A guard at the Pennsylvania prison that inmate Danelo Cavalcante escaped had warned about his plans to break out weeks before he succeeded, a new report revealed.
Cavalcante, who was serving a life sentence for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao, broke free from the Chester County Prison on 31 August, sparking a two-week manhunt until his capture on 13 September.
This week, ABC News obtained internal prison documents that revealed that a correctional officer had raised alarm about Cavalcante’s escape plans.
"I am just sending this cause I don’t want this to come back on us or [Officer] Hernandez in anyway," Chester County Prison Seargent Jerry Beavers wrote in an email to Captain Harry Griswold a few hours after Cavalcante escaped.
"He noted back in July that this inmate was planning an escape," he added in reference to the officer who made the report.
Mr Griswold forwarded the email to the newly-appointed acting warden Howard Holland a few hours later.
"This was sent to me this afternoon and I have not forwarded it to anyone else," Mr Griswold wrote. "I am not sure how you want to move forward with this information internally."
The possibility of a Cavalcante jailbreak was acknowledged by the prison well before the July warning, an official told The Independent. In fact, it was raised before he even arrived two years ago.
“Danelo Cavalcante was initially identified as an escape risk when captured in Virginia and committed to Chester County Prison in 2021,” prison spokesperson Becky Brain said.
“During the time surrounding his trial, unsubstantiated information from an unknown source was received reinforcing Cavalcante’s status as an escape risk.”
Cavalcante will face charges for his escape— (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Ms Brain also said that the emails between the prison staff were to “ensure acting Warden Holland knew that information about an escape was previously noted.”
Despite the two warnings about Cavalcante being an escape risk, he was still able to flee without being spotted and race across the county, resulting in weeks of police time trying to locate the fugitive.
He reportedly used a similar technique as a prisoner who escaped back in May, by putting his hands and feet on two facing walls and shimmied himself up to the top.
Cavalcante used a similar techique to a prisoner who escaped from Chester County months before he did— (Chester County District Attorney's Office)
He then pushed through razor wire and moved across various roofs before making his final escape from the prison complex.
Before the convicted murderer fled, he was allowed to be in the prison yard for recreation time with fellow inmates and was not directly supervised by a correctional officer, ABC reported.
According to the facility’s escape risk protocols, being supervised individually only applies to the escape risks while they are not within the prison grounds.
However, Ms Brain stated that the “escape risk policy” has since been changed under acting warden Mr Holland.
A correctional officer warned that he was plotting to escape in July— (Getty)
Mr Holland announced last month that Chester County Prison will spend around $2.5m and $3.5m to reinforce security measures around the prison after Cavalcante’s highly-publicised escape.
This will include 75 new surveillance cameras, more staff intake, enclosing the prison yard as well as introducing different coloured clothing for inmates for better identification and one-on-one monitoring by correctional officers.
The potential for two correctional officers to one inmate when outside their prison cell is also a possibility, according to Ms Brain.
Cavalcante is being held in a state prison near Montgomery County and will return to court to face charges related to his escape next month.
