The manhunt for a murderer whose escape from a prison yard ended by climbing over a razor wire and jumping off a roof

A convicted murderer who prompted a massive manhunt in Pennsylvania made his brazen escape from a jail yard outside Philadelphia by scaling a wall sideways, climbing over razor wire and jumping from a roof, authorities said on Wednesday.

As police from various agencies flooded a search area of increasingly worried residents, they released the timelines and details of Cavalcante’s escape, as he got out using the same route another prisoner took in May. As a result of the escape investigation, a tower guard was put on leave.

Brazil has been watching the manhunt unfold with intense fascination. The main newspaper in Rio de Janeiro ran a lengthy story on the manhunt on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. The headline was ” dangerous hide-and-seek.”

At a news conference Wednesday, Howard Holland, the acting jailer of Chester County, played a security video. It shows the 34-year-old Cavalcante standing in a passageway next to the jail yard before bracing his hands on one wall and his feet on another then “crab-walking” up the walls out of the camera’s view.

“What was perhaps overlooked was the fact that addressing the single point of physical countermeasures should have been bolstered by additional means. We are addressing that,” Holland said. He said that the prison was full when Cavalcante broke out.

Adding officers to the yard during recreation time is one of the options considered by the prison, according to Holland. He said that the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office had taken over the investigation.

Holland declined to clarify why the guard had not spotted Cavalcante going away from the prison’s perimeter.

The Case of Roberto Cavalcante in Pocopson, Pennsylvania, On Oct. 28, 2019: A Staten Island Search for a No-Born-Infeld Felt Criminal Assassin

A jury took just 15 minutes to convict Cavalcante last month for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandão, in front of her children in 2021.

Two suburban Philadelphia school districts remained shuttered and one of the nation’s premier botanical gardens was closed Wednesday as authorities kept up their search.

Cavalcante is seen standing in a jail yard passageway, checking his surroundings before he places his hands on the wall, then walks his feet up backwards so he begins moving perpendicularly. He leaves the camera’s view after seven seconds.

After officials discovered that Cavalcante had likely slipped through the original perimeter, they decided to move the search area further south.

The authorities have urged residents to lock their homes and vehicles and look out for missing cars, bikes or other transportation, as Cavalcante might use them.

I can’t stand in my backyard with my dogs. Danielle Lawrence lives near the jail in Pocopson, and she said that it was an uneasy feeling for her to go outside with her husband.

Ryan’s Pocopson home was broken into late Friday by a man believed to be Cavalcante. He believes Cavalcante came in through French doors that had a broken lock — and perhaps was nearby when his family was talking about the problem as they locked up the house that night.

The Intruder’s Story with Vanishing Appliances and a Trail Camera in Cavalcante, New Jersey, July 23, 2005

The kids are off school because we’re still in this half-normal life. The balance of working and managing children is one that the parents are trying to achieve.

The intruder left with “a peach, an apple, maybe a few snap peas” that he found on the kitchen counter, Drummond said, along with a white hat that he soon lost as he fled past a neighbor’s yard.

“Everybody wants this to be over,” said Drummond, who said his frustration lies not with the search efforts but with the prison. How can it be doing so well at this time?

Holland said the same route was used to escape another prisoner in May. But in that case, a tower guard sounded an alarm and the inmate was returned within minutes.

A night before, he was captured by a trail camera walking through a botanical center three miles from the prison. At that point, he was carrying a duffel bag, a backpack and a hoodie.

Drummond said that Cavalcante may have heard a conversation about the door lock as the family was looking at doors that evening and that his home had a broken lock.

Authorities have begun sending reverse 9-1-1 alert calls to residents and are reminding them to keep their homes locked and to be on the lookout for missing vehicles.

The Search for Cavalcante, the Dark Side of the Pocopson Man. A Response to a Dispatch by WHYY

According to WHYY, a combination of thick brush and hot conditions have complicated the search. Excessive heat has rendered thermal cameras unusable and led to the hospitalization of one tactical search dog.

Police are currently looking at an area around Pocopson that spans seven square miles and is 25 miles west of Philadelphia. The FBI, Pennsylvania State Police, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are assisting with the search.

There’s no reason to suspect Cavalcante’s appearance has changed since he fled, according to Bevins. He stands 5 feet tall, weighs 120 pounds and has a beard with a mustache that is shaved below his black hair.