Danelo Cavalcante caught after two-week manhunt following prison escape

Convicted killer and escaped convict Danelo Cavalcante was arrested by authorities Wednesday following a two-week-long manhunt.

Cavalcante had been on the lam since Aug. 31 after the bit-size convict escaped from the Chester County Prison by shimmying his body up two walls about five feet apart.

The convicted murderer had been awaiting transfer to a state prison when he fled the facility about 40 miles west of Philadelphia.

He escaped from the prison by wandering to a secluded area of the yard — scaling a wall and climbing over razor wire before jumping from a roof to elude guards.

The manhunt nearly reached its boiling point Monday night into Tuesday morning after a homeowner reported firing seven shots at someone matching Cavalcante’s description, breaking into his home in East Nantmeal Township with the perp stealing a .22 rifle from the property.

The man fitting the fugitive’s profile allegedly stole a .22 rifle before fleeing from the scene.

Investigators descended on the location of the confirmed sighting and found shoes they believe may belong to Cavalcante, according to the local report.

SWAT officers in armored trucks with hundreds of police officers on Tuesday searched the neighborhood after a helicopter caught a glimpse of the dangerous escapee in South Coventry Township.

Two state police Helicopters were hovering around the French Creek Elementary school area for most of the morning — near where the homeowner reported firing at the escaped murderer. 

State police were authorized to use lethal force if he did not surrender after it was believed the violent felon was armed.

A reverse 911 call was put out for residents of South Coventry, West Vincent, and East Nantmeal townships by the Pennsylvania State Police — advising locals to lock their doors and windows, secure their vehicles, and remain indoors in the emergency alert.

An unidentified 18-year-veteran correctional officer on duty at the observation tower when Cavalcante escaped was fired on Thursday, a Chester County spokesperson confirmed to The Post.

His daring escape was caught on prison security cameras and showed the pint-size killer crab walking up the walls.

More than 400 law enforcement officers had been assisting in the massive search for the 34-year-old killer described as “extremely dangerous.”

Just before 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, police shared new images of Cavalcante captured on a Ring camera in East Pikeland Township, Pennslyvania, showing a man believed to be the escaped murderer sporting a clean-cut look, in favor of the scruffy beard and mustache he donned behind bars.

During the high-stakes manhunt, state police broadcasted a message from Cavalcante’s mother, in which she pleaded for her son to surrender in Portuguese.

Last month, the Brazilian man — who speaks Spanish and Portuguese — was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the April 2021 killing of his 33-year-old ex, Deborah Brandao, when he escaped.

Cavalcante committed the cold-blooded murder in front of Brandao’s 7-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son.

Prosecutors claimed Cavalcante murdered Brandao because she may have threatened to alert police to an active warrant for his arrest for another alleged slaying in Brazil in 2017.