah Brandão had fled her previous apartment out of fear of the killer and was living in what she hoped was an undisclosed location in Schuylkill Township, Pennsylvania, her landlord Brian Flaxman told us.
But while she was shopping at a Walmart five miles from her new place, the evil Cavalcante spotted her in the parking lot and followed her to the small collection of rental properties where she had taken refuge.
The new details reveal just how far the Brazilian killer was willing to go, as well as the danger Chester County residents were in after his daring escape and before his capture on Wednesday.
DailyMail.com has learned that shortly after Brandão arrived in her old blue Honda Accord on a Sunday in April 2021, he parked his black car haphazardly in the shared driveway.
Murdered mother-of-two Deborah Brandão was stalked by her killer, Danelo Cavalcante from a Walmart parking lot just before he brutally stabbed her to death in April 2021, DailyMail.com can reveal
Her landlord Brian Flaxman revealed that Brandão had moved to the area in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania to get away from Cavalcante, who managed to track her down
Fifteen minutes later, Deborah, 33, lay dead on a lawn after the horrific knife frenzy near the area where tenants enjoyed summer barbecues.
Flaxman, 60, said: “Deborah had come here to get away from Cavalcante. But I know he saw her in the Walmart parking lot down the road.
“And he followed her here, the first time he knew where she lived. He must have been stalking her. It’s no coincidence he saw her in the store.’
Deborah feared for her life after discovering that 34-year-old Cavalcante – finally ensnared in a rural part of Pottstown, 20 miles from Schuylkill on Wednesday after a fourteen-day manhunt – was accused of murdering a man in his native Brazil. 2017.
They dated for 18 months after meeting as neighbors in Chester County. But the relationship soured and 5ft. The tall Cavalcante threatened to “do the worst” to her if she ever cheated, according to her sister Sarah.
Flaxman, who had left his property at the time of the horror, was there for about five minutes while Cavalcante started talking to his ex, who was also Brazilian.
“When I saw them, they were just talking by Deborah’s car. She had the trunk open and had a bunch of juices and snacks for the kids,” he said. ‘He didn’t seem aggressive at that moment.
“But the little girl, who was seven, rode her little bike around the driveway for a while while they talked.
Cavalcante saw her in the parking lot at the Walmart down the street before following her to her home
A small shrine to Deborah still stands poignantly next to a tree outside her former apartment, where she lived for just three months
The young mother was found dead on a lawn after the horrific knife rampage in April 2021 near the area where tenants enjoyed summer barbecues
‘She must have sensed something was wrong, though, because she then ran up a flight of stairs at the side of one of my buildings and knocked on the door of one of my tenants. I left at that point with no idea what was going to happen.”
Deborah, who had brought her children to the United States for a better life and worked as a housekeeper, must have remained in fear of Cavalcante even after hiding from him, Flaxman said.
Cavalcante was serving a life sentence in Chester County Prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend when he escaped on August 31
‘When the police finished with her apartment and I was allowed inside, something struck me.
‘She had put these cheap, battery-operated alarm sensors on all the windows and most of the doors.
“She was clearly aware that someone was coming for her… she must have been scared.”
A small shrine to Deborah – now abandoned and weathered after two years – still stands poignantly next to a tree outside her former apartment, where she lived for just three months.
A tenant who ran from his apartment to save her after Cavalcante fled in his car and threw away the knife told DailyMail.com he did not want to talk about the killing.
Deborah’s sister now takes care of the children.
Cavalcante, who lived in nearby Royersford, was sentenced to life in prison without parole on August 17 after being found guilty of first-degree murder.
The homeowner said Deborah apparently still lived in fear that someone would come after her because she had installed “cheap, battery-operated alarm sensors on all windows and most doors.”
Brandão’s sister Sarah said that Cavalcante initially seemed like a friendly young man, but soon became jealous and violent towards Brandão. The sisters are in the photo together
Brandão was murdered in front of her two children, who are now in the care of her sister
But he first made headlines with his daring “crab-walk” escape from the Chester County Jail on August 31, which led to the astonishing manhunt in deep rural Pennsylvania, where he evaded 500 law enforcement officers for two weeks.
He was eventually ensnared when he tried to sneak through the brush behind a John Deere store after living on melons and water from streams – and covered his poop to avoid detection.
Hero K-9 Yoda, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, grabbed him as he tried to flee, causing extensive bleeding in his face. DailyMail.com can reveal that the dog is part of a Customs and Border Patrol unit in Detroit and that the officer responsible was Travis McNaughton.
Cavalcante was first located at 1 a.m. Wednesday by a search plane with thermal imaging equipment and picked up heat from his body again a few hours later, leading to a much narrower search focus.
Moments after he was pulled from the bushes behind the John Deere store, he was swarmed by other cheering police and constables – who posed for celebratory photos with their trophies.
Cavalcante had terrorized the largely rural Pennsylvania community for two weeks, at one point arming himself with a .22 rifle stolen from the garage of his home a mile from where he was ultimately captured.
He also broke into houses, changed his appearance and stole a van, which he only abandoned when it ran out of gas.
John Deere store manager Jim Martin, who witnessed the tragedy from a rear window in the premises, told DailyMail.com exclusively: ‘He was tired, exhausted and ragged.
This is the moment escaped prisoner Danelo Cavalcante was captured by police after being overpowered by 4-year-old Belgian Malinois Yoda
Cavalcante was finally captured Wednesday morning after a two-week manhunt in Pennsylvania
‘I think he just finished. It seemed like he realized he had to give up.
“It didn’t really look like he was struggling, there was no struggle. At least at this point. I have no idea about the past.
“He knew he wasn’t going anywhere. He was definitely in custody.
“He was surrounded, there must have been at least fifty officers around him, all migrating in a pack.”
Martin added, “They (law enforcement officers) gave him water. They had cut off his shirt and given him a thermal cover to keep warm.
Referring to the photo the jubilant officers took with their prisoner, Martin said: “There was a lot of photography – and a lot of cheering.
“They were more than happy for this to be over. A lot of these guys were very tired.
“There were high fives everywhere.”
Hours after his capture, Cavalcante was walked out of the Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Avondale by the perpetrator. He was barefoot, had chains around his ankles and wrists and wore a flowing hospital gown.
He was charged with barracks escape and taken to SCI Phoenix, a prison in Collegeville. A preliminary hearing will take place on September 27.