WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — A convicted killer captured last year after two weeks on the run in southeastern Pennsylvania’s rolling farmlands has pleaded guilty to escape and burglary charges.
Cavalcante was sentenced immediately afterward to serve 15 to 30 years in addition to his life sentence without parole for killing his ex-girlfriend. He chose not to speak in court.
Danilo Cavalcante, 35, a native of Brazil, 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 escaped by clambering up between two walls in a jail exercise yard, then climbing over razor wire and jumping from a roof.
Cavalcante had been convicted of killing ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao to stop her from telling police about charges against him in connection with a 2017 slaying in Brazil.
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.
Cavalcante, a native of Brazil speaking through a Portuguese interpreter, told the judge his education had stopped in the fourth grade.
“You’re still a young man,” County Judge Allison Bell Royer told Cavalcante, as she advised him to figure out a way to make something of his life even in prison.
“Maybe someday be a mentor to somebody for a purpose that’s good, It is never too late,” she said.
Lonny Fish, his defense lawyer, said Cavalcante had swiftly agreed to plead guilty to the charges. His plea came a day before the one-year anniversary of his escape, which left many people across the Philadelphia region in fear, especially as Cavalcante entered at least two homes in search of provisions. “I don’t think he understood the circus that he caused,” Fish said.
FILE - Danilo Cavalcante escorted by officers with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections into the Magisterial District Court, Kennett Square, Pa., Feb. 2, 2024. (Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, File)
GAINESVILLE, Va. (AP) — LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan took responsibility Saturday for the tour's failure to get fans to the Solheim Cup in time to see the opening tee shots a day earlier but did not offer a full explanation of the debacle that has led to speculation about her future.
Players teed off Friday morning in front of half-empty grandstands at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, muting what could have been a raucous first-tee atmosphere in the team competition between the United States against Europe. The stands were full on Saturday, but the damage had been done, with media coverage more focused on the logistical problems than the dominant first day of golf by Nelly Korda and the U.S.
“At the end of the day, I’m the leader of the organization and I have to own it,” Marcoux Samaan said.
RTJ is tucked into a private residential community serviced by a single road off U.S. Route 29 in this exurb about 40 miles west of Washington, D.C. The venue hosted four Presidents Cups in the 1990s and 2000s and a PGA Tour event in 2017 without any significant transportation problems.
Marcoux Samaan said there simply weren't enough buses at Jiffy Lube Live, the concert venue where fans paid $30 for parking, without explaining why the LPGA didn't have a fleet of vehicles ready to shuttle spectators who were motivated to get to the golf course before dawn but instead spent hours standing in lines with little or no access to restrooms.
Asked how many buses were available, Marcoux Samaan declined to answer directly.
“It’s a complicated question, and again, we were writing spreadsheets and trying to figure it all out,” she said. “We didn’t have enough buses in the morning, clearly.”
The LPGA Tour is responsible for on-site operations at the Solheim Cup when it is played in the United States. The last U.S. event was in 2021 in Ohio, with the COVID-19 pandemic limiting the number of international fans.
“This was an LPGA issue,” Marcoux Samaan said.
The commissioner said the tour staff spent much of Friday in “triage mode” trying to diagnose the problem and ensure departing fans would be shuttled off the golf course efficiently. More than 12 hours passed before the LPGA posted a statement on social media promising improvements for Saturday and emailed a letter to fans that included an offer of free tickets for use this weekend.
“We had some staff out there and we were trying to communicate to the people that were there,” Marcoux Samaan said. “I think we thought that was more important than getting something out more broadly on social.”
Marcoux Samaan, who has been the LPGA commissioner for three years, also faced questions earlier this year about the tour's marketing of top-ranked Korda, whose historic run of six wins in seven starts, including a major championship, attracted modest television audiences.
The commissioner pointed to increased participation in the sport as a sign of her tour's growing popularity.
“The percentage of women playing has escalated over the last several years. Young girls playing golf has continued to grow,” she said. “I think our team is working really hard to grow the game.”
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Fans watch from the 11th fairway during a Solheim Cup golf tournament foursomes match at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Gainesville, VA. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Fans are seen during a Solheim Cup golf tournament foursomes match at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Gainesville, Va. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
LPGA commissioner takes the blame for Solheim Cup transportation issues
Empty seats on a grandstand are seen on the first hole during a Solheim Cup golf tournament foursomes match at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Gainesville, VA. (AP Photo/Matt York)
LPGA commissioner takes the blame for Solheim Cup transportation issues
