Danilo Cavalcante

Danilo Souza Cavalcante (, born July 3, 1989, in Estreito, Maranhão), is a Brazilian national accused of murder in the Brazilian state of Tocantins and a convicted murderer in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

Cavalcante was born on July 3, 1989, in the Brazilian state of Maranhão.

Little is known about his early life, but Cavalcante ran into multiple legal issues in Brazil throughout his youth.

Pennsylvania State Police Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens, who led both the manhunt for Cavalcante and was a key figure in the 2014 manhunt for fugitive Eric Frein, said on September 8 that there were over 400 local, state, and federal agents searching for Cavalcante in the perimeter.

Authorities involved included the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, and the DEA.

After originally being wanted by Brazilian authorities for his alleged role in the shooting death of Valter Júnior Moreira dos Reis in 2017, Cavalcante fled to the United States.

Four years later, in April 2021, Cavalcante was arrested for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandão.

On August 31, 2023, just days after being convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison, triggering a manhunt by police that would last 14 days and span across the Chester County area before his capture on September 13, 2023.

The manhunt would receive significant media attention in both the United States and Brazil.

In November 2017, Cavalcante was accused of fatally shooting 20-year-old student Valter Júnior Moreira dos Reis five times on November 5 outside of a restaurant in the city of Figueirópolis, Tocantins, Brazil.

Investigations indicated that they were friends, and the murder allegedly occurred due to a vehicle-repair debt that dos Reis owed him.

One week after the crime, the Brazilian justice system accepted a request for preventive detention made by the Public Prosecutor's Office, issuing a warrant for him.

Cavalcante, in turn, became a fugitive and hid in a wooded area to prevent his arrest.

In January 2018, Cavalcante fled Brazil and illegally entered the United States via Puerto Rico.

Although there was an arrest warrant against him, Cavalcante was able to leave the country through Brasília International Airport due to miscommunication on the part of the Tocantins justice system which had not requested the registration of the decision in the National Warrant Registry until seven months after the crime (i.e., in June 2018).

After entering Puerto Rico, Cavalcante obtained a fake ID and eventually settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania, where his sister and friends were already living.

While living in Chester County, Cavalcante began a relationship with Deborah Brandão, also a Brazilian.

According to investigations, Brandão ended her relationship with Cavalcante, which angered him.

He then began threatening Brandão soon thereafter in 2020.

On April 18, 2021, Deborah was in front of her house in Schuylkill Township with her 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, when Cavalcante attacked her and stabbed her 38 times.

Brandão's daughter then ran to a neighbor's house to alert them and call 911.

Brandão was taken to Paoli Hospital, but would ultimately succumb to her injuries.

Meanwhile, Cavalcante fled Pennsylvania to avoid arrest and was on the run for several hours until he was found and arrested by Virginia State Police in Prince William County, Virginia.

Cavalcante was then extradited back to Pennsylvania.

Cavalcante's trial began on August 16, 2023, in Chester County, where a jury took just 15 minutes to reach a guilty verdict.

Cavalcante was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on August 22.

Following his conviction and sentencing, Cavalcante was sent to Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township, where he would await transfer to a federal prison.

One week after sentencing, at around 9 a.m. on August 31, 2023, he escaped from Chester County Prison by chimneying (incorrectly called "crab walking" by media outlets) between two close walls in the exercise yard of the prison, making his way up to the roof and maneuvering around the razor wire fencing to escape the prison.

A similar escape occurred at Chester County Prison just months earlier, when inmate Igor Bolte scaled the wall and escaped the prison, though he was apprehended within five minutes of his escape.

Investigations that followed found that Cavalcante took after Bolte's escape method when executing his escape.

Once Cavalcante was confirmed to be missing, the prison was put on lockdown, and a manhunt ensued.

Around an hour after his escape, he was spotted walking on a road around two miles west of the prison.

Police would search this area, with multiple tips and potential sightings being reported by residents, with one homeowner claiming Cavalcante was in his house and even stole food.

During the early morning of September 2, Cavalcante was spotted on a residential security camera crossing through the backyard of a home around 1.5 miles south of the prison.

Police created a search perimeter around the area, securing roads and railroads that traveled through the area to prevent Cavalcante from potentially fleeing, and placed a $10,000 reward for any information leading to his capture.

By September 4, the search party had intensified in manpower, and helicopters flying over the search area began playing a recorded message of Cavalcante's mother, speaking in Portuguese, pleading Cavalcante to peacefully surrender to authorities.

The next morning, Cavalcante was spotted on a trail camera on the property of Longwood Gardens, located about two miles south of the prison.

Police moved set up a new perimeter centered around the property, and Longwood Gardens, along with schools in close proximity to the search area, would close while the search took place.

Police continued an intense search of the property for the rest of the week, and Longwood Gardens briefly reopened for limited-access until it was forced to evacuate and close again after another sighting on the property on September 7.

On that same day, police upped the reward for information leading to his capture from $10,000 to $20,000.