Danelo Cavalcante's escape from Chester County jail costs him his right to appeal life sentence
WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Danelo Cavalcante, a convicted killer captured last year after two weeks on the run in Chester County, has lost his right to appeal his original life sentence, a state court ruled Wednesday.
Cavalcante escaped from a Chester County lockup while waiting to be transferred to state prison to serve a life sentence for killing his ex-girlfriend.
He broke out by clambering up between two walls in a jail exercise yard, then climbing over razor wire and jumping from a roof. Cavalcante was captured two weeks later after an intense manhunt that made national headlines.
In August, Cavalcante pleaded guilty to escape and burglary charges.
He was sentenced immediately afterward to serve 15 to 30 years in addition to his life sentence without parole. He chose not to speak in court.
While he was a fugitive, his attorneys filed a motion challenging the evidence and certain aspects of his sentence in the murder case.
But the motion was legally invalid because fugitives in Pennsylvania forfeit such rights while they are on the run, according to the Pennsylvania Superior Court. That, in turn, affected the deadline for Cavalcante's attorneys to appeal his life-without-parole murder sentence.
Had it been valid, the motion would have extended the appeal deadline. Instead, the original deadline remained intact - and Cavalcante's subsequent appeal came eight days too late, the court ruled.
Cavalcante, 35, a native of Brazil, escaped from a Chester County lockup while waiting to be transferred to state prison to his life sentence.
WATCH | Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante in custody after 2 weeks on the run
While on the run, he stole a truck from a dairy farm after finding the keys inside, and survived by stealing food, clothing, and other items from people's homes.
With residents of Chester County increasingly on edge, one homeowner found the fugitive in his open garage stealing a rifle and fired several shots at him with a pistol.
But they seemingly missed Cavalcante, who remained on the run for two more days before he was captured early one morning by searchers using a plane's thermal imaging from above and K-9 search dogs on the ground.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
