With the help of video footage from residential surveillance cameras, authorities on Saturday narrowed their manhunt for a convicted assassin who escaped from a jail outdoors Philadelphia, officers stated.

The fugitive, Danelo Cavalcante, who fled from Chester County Prison on Thursday, simply over two weeks after being convicted of first-degree homicide, was believed to be hiding inside a mile or two of the jail, officers stated at a news convention.

The Chester County district legal professional’s workplace stated on Saturday that Mr. Cavalcante was noticed early Saturday morning on a residential surveillance digicam close to the jail. He was sporting a light-colored T-shirt, white sneakers and a backpack, the workplace stated in an announcement.

The assertion additionally stated that the police acquired a report of an tried housebreaking at 11:30 p.m. Friday in Pocopson Township, a bit over two miles from the jail. Deborah Ryan, the Chester County district legal professional, stated within the news convention that officers couldn’t affirm there was a connection, however she stated authorities had “a strong belief” that it was Mr. Cavalcante, including {that a} man sporting a backpack who matched Mr. Cavalcante’s description entered the house and was “thwarted by a homeowner at the time.”

Officials stated they believed Mr. Cavalcante could be hiding in a closely wooded space close to the jail that additionally comprises virtually 300 houses, however they anticipated the search, which incorporates canines and drones, to be accomplished by Saturday afternoon. Ms. Ryan additionally stated that it appeared Mr. Cavalcante, who officers stated is 5 toes tall and speaks Spanish and Portuguese, was appearing alone and hiding alone.

“We believe we are getting closer to locating this suspect,” Ms. Ryan stated. “We are narrowing the scope of our search.”

She stated Mr. Cavalcante is taken into account harmful, and he or she urged residents within the space to remain inside, hold their houses and belongings locked and report something suspicious. The police have responded to greater than 100 suggestions from neighbors within the space, together with allegations of break-ins, Ms. Ryan stated. Local and federal authorities, together with the U.S. Marshals Service, have introduced a $10,000 reward for data that results in Mr. Cavalcante’s seize.

Mr. Cavalcante, 34, was sentenced to life in jail on Aug. 22. Less than every week earlier, a jury discovered him responsible of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, “in front of her two young children,” Ms. Ryan stated in a latest Facebook submit.

After killing Ms. Brandao in April 2021, Mr. Cavalcante, who was residing in Royersford, Pa., on the time, tried to make his manner again to his dwelling nation of Brazil however was arrested by the police in Virginia, the district legal professional stated at a news convention on Friday. Ms. Ryan steered that he may need been heading south once more.

Before the assault, Ms. Brandao had discovered of a warrant for Mr. Cavalcante’s arrest in reference to a killing in Brazil, and he or she threatened to inform the police, in keeping with the district legal professional’s workplace. “Detectives determined that this was the motive for the murder” in Pennsylvania, the workplace said in a Facebook post final week. The Facebook submit additionally stated Mr. Cavalcante had beforehand assaulted and threatened to kill Ms. Brandao.

In an announcement launched on Friday, Brazilian legislation enforcement authorities stated that Mr. Cavalcante was charged with taking pictures and killing a person in November 2017, apparently in a dispute over “an alleged debt related to the repair of a vehicle.” A warrant for his arrest in Brazil was issued in June 2018, and he was thought-about “a fugitive from justice.”

Mr. Cavalcante had been held on the Chester County Prison since his arrest two years in the past, in keeping with a report in The Daily Local News. It stated he was being held there for an extra 30 days after his sentencing, earlier than a deliberate switch to the state jail system, whereas he and his legal professionals determined whether or not to attraction his conviction.

Campbell Robertson, Mike Ives and Ana Ionova contributed reporting.