Video shows convicted murderer escaping Pennsylvania prison

A newly released video shows a convicted murderer’s escape from Pennsylvania prison last week as he stretched himself between two walls to push himself upward to the roof and out of the facility.

Danelo Cavalcante, 34, is seen in a surveillance video released by Chester County Prison using his 5-foot, 120-pound frame to scale a pair of parallel walls and raise himself to the roof of the prison late last week. 

Once he got onto the roof, Cavalcante then escaped the prison facility, according to NBC News. 

Cavalcante’s point of escape was the prison’s exercise yard, where another inmate, Igor Bolte, also escaped the facility earlier in May before being apprehended by authorities in a residential neighborhood about a half-mile from the prison.

The prison added razor wire to the roof of its facility after Bolte’s attempted escape, and security consultants told prison authorities that the newly installed razor wire would prevent future escapes from happening, NBC News reported. 

“I just want to ensure that we know the gravity of situation and how it’s impacted our community negatively,” Chester County Prison acting warden Howard Holland told reporters Wednesday.

“Cavalcante escaped at the same location as Igor Bolte. But for Cavalcante, there was razor wire to contend with before reaching the roof,” Holland added.

Holland said the prison will be looking at other measures including enclosing the prison yard, repositioning guards and adding more cameras to the facility. 

“Once the additional razor wire had been added to the escape route following the Igor Bolte escape in May, it was determined by our security advisers that this one level of security was sufficient,” Holland said, who noted that human error played a role into Cavalcante’s escape. 

“In fact, what was perhaps overlooked was the fact that addressing a single point of physical countermeasure should have been bolstered by additional means,” he said. “We are addressing that.”

It’s been a week since Cavalcante escaped the prison, and authorities continue conducting a massive search to locate him. 

Authorities last spotted Cavalcante on Tuesday in a creek bed near Chandler Road in Pennsbury Township, a town located southeast of the prison, according to NBC News. 

Cavalcante was convicted last month for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

Cavalcante is also wanted for a murder in Brazil, NBC News reported.