Escaped prisoner Danelo Cavalcante brutally killed his ex-girlfriend in front of their two children two years ago – a heartbroken sister describes how he went from a “nice neighbor to a jealous friend”.

Killer Danelo Cavalcante was serving a life sentence for brutally killing his ex-girlfriend in front of her two children as he escaped from a Pennsylvania prison and evaded more than 500 police officers who hunted him for two weeks.

Cavalcante, 34, was arrested Wednesday morning in a wooded area near South Coventry Township after thermal images from an aircraft identified a possible location Tuesday evening.

He was reportedly hiding with the rifle he stole Monday when he was found under a pile of logs and subdued by a K-9.

The Brazilian native, who was in the country illegally, escaped from the Chester County Jail, 30 miles west of Philadelphia, by committing a crime just days after he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of 33-year-old Deborah Brandão Wall climbed in 2021.

Cavalcante stabbed Brandão 38 times in April in front of her children, who were then seven and four years old. She had brought the children from Brazil to the USA for a better life. Prosecutors say he murdered her to stop her from telling police that he was wanted in Brazil for another murder.

He had been accused of murdering a friend before he fled his homeland’s authorities, but Brandão and her family didn’t know it when he moved near them in Chester County.

Murderer Danelo Cavalcante was serving a life sentence for brutally killing his ex-girlfriend in front of her two children as he escaped from a Pennsylvania prison. He is pictured after being taken into custody on Wednesday

The Brazilian native, who was in the country illegally, escaped from Chester County Jail just days after being sentenced to life in prison for the 2021 murder of Deborah Brandão

The killer was reportedly hiding with the rifle he stole Monday when he was found under a pile of logs and subdued by a K-9

Brandão’s sister Sarah told CNN Cavalcante initially appeared to be a friendly young man, but quickly became jealous and violent towards Brandão. He added that he became a different person when he drank and told her that he would do “the worst thing” to her if she cheated.

Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said Wednesday she referred to the Brandão family as a son when the killer was found.

“They were screaming with joy and happiness that he was locked up,” Ryan said. “They experienced their own personal nightmare.”

Sarah, who now looks after her sister’s children, had expressed fears that Cavalcante would come after her family again, telling CNN: “I was desperate, desperate, very scared. “I think of my children, of course thought.’

Meanwhile, the killer’s mother defended his actions, claiming Cavalcante had “no choice” but to kill the mother of two.

“Did it happen? “It happened,” the mother told the New York Times. “But it happened because of the stranglehold she put on him, the attitude she took towards him… It wasn’t femicide. ‘He had to do it, he had no choice.’

Iracema Cavalcante, speaking from Brazil, expressed concern about what would happen to him if he were caught, saying he would be better off dead than in prison.

“I know that what my son did was wrong.” I know that my son should pay for his mistake. But I want my son to pay for his mistake with dignity – not with his life,” she said.

Brandão’s sister Sarah said Cavalcante initially seemed like a friendly young man but quickly became jealous and violent towards Brandão. The sisters are pictured together

Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said Wednesday she referred to the Brandão family as a son when the killer was found

Cavalcante stabbed Brandão 38 times in April in front of her children, who were then seven and four years old. She had brought them from Brazil to the United States for a better life

‘If [the choice is] “In order to go to a place to suffer and die there, it is better to die soon… You don’t have to suffer so much just to die later.”

Cavalcante’s sister, who has overstay status, was detained by ICE and placed in deportation proceedings after she chose not to cooperate with the investigation, Bivens said Tuesday.

It is still unclear how the killer fled Brazil and made money there after the murder of his friend Walter Junior in Figuéiropolis, Tocantins, on November 5, 2017.

Evaldo Feitosa told Brazilian news agency G1 that he was speaking with Cavalcante when the killer approached Junior at a corner table. He remembered them talking before he heard several shots fired and someone shouting, “Man, that guy killed his friend.”

TV Globo also reported that the murder involved money that Junior owed Cavalcante.

Two months after the murder, he managed to get past the authorities at Brasília International Airport – President Juscelino Kubitschek.

According to the Brazilian news agency G1, it took exactly eight days for a court in the state of Tocantins to give the city’s district attorney approval for the arrest warrant.

The Brazilian media also reported that the court in Tocantins did not immediately submit the arrest warrant to the National Prison Bank and only did so in June 2018.

About 25 officers managed to surprise him as they surrounded him, but Cavalcante tried to escape again by crawling through tall grass with the rifle

It is still unclear how the killer ended up in the United States and made money after fleeing Brazil following the murder of one of his friends

Had the arrest warrant been entered into the registry, customs authorities at the airport would have been alerted and Cavalcante would have been stopped for boarding the flight in January 2018.

Cavalcante’s capture on Wednesday ended a two-week manhunt that terrified the people of Pennsylvania.

About 25 officers managed to surprise him when they surrounded him Wednesday morning, but Cavalcante tried to escape again by crawling through the tall grass with the stolen rifle.

The officers then released a police dog to catch the murderer. He was bitten and treated for the injury at the scene, police said. After capturing a bloodied Cavalcante, the search party’s SWAT officers paraded him like a trophy and posed for a photo with him around 8 a.m. EST.

The killer’s capture, which took about five minutes, brings relief to worried residents of southeastern Pennsylvania who spent sleepless nights as he hid in the woods, broke into suburban homes for food, changed his appearance and was shot at one from a stolen gun fled garage.

When asked if officers took photos with the convict, State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said, “These men and women worked amazingly hard under very difficult circumstances… The fact that they took a photo doesn’t bother me at all.” him.’

Pocopson Parish residents were told to remain vigilant and stay indoors while more than 500 agents actively searched for Cavalcante, who somehow managed to escape the initial search area around the prison.

In a statement, Chester County commissioners told DailyMail.com: “The capture of Cavalcante ends the nightmare of the last two weeks, and we thank every single law enforcement officer at the county, state and federal level who was out in all weather conditions.” Night – as well as everyone in the Operations Center, our County Department of Emergency Services and the County Sheriff’s Office – for their immense efforts.