Topline
A guard at Pennsylvania’s Chester County State Prison was fired this week after officials said the individual failed to spot convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante’s escape, a source at the prison told the Philadelphia Inquirer, as the manhunt for Cavalcante enters its second week, and officials warn residents he is “extremely dangerous.”
Inside the perimeter of a search zone for escaped prisoner Danelo Cavalcante.
Key Facts
The officer’s name was not disclosed, though the source told the Inquirer they had been working at the prison for 20 years.
The guard had been working in the prison’s observation tower the morning of August 31, when Cavalcante—a native of Brazil who had been convicted less than a month earlier of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison—broke free, sparking a massive manhunt that prompted public schools and a popular botanical garden to close.
Chester County Prison Board special liaison Howard Holland said in a press conference Wednesday that state officials plan to address the prison’s security by potentially installing more cameras and fully enclosing an outdoor exercise area, saying recently installed razor wire had been considered to be “sufficient,” but that security measures at the prison “should have been bolstered.”
The guard in the tower had been put on administrative leave, Holland said earlier this week.
Tangent
Authorities in Chester County, Pennsylvania—just over 20 miles west of Philadelphia—revealed new details about Cavalcante’s escape at a press conference this week, releasing a video showing him crab-walking between two brick walls before, officials say, he ran across a roof and scaled a razor-wire-topped fence to run free. Officials expanded their initial search area on Thursday to the west and south of the state prison where Cavalcante escaped, covering a wooded residential area that police estimate to be between 8 and 10 square miles.
Key Background
Cavalcante, 34, came to the U.S. after fleeing Brazil, where he was wanted for a separate murder. In 2021, he stabbed his then girlfriend Deborah Brandao after prosecutors said she threatened to inform police about his murder allegation in Brazil, stabbing her more than a dozen times with a kitchen knife he took from a barbecue as her two children—from a previous relationship—watched. Cavalcante fled the scene, but was found in Virginia and charged with first- and third-degree murder, as well as aggravated assault. He was convicted of those charges in August.
Further Reading
Police Expand Search For Escaped Convict Danelo Cavalcante To 10 Square Miles (Forbes)
New Details On Danelo Cavalcante’s Escape: Convicted Murderer Scaled Prison Wall Without Guards Noticing, Pennsylvania Officials Say (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/09/08/pennsylvania-manhunt-guard-fired-after-failing-to-see-danelo-cavalcante-escape-report-says/