PENNSYLVANIA, USA — New details about Danelo Cavalcante's time on the run have been revealed by U.S. Marshals.
The escaped prisoner and convicted murderer was captured Wednesday morning after a nearly two-week-long manhunt.
A K9 officer from U.S. Customs and Border Protection subdued Calvacante until human officers were able to detain him.
“We wanted to cut his resources off, we wanted him to make mistakes, we wanted to move him, and that’s exactly what we did," said Robert Clark, supervisory deputy for the U.S. Marshals Service.
After being taken into custody, Cavalcante was questioned by investigators.
Clark told FOX43 Cavalcante was very willing to talk and investigators treated him with respect, which they believe he appreciated.
Authorities also gave him something to eat once he got to the State Police Avondale barracks in London Grove Township.
Cavalcante revealed a lot about what he’d been doing since escaping the Chester County prison on August 31.
“When he initially escaped, he didn’t move very far," said Clark. "He would stay in one area, it was actually three days before he ate.”
Then he found a watermelon on a farm, which became his primary food source.
“He actually opened it with his head he said and he drank from streams," said Clark.
Cavalcante traveled at night and slept during the day.
He even went to the extreme of hiding his own fecal matter in the brush and vegetation to prevent being tracked.
Cavalcante told U.S. Marshals the area wasn't as hard to live in as his native Brazil, but the law enforcement presence was overwhelming, which was something he wasn't used to.
His next planned step was to carjack someone and try to get to Canada or Puerto Rico.
“That’s why he was intent on keeping that rifle," said Clark. "He knew there was an increased presence in the second perimeter in East Nantmeal [Township] and he needed to get out and he said he was going to in the next 24 hours.”
Many speculated the fugitive was getting help along the way, but after speaking with him, investigators say he was doing it all on his own, with a bit of luck on his side.
“Not having the van locked, keys in the van, you go to a home where someone shoots at you and he’s not hit, being able to get across the perimeter," said Clark.
Clark said Cavalcante took advantage of things that were easy to steal.
He grabbed a backpack along the way from a garage. The bag happened to have a razor in it that allowed Cavalcante to shave.
"He was a desperate man who just tried to survive on a day-to-day basis and was using the resources he had out there," said Clark.
There were also multiple times he was almost stepped on by officers.
Cavalcante admitted to police he thought about giving up.
“He said it was just too tough to live out there, law enforcement was out there and the thought did cross his mind to give up," said Clark.
Cavalcante also confirmed he heard the Portuguese messages authorities were playing through a helicopter, trying to convince him to surrender.
When Cavalcante was taken into custody, he was wearing a Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt which he had stolen at some point. Clark said they're not entirely sure where the piece of clothing came from.
"What we do know is he said when he stole the backpack, there was a sweatshirt in it. We know the green sweatshirt he had taken was from the dairy farm truck so unless he stole the sweatshirt from somewhere else which is quite possible, it could be derived that that was the sweatshirt in the backpack that he mentioned," he explained. "We're just not sure at this point.
U.S. Marshals did not speak with Cavalcante about his actual escape from Chester County prison or the murder he committed. Clark said it's possible those were brought up in his interviews with state police or Chester County detectives.
Cavalcante is now at SCI Phoenix, a maximum-security state prison in Montgomery County, serving his life sentence for the 2021 sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend.
You can watch the full interview with Clark below or on the FOX43 YouTube page:
