September 13, 2023 • 40 mins
Danelo Cavalcante has been found in a shed behind a business with a focused search area.
Late last night, a DEA airplane used thermal imaging to direct police to the ground to Cavalcante's hiding place. Police announced in a press conference this morning that shortly after 8 a.m., tactical teams converged on the area, using the element of surprise.
Before Cavalcante realized it, he was surrounded. The double killer began to crawl through an underbrush and a canine unit was unleashed. Cavalcante was bleeding from his head when he was taken into custody.
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
- Neama Rahmani– Former Federal Prosecutor, Legal Commentator, and President of West Coast Trial Lawyers; Author: “Harvard to Hashtag;” INSTAGRAM: @Neamarahmani, Twitter: @NeamaRahmaniWestCoastTrialLawyers.com, INSTAGRAM: @Neamarahmani, TWITTER: @NeamaRahmani
- Caryn Stark – NYC Psychologist; Twitter: @carynpsych, Facebook: “Caryn Stark"/Instagram: carynpsych
- Irv Brandt – Senior Inspector, US Marshals Service International Investigations Branch; Chief Inspector, DOJ Office of International Affairs, US Embassy Kingston, Jamaica; Author: “SOLO SHOT: CURSE OF THE BLUE STONE” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON IN JANUARY; ALSO “FLYING SOLO: Top of the World;” Twitter: @JackSoloAuthor
- Douglas MacGregor – Geographic Profiler (specializes in serial and violent crime, missing persons, and locating clandestine burial sites); Twitter: @TheGeoProfiler
- Dr. Jan Gorniak – Medical Examiner, Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner (Las Vegas, NV), Board Certified Forensic Pathologist
- Eddie Kadhim – Reporter for FOX29 Philadelphia; Facebook: Eddie Kadhim Journalist/Twitter: @KadhimWrites/Instagram: eddiekadhim
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It's over double killer Danello Cavalcante is in custody.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation
in series XM one eleven. Take a listen to this.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Last night, shortly after midnight, a series of events started
to unfold. First, we had a burglar alarm at a
residence near Prizer Road within the perimeter. Our people investigated that,
did not find Cavalcante there or anyone else, but it
(00:50):
brought it started to bring some of our people into
that area. We had been searching an area not far
from there already with some tactical teams. That night was
an aircraft overhead utilizing Fleer technology and close to one
am picked up a heat signal that they began to track.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Okay, I'm going to go from A to Z first
with an all star panel. I'm going to go to
Eddie Cadam, investigative reporter with Fox twenty nine.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Out of Philly.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Eddie, thank you for being with us. I want to
focus on what I just heard. Are you telling me
that at one am, LA law enforcement was up in
the air looking for any heat heated movement in the
brush and in the woods. One am there in the
air with a helicopter.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
One am a plane that was up in the air
flying around in circles. The way that it was described as,
it's like a cone that can kind of look down
into the woods.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
So, Eddie Cadam, while everybody else is asleep in their beds,
you got law enforcement up there working through the night
twenty four to seven. Now I understand saying it was
a d E a plane.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
Yes, that's correct, Nancy, a DEA plane with infrared technology
on it.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Wow, fixed wing guys with me an all star panel
or brand joining me, Douglas McGregor joining me, Doctor Gorniette,
Karen Start and Nima Ramani to you, Douglas McGregor, Geographic
profile or specializing and the hunt for missing people and fugitives.
You can find them at the g A profile or
(02:27):
explain to me how the infrared system works. Dan, We've
got a d A fixed wing plane with infrared capability.
Speaker 6 (02:37):
Just as you mentioned the you know, the plane flying over.
They scan a certain area and they try to pick
up the heat signature from you know, objects below. So
obviously they're looking for a human in this case, it
could pick up animals or other objects as well. And
and cavilcante. He if he knows that the technology is
(02:58):
being used, he can, you know, put in countermeasures to
avoid that technology.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
When you say that there are counter measures to fight
thermal imaging, I mean.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Most of us.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Well, okay, I have been on searches where thermal images
are used, but most people only know about thermal imaging
through like a James Bond movie or you know, something
like that high technology. So what is a potential countermeasure
that can be used against thermal imagery?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
That's what Ellie is doing up in the air at
one a m.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
What's a countermeasure to thermal imaging technology?
Speaker 6 (03:38):
Accounter measure can be a barrier, so he could be
inside and it may not penetrate whatever he's behind, like
for example, a wall water could be a countermeasure. Anything
that significantly cools down his body could be accounter measure.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Yeah, I see, I see what you're saying. Douglas McGregor,
a Gee graphic profiler.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
As a matter of fact, there were problems late last
night with the thermal imaging. Take a listen to hour
cut seventy eight from Fox two nine.
Speaker 7 (04:09):
In the beginning of this, it was so hot that
they were saying they were having issues. So they have
been using thermal imaging from the beginning. But the problem
is we were dealing with temperatures in the nineties and
the heat index was so high that it was hard
to make that happen to have it be effective. But
we have had rain and things have cooled off over
the past twenty four hours or so.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So while they are up there trying to get a
thermal image of where they think Danello Cavalcante maybe and
remember this is a two time killer.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
He shot a guy at.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
A food truck, reportedly over a car repair, and then
he stabbed his girlfriend in front of her children.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
That's who we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Cops desperately trying to find Cavalcante before he could strike again.
Let's do Lieutenant Colonel George Bivins cut a three.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Tactical teams made it the suit vision to secure that area,
that smaller area as best they could and hold it
through the storm and until we could bring additional resources
in and bring aircraft back overhead to ensure that we
did not have an issue with an escape. That resumed
early this morning, and shortly after eight am, tactical teams
(05:22):
converged on the area where the heat source was. They
were able to move in very quietly. They had the
element of surprise. Cavalcante did not realize he was surrounded
until that had occurred.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
As they said, we don't want an issue with an escape.
You mean another escape, the third escape. So let me
understand something joining me right now. IRV Brandt, Senior Inspector,
US Marshall Service International Branch.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
He's been all around the world trying.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
To find fugitives, just like Danello Cavalcante, author of Solo Shot,
Curse of the Blue Stone, and Flying Solo Top of
the World, both Amazon or Brandt. So how do you
know you finally get a beat on somebody through thermal imagery?
Is it like what we see in the movies where
you actually see a figure crawling around?
Speaker 8 (06:12):
Yes, it is actually like that. I've been a number
of man hunts where we've used handheld flear devices for
thermal imaging, and also in aircraft the helicopters fixed wing.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I bet you have wait a minute. Most people listening.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Have never been up in a helicopter or a fixed
wing where they're conducting thermal imagery detective work.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Just explain it. What do you see? What do you notice?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I mean, when you're looking down at a disneywooded area,
I'm sure there's all sorts of critters and creatures.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
How do you know what you're seeing?
Speaker 8 (06:54):
Nancy? The devices are very advanced, and what you're looking
at on this screen is you'll see a darker area,
which is the cooler area. Then you'll pick up the
heat signature which contrasts to the darker area. Then as
it's moving, you can tell by the way it's moving
(07:16):
whether you're looking at a person, whether you're looking at
something like a deer, or maybe you know, something smaller
like a raccoon.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
You mean it's that detailed, it's blurry.
Speaker 8 (07:28):
But with practice and with experience, yes, you can tell
the difference between a human and an animal.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Have you ever seen a sonogram or a Brent?
Speaker 8 (07:37):
Yes, that's spot on, Nancy, that's what you're looking at.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
This is just amazing to me. What did you say,
except for the colors.
Speaker 8 (07:44):
Right, it's the colors that the heat signature is giving off.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
So it's so finely tanged you can tell if you're
looking at a deer, a rabbit, apostles or a person. Wow,
did not realize exactly how accurate the thermal imaging really
is and you know.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Back to you.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Investigative reporter with thoughts twenty nine Eddie Cadam Eddie. It
was a DEA plane. How did the locals get their
mits on a dea plane?
Speaker 5 (08:13):
They had every resource available to them, and as the
days got on, they just increased their presence bringing in
There was DA They had the SERT team. I was
told the moving in the team and squad Middleen in
those twenty to twenty five tactical guys, some of the
most serious guys you want looking for him, that got
(08:35):
there quickly.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Twenty five tactical guys. What does that mean? Er Brandt?
Twenty five tactical guys.
Speaker 8 (08:42):
Let's basically saying swat. Yeah, they're bringing in the big guns,
heavily armored people.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Even though we've got dea drug enforcement agency, which is extremely,
extremely powerful. Listen, I was a FED for three years
before after that, I was a felony prosecutor. I could
never get the FEDS to help me on a single case.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
They have their own cases to deal with.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I got to help some county prosecutor trying to solve
a murder.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
They're not gonna help.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
They've got their own basket of worms to deal with.
So hats off to the locals that get the DEA
in on this. But guess what he wasn't caught by
thermal technology in the end?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Bow wow? Is that a hint? Take a listen our
cut eighty four.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
He began to crawl through thick underbrush, taking his rifle
with him as he went. One of the Customs and
Border Control teams bore attack had a dog with them.
They released the dog. Some of our PSP cert members
were also there, had him surrounded. The dogs subdued him,
(09:55):
and team members from both of those teams immediately moved in.
He continued to resist, but was forcibly taken into custody.
No one was injured as a result of that.
Speaker 8 (10:06):
Excuse me, He did sustain.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
A minor bite wound. We had medical personnel at the
scene and they took a look at that.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Okay, I love the way that he kind of airbrushed
that whole thing.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
The dog subdued him. Okay, he was covered in blood.
The dog chewed him up.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Let me remind you before you start feeling sorry for
Calvin Kante.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
He had a sowd Off rifle with him. He's already
killed twice that we know of.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
You don't think he would have unleashed a hell of
bullets on any law enforcement that came toward him once
he could identify them in the dark, unless that dog
hadn't got to him first. Bloodied Chiller Danello cal contest
sniffed out by canees while lying under a pile of
(11:04):
leaves and wood as the cops surreptitiously creeped up and
surrounded him. Time Stories with Nancy Grace, Eddy Kaden with
(11:27):
me investigate Reporter Fox twenty nine, tell me every detail.
Don't leave anything out about this particular juncture.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Of the manhunt.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
All right, So let's start with the first sighting. Last
night there was a burglary alarm at a residence inside
the perimeter. This is near Priser Road. They didn't find
him there, but what that did do is it brought
manpower to that area. After that, they put up the
aircraft with the infrared tech. This is now around one am,
(12:00):
picked up a heat heat signature believed to be him,
converged on that heat source and so at the same time, though,
some storms made it came in and that caused the
aircraft to actually go down. But at this point, the
teams are in position, and this is all information from
the presser.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
So they're out there in the dark and in the rain.
After they pick up a heat signature.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Is that right?
Speaker 5 (12:23):
Yeah, And this is a serious storm. It's thunder, it's
lightning too. It's in rough condition.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
But they didn't give up.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
They stayed out there even when the plane had to
come down.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Okay, then what happened?
Speaker 5 (12:33):
So they converge on him, and as you were just saying,
spot on, very sneaky. They he did not They saw
him before he saw them, so he didn't know he
was getting rolled up on until he was getting rolled
up on. Essentially, he was, we're told, in a prone
position when he noticed he was surrounded. The way law
enforcement put it, he didn't even have a chance to
(12:55):
get his gun out once once the engagement started. They
said it was about five minutes total. He was trying
to crawl away. They released that dog. Shout out to
dogs everywhere herero today. They released the dog. The dog
got to him, The officers were able to get to him,
bring them in take.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
A listen to our friends at Thoughts twenty nine.
Speaker 7 (13:15):
The first moments when he was captured, we were there.
Sky Fox was there showing all of the police as
they gathered around him, see all the wood and they're
wiping his face and cords.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Of wood, wiping his face possibly of blood.
Speaker 9 (13:29):
Who knows what the takedown was like.
Speaker 7 (13:32):
And so we're learning now as we take a look
in the juxtaposition here when they first captured him, when
they first caught him and they put his handshind his
back to now he's being taken away to Sci Phoenix.
We've learned that he was found inside of a shed
there at Prisoners that's where they found him, and he
did have that stolen rifle with him.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
How fast it would have been for him to take
that rifle out and start shooting, That's the question, guys,
for those of you just joining us, the man hunt
is overco he found and brought out covered in blood
after K nine got hold of him, but that K
nine disarmed him, so he never had a chance to
(14:08):
start firing on law enforcement.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Doctor Jan Gorniac joining US.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Renowned forensic pathologist, former medical examiner Clark County. That's Vegas
and you know as well as I do, there's never
a lack of business from medical examiner in Vegas. Doctor
Gorniac explain why he was bleeding from the head, And
isn't it true that around your face and your nose,
(14:36):
your neck, you bleed so much more profusely then you would,
for say, a cut on your arm.
Speaker 10 (14:42):
Yes, good morning, everybody. You're absolutely correct. Your scalp especially.
Speaker 8 (14:47):
Is very vascular.
Speaker 10 (14:49):
So if he was in a high energy state, as
in being trying to get away from a dog or
trying to get away from law enforcement, his blood pressure
is high. So any cut to the head is going
to bleed terribly. I mean, it looks like you're like
bleeding to death because your scalp is so vascular, so
(15:10):
any cut he has is going to look like it's
it's profusely bleeding compared to his arms or his legs.
And it sounds like the brush that he was in.
I don't believe the bleeding from his head is from
the dog, but probably from other you know, the brush
or whatever else he was in contact with.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
I think the dog bet him on the head, That's
what I think.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
But when you say heavily vascular, you mean a lot
of veangs, right.
Speaker 10 (15:37):
A lot of blood vessels. You're correct, at a lot
of blood vesters. I remember at a camp when I
was younger, one of my playmates fell hit his head
on a rock and I really thought he was going
to die, that's how much it was bleeding. And then
once you clean it up, it was just this little
a little cut. So, yes, if you're in a high
energy state, meaning you know your blood pressure is up,
you're moving around, your blood is pumping harder and fact,
(16:00):
so your scalp is going to bleed excessively, but not
enough to die from.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
And Jackie is waving a note at me, Yes, you're right.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
He was bitten by the dog and he was crawling
away when the dog.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Caught him and started chewing.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Wow, Thank Heaven, because this guy had his sought off
right behind him and a backpack that I'm still curious about.
Where the hey did he get a backpack?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Guhys?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
The escape prisoner Danello Cavicante's to Do by k Nines,
captured in the early early morning hours fall we were
all asleep. He was looking at life behind bars without parole.
In the Murder, the brutal stabbing death of his girlfriend
in front of her children. He was in a local
jail that they call a prison. He had not made
(16:54):
it to a max security prison yet, and he actually
scaled the wall a spider so called crab, walking up
the two sides of a hallway in alcove to get
to the ceiling through barbed wire, run across the ceiling,
jump down, and make off. Over an hour passed before
(17:14):
anyone realized he was even gone.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
The guard on.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Watch has been fired. He had an inappropriate cell phone
with him. In other words, it was against regulations. I
don't know what he was doing scrolling through a dating
app TikTok, who knows, but he wasn't watching. Cavalcante one
of the most dangerous prisoners they had in the facility. Now,
this is after he kills somebody in his homeland Brazil,
(17:39):
goes and hides in the jungle for weeks on end,
makes it out of the jungle to Puerto Rico, hides
out there until.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
He can make it to the prize the US. What
more do we know.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
About the takedown in the early morning hours, take a
listening to our cut sixty five.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Our friends at CBS.
Speaker 11 (17:57):
Jim Barnes and his wife. They knew caval Kante around
their area, and he says they've been very vigilant, locking
their doors, locking their cars as this search goes on.
But nothing really could have prepared them for what happened
last night when their home actually became part of this investigation.
Speaker 8 (18:16):
We had a very interesting night.
Speaker 12 (18:19):
It was very sleepless.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
How did the varns is minding their own business suddenly
become part of the search for a double killer? Take
a let's not cut sixty six CBS.
Speaker 11 (18:30):
It started as a pretty typical Monday for Jim Varnes
and his wife on Fairview Road. Jim's wife went out
for groceries and they sat down to relax.
Speaker 8 (18:39):
We got our.
Speaker 12 (18:40):
Groceries in it and then we locked everything up and
we're just sitting here watching mass TV.
Speaker 11 (18:46):
They knew escape Chester County in Maitdenelo cabal Conte was
around their area, but the Barnes never thought they'd be
dragged into the case. Then they saw the police lights outside.
Speaker 12 (18:56):
Maybe five ten minutes later. They were all here and
we're like, what the heck's going on?
Speaker 3 (19:01):
What the heck's going on?
Speaker 2 (19:03):
You got a double killer outside your door, That's what's
going on.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Listen.
Speaker 11 (19:07):
Varnes says police told him a passerby saw a man
crouching in the field across from their home and called
nine one one. Then his wife made the discovery. Jim's
grass cutting boots were missing from the.
Speaker 12 (19:17):
Back porch, and we'd be right down there where the
where the where chair was right there.
Speaker 11 (19:23):
Police now believe Cavalcante stole the boots from the Varnes
home Monday night, no more than twenty feet from where
Jim and his wife were watching TV. Varnes says. Investigators
also found what's believed to be Cavalcante's shoes on their property.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
To Karen Start, joining us renowned psychologist also TV and
radio trauma expert. You can find her at Karenstart dot com.
That's Karen with a C. Karen Start, thank you for
being with us. I guess what's so disturbing to me
that I can't really convey is that this guy was
going to be shipped off to a max facility prison day.
(20:02):
That's why he had to escape then, That's why he
couldn't be caught. That's why he was willing to kill
again if he had to. That's why he had a
sawed off shotgun with him at twenty two right there
in his backpack. When you have somebody cornered like Cavalcante
and they're looking at life without parole, they'll do anything.
(20:24):
Explain what I'm talking about here and start.
Speaker 13 (20:26):
It's desperation, Nancy. So when you are telling the story
about them watching television, I'm thinking to myself, they have no.
Speaker 10 (20:35):
Idea what could have happened to them?
Speaker 13 (20:38):
Because this guy would do anything.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
What does he have to lose? He would do.
Speaker 13 (20:43):
Anything to make sure that he's not captured, and so
their life was really at stake.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Guys, this family and other families suddenly get the message.
Take a listen to our cut seventy six bucks twenty
nine Philly.
Speaker 7 (20:58):
They reverse nine one one call was sent to residents
in the area of the Perimeter and quote. What it
said was, this is a message from Pennsylvania State Police.
The search for Dnello cavlo Conte is over. The subject
is now in custody. So the word has been spreading.
The reverse phone calls have been made.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
It's over.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Wow, what does that mean to anybody on the panel.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
A reverse nine to one one.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Call goes out to the whole community. How does that
work straight out to you. IRV Brant or Douglas McGregor,
how does.
Speaker 8 (21:31):
That work well, Nancy? In an emergency situation, the homes
in the area in a nine to one one area
can receive messages and it's like an automated message telling
people about different dangerous situation.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
You mean, like an amber alert.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Correct that pops up on your phone with that crazy
piercing screen. So it basically goes out to every number
that police have in their registry.
Speaker 8 (22:02):
Correct, Correct, within that nine one one operating area.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Ah, got you, So that's where the nine to one one,
that's the operating area.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Guys joining me right now.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
In addition to our other guests that you've been listening to,
Nima Romani is joining us. He's a renowned former federal
prosecutor turned trial lawyer, president and co founder of the
West Coast Trial Lawyers, author of.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Harvard to hashtag Nima, thank you so much for being
with us.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You and I have both dealt with prisoners with nothing
to lose.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
That is why when a.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Verdict is read in a courtroom, multiple sheriffs come in.
If you know what's happening, you'll see that armed sheriffs
bailiffs are at every window, in front of every window,
in front of every door. They're in front of the jury.
They may stand in front of the prosecutor. I didn't
like that because I couldn't see. I'd have them behind me.
(23:00):
There'll be one to the side of the judge's bench,
so they can jump in front of the judge's bench if.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
They have to.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
But you want everyone to be able to see and
hear the judge and the prosecutor.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
In my case, I always had to read the verdict.
But that's for a reason.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Once a guilty verdict, if it is a guilty verdict
is read, that defendant is no longer innocent. He or
she is going to jail, and you can never underestimate
what that person will do. I've had a defendant lunge
at me in the courtroom I hadn't been for my investigator.
I don't know what would have happened, because I did
(23:40):
not expect it. I was standing there waiting for the
I think the jury to come in, just looking at
the jury deliberation room for them to come back in
to resume evidence, and all of a sudden, the guy
leaps across the desk at me, with a pen, I
guess to stab me. If my investigator hadn't been sitting
there would happened. So you can't underestimate the mindset of
(24:04):
Danello Cavalcante at this moment.
Speaker 14 (24:07):
Well names that you can.
Speaker 9 (24:08):
And there's a reason his mom said that she prefers
that he actually dies and go back to prison. So
if the one's mom's telling them that, think of what
the mindset of a double murderer is. I'm shocked that
he didn't try to shoot his way out of this
or fight or I mean, obviously the reports are coming back,
but yeah, if you spend the rest of your life
(24:29):
in prison, there's a lot of people who would rather
die than experience that.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Well, Nima, I was saving this as a little surprised
for you. But speaking of the mom that gave birth,
this is her spawn.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Take a listen.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Our cut seventy two are our friends at crime online
dot Com.
Speaker 15 (24:47):
Daniello Calacante's mother is defending her son while admitting he
did kill his former girlfriend in front of her two children.
But the fugitive's mother tells The New York Times he
did it but he had no choice. Iris Siema Kava
Kante said quote did it happen. It happened, but it
happened because of the stranglehold she put on him, the
stance she took with him. It wasn't femicide. He had
(25:09):
to he had no other choice. Unquote the choice she
speaks of. Deborah Brendeo was tired of being threatened and
beaten by Cavalcanti and threatened she would go to police
in Pennsylvania and tell them about Cavalcanti, the illegal immigrant
wanted for murder in Brazil for a stabbing a friend
at a food truck in twenty seventeen. That is the
corner of Cavalcanti's mother is speaking.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Okay, let me understand this. You know what, I'm just
a JD. I need a shrink to you, Karen Stark.
Mommy is saying he had to butcher his girlfriend in
front of her two little children.
Speaker 13 (25:46):
They will never recover these little children.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
And mommy is saying, oh, my son, it's her fault.
She got stabbed thirty nine times. And when she says stranglehold,
she's not talking about the girlfriend having him in a stranglehold.
She is talking about the claim that Deborah Brendeio, the
girlfriend stabbed thirty eight or thirty nine times. And I'm
(26:10):
going to go back to doctor Gorniac about how you
can't tell how many stab wins exactly thirty eight or
thirty nine times.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
She'd have been a physical stranglehold. Oh thank you, Jackie.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Children ages seven and four see their mother stabbed thirty
nine times to death seven and four.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
You think they're ever going to get over that answer?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
No, Mommy is saying he spawned calvil Kante.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
It's not his fault. She'd have been a stranglehold in that.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
She told him if you didn't quit beating her all
the time, she'd tell authorities he was wanted from murder
back in Brazil.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Karen Stark thoughts.
Speaker 13 (26:50):
Well, I mean, Nancy, you know mothers to spend their children.
We're not surprised about that.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Oh you are not telling me that you expected this.
Speaker 13 (27:00):
What this is about as an extreme as you could
possibly get. I mean, here is a mother and it
just goes to show talk about Sponge why he turned out.
Speaker 10 (27:11):
To be the person that he is, because he's.
Speaker 13 (27:14):
Allowed to get away with anything. He could kill somebody
because they're threatening to go to the police, and she's
saying that he had no choice that she was strangling him.
Speaker 10 (27:25):
What this is not your everyday mother.
Speaker 13 (27:29):
This is a mother of a criminal.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
It's a monster mother. It's a monster mother.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Now we'll say it's okay to stab the girlfriend.
Speaker 13 (27:37):
Not just that, but Nancy. She also said she'd rather
have him dead than be captured again. This is his mother,
would rather see him dead.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
Doctor Gane.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Gorniac joining us, very well respected pathologist who has taken
to the autopsy table there in Vegas many many times,
hundreds of not thousands of times to perform autopsies.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Doctor Gorniac. When someone is stabbed.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Multiple times, and the first time this may have come
into the public's consciousness was in the case of Jody Arius.
I hate to even say your name. I don't want
to conjure her up out of the cauldron. But she
stabbed her lover, Travis Alexander. I believe twenty nine times.
(28:25):
Can you check me on that, Jackie. But the number
of stabbings fluctuated depending on who was reporting it, and
the reason was, once you stab somebody so many times,
you start stabbing them in the same place, the stab
wounds begin to overlap each other, and it's very more
(28:48):
than twenty seven c see I said twenty nine because
another person said some doctor said twenty nine. But you
stab on top of your stab wounds, and it's for
the medical examiner to determine exactly how many times you
stab somebody.
Speaker 6 (29:04):
Yes, you are correct.
Speaker 10 (29:05):
Also not even that the wounds will start to overlap.
You don't also don't have to remove the sharp force,
the instrument, the knife out of the body to continue stabbing.
So therefore you can have one stab wound into the body,
but you can be moving the knife around and have
like say four or five stab wounds to the lung
(29:28):
with one stab wound through the skin, if that makes
any sense. So you don't withdraw the knife out, So
it could be I mean, you can see one stab
wound on the body, but have four stab wounds on
the inside to the heart in the lungs. So yes,
it's very difficult to count how many times someone is
stabbed because they do overlap. People move, you know, if
(29:48):
you're not just gonna lay there or stand there and
get stabed. So the more you're moving, not only you're
going to have stab wounds of your body, you're going
to have you know, defensive wounds on your hands. If
you grab the neck. So these are the worst cases
for me. I really do not of all the cases
I do, except for pediatric cases those babies. Stab wound
(30:11):
cases are the worst cases that I have to do.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
I hate stabcases. I hate them. It's visceral.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
I can't tell you why I hate them more than
other except for child victims.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
I'm with you, doctor Gorniac.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Prime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Doctor Garniac. Personal question, do you compartmentalize? I mean, how
do you just go about your day, your regular day,
like with your family, with your dog or your cat,
or going to the grocery store without visions of stabbing
autopsies coming up in your hand and dancing.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Through like a parade.
Speaker 10 (31:10):
Right I did? I do get that that question quite
a bit. So when I'm doing my job, I'm a
physician first, so and that's the only way I can
get my job done. So if I go into the
autoives room as jam, it's not going to be a
good thing for myself or my colleagues. So I equate
(31:32):
us to being like the room the emergency room physician
when people come through the door with bloom Forth's trauma,
stab wounds, gunshot wounds, that emergency room physician has to
respond and react and treat that patient. Unfortunately, for on
our side, our patients are deceased, so we put on
our doctor's head and we treat our patients and then
(31:56):
we have to you know, then jam comes out. So
over the years that it has taken time, but I
have worked very intentional on leaving it in the autax room.
Not to say that some cases do not stay with me.
Like I said, some of these as I'm talking about it,
I can picture a stab wound case I had back
(32:17):
in two thousand and seven. So but you know, you
just have to be professional, be that puisition, treat your
patient the best that you can, and then leave it
in the autopsum.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Nima Romani is with me, former federal prosecutor turned trial lawyer.
You can find him at West Coast Trial Lawyers dot com,
author of Harvard de hashtag neema. I guess same thing
for you, and I want to use this segue to
talk about the mind of Danello Cavalcante. You know, when
(32:50):
I had one particular judge, and I know this is unorthodox,
but it worked whenever would have a big arraignment calendar
or pola calendar. I would sit in a ram a
conference room, of course, with armed guards, and the defense
attorneys would come in and they would bring their jill
clients who'd been brought over like four o'clock that morning
into the conference room.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
That's sit on the other.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Side of the table, and I go through the police
report and all the evidence and let them look at
everything there was, and I'd give them a plea deal.
Of course, they would never want the plea deals that
I gave them, but a lot of times they would
get a plea. I would look at them, and very
often they would seem like a regular person to just
(33:33):
look at them in their demeanor. But when you look
at the police report and you see this guy is
sidomized children for the last seven or eight years, or
this guy killed his own mom, or this guy gunned
down a store clerk and his assistant for a pack
of cigarettes, and you're looking at the guy and they
seem charming and affable.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
It's freaky. And this guy, we know, Calvalcante, could be very.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Very charming.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
That's how we got the girlfriend to start with Nima.
Speaker 14 (34:08):
Well, in the beginning of Targe, you know, I put
more than a thousand people in federal prison. And now
I don't feel any sympathy for the defendants, but the
family members.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
I didn't say sympathy, hgl n oh.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
I didn't feel sympathy, but I was always intrigued, like
looking at a spider in a box or the snake
at the snakehouse at the zoo. I'm intrigued by how
they can be so charming when I know they're a
cold blooded killer.
Speaker 9 (34:35):
Oh, no question.
Speaker 14 (34:36):
There's really those family members, right, the kids, the girlfriend,
the moms. Right, they're crying, they're begging, they're pleading. But
after a while, an you know, you just get desensitized
and you realize that these are criminals and their own
families are better off if they're locked up in prison
for a very long time.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Have you always noticed, as I did, I don't care
how bad the evidency is. Mommy the defendants, Mommy sits
through it like she didn't hear a thing.
Speaker 14 (35:06):
No matter what, Mom's going to get up there and testify,
and we're cross examined moms, right, and the cross examination
is always just say, well, you love your son, right,
and you don't want him to go to prison, and
he'll do anything or say anything to protect them.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
And that's it.
Speaker 14 (35:21):
You know, the bond between a mother and her son
is unlike any other.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Back off if you're talking about my son John David
Lynch or my daughter Lucy, because they can never do
anything wrong.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Okay, you're right.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Douglas McGregor joining me, Guys McGregor. That's what you call
a geographic profiler. He specializes in serial and violent crime,
missing persons, locating clandestine burial sites. You can find him
at at the geo Profiler. Douglas did Cavalcante.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
Do exactly what you thought he was going to do?
Speaker 6 (35:58):
I think that he did, Nancy, Yes, he did. He
had he had a plan. He executed it fairly well.
He just got interrupted by law enforcement doing a good job.
He he traveled north and he went to East Pikeland
and Phoenix, still looking for you know, accomplices, people that
help him out resources. And then after that he traveled
west and the key here is the place that he
(36:21):
dumped the vehicle, the van. It wasn't random, it wasn't
a mistake, and it wasn't just because he ran out
of gas like that place was pre selected. It was
actually the property of the father of Michael Cahill, Michael
ska Hill who helped him after he murdered his ex girlfriend.
(36:45):
So he knew where he was going, and he knew
where he was dumping that van. And then that's not
to implicate Michael ska Hill at all. He may have
had no knowledge that Cavalcante was heading to that residence,
that property, but Cavalcanti might just have been familiar with it.
He might have stayed there at one point, and he
(37:06):
may have been having continue to head west. I mean,
if if Skhill was involved in this, or wasn't accomplished
in this in any way, then Cavalcante may have been
continuing on to Ohio, specifically of a Youngstown area. So
I can't say that for sure, but he did have
a plan and he was he was trying to follow it.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
Through Youngstown, Ohio college town, and there would be plenty
single young women alone all over the place in Youngstown.
Speaker 3 (37:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Now police are trying to figure out did Cavalcante have help.
Don't feel sorry for this guy. I know he looks
bloody and pitiful, but remember he had a soft off
in his backpack. He's killed before and he would do
it again.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
RV brand.
Speaker 8 (38:01):
What do you think, Nanthy, You were talking about how
people are surprised that he wasn't taken alive, that he
was captured and this was done. I'm sure he planned
was not to be taken alive, but it was superior
tactics by the police. Like the colonel said in his briefing,
(38:21):
they surrounded him and he was unaware that he was there.
And then if they would have lit him up with
floodlights and bullhorns telling him he was surrounded, he would
have shot it out with police. He had no intentions
of going back to jail. But in police work, we
have a saying action is faster than reaction, and there's
(38:44):
nothing faster than a canine. They let the dogs loose
on him and before he could react. He was trying
to crawl away. He wasn't given up. He was trying
to call it, but he couldn't resist the canines. Then
they moved in and they captured him. That's the only
reason why he was captured a lot. So when you
(39:04):
look at that bloody picture of him, well he's alive.
If it would have went any other way, the picture
would have been with him with a bullet hole in
his head. From a sniper.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
You are hearing the voice of IRV Brand, Senior Inspector,
US Marshall Service and author Eddie Cadam joining US Fox
twenty nine Crack investigative reporter. Where is he now and
what happens next?
Speaker 5 (39:28):
He's heading to Abingdale for processing and then he'll be
taken to the State Correctional facility where he will serve
his life sentence. And important with that too to the tenant, saying,
as long as he's in their custody, he's not getting
out again, something everybody wants to hear, obviously.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
An amazing effort, and finally Danello Cavalcante behind bars where
he belongs.
Speaker 3 (39:56):
Goodbye friend,
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It's over double killer Danello Cavalcante is in custody.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation
in series XM one eleven. Take a listen to this.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Last night, shortly after midnight, a series of events started
to unfold. First, we had a burglar alarm at a
residence near Prizer Road within the perimeter. Our people investigated that,
did not find Cavalcante there or anyone else, but it
(00:50):
brought it started to bring some of our people into
that area. We had been searching an area not far
from there already with some tactical teams. That night was
an aircraft overhead utilizing Fleer technology and close to one
am picked up a heat signal that they began to track.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Okay, I'm going to go from A to Z first
with an all star panel. I'm going to go to
Eddie Cadam, investigative reporter with Fox twenty nine.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Out of Philly.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Eddie, thank you for being with us. I want to
focus on what I just heard. Are you telling me
that at one am, LA law enforcement was up in
the air looking for any heat heated movement in the
brush and in the woods. One am there in the
air with a helicopter.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
One am a plane that was up in the air
flying around in circles. The way that it was described as,
it's like a cone that can kind of look down
into the woods.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
So, Eddie Cadam, while everybody else is asleep in their beds,
you got law enforcement up there working through the night
twenty four to seven. Now I understand saying it was
a d E a plane.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
Yes, that's correct, Nancy, a DEA plane with infrared technology
on it.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Wow, fixed wing guys with me an all star panel
or brand joining me, Douglas McGregor joining me, Doctor Gorniette,
Karen Start and Nima Ramani to you, Douglas McGregor, Geographic
profile or specializing and the hunt for missing people and fugitives.
You can find them at the g A profile or
(02:27):
explain to me how the infrared system works. Dan, We've
got a d A fixed wing plane with infrared capability.
Speaker 6 (02:37):
Just as you mentioned the you know, the plane flying over.
They scan a certain area and they try to pick
up the heat signature from you know, objects below. So
obviously they're looking for a human in this case, it
could pick up animals or other objects as well. And
and cavilcante. He if he knows that the technology is
(02:58):
being used, he can, you know, put in countermeasures to
avoid that technology.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
When you say that there are counter measures to fight
thermal imaging, I mean.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Most of us.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Well, okay, I have been on searches where thermal images
are used, but most people only know about thermal imaging
through like a James Bond movie or you know, something
like that high technology. So what is a potential countermeasure
that can be used against thermal imagery?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
That's what Ellie is doing up in the air at
one a m.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
What's a countermeasure to thermal imaging technology?
Speaker 6 (03:38):
Accounter measure can be a barrier, so he could be
inside and it may not penetrate whatever he's behind, like
for example, a wall water could be a countermeasure. Anything
that significantly cools down his body could be accounter measure.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Yeah, I see, I see what you're saying. Douglas McGregor,
a Gee graphic profiler.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
As a matter of fact, there were problems late last
night with the thermal imaging. Take a listen to hour
cut seventy eight from Fox two nine.
Speaker 7 (04:09):
In the beginning of this, it was so hot that
they were saying they were having issues. So they have
been using thermal imaging from the beginning. But the problem
is we were dealing with temperatures in the nineties and
the heat index was so high that it was hard
to make that happen to have it be effective. But
we have had rain and things have cooled off over
the past twenty four hours or so.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So while they are up there trying to get a
thermal image of where they think Danello Cavalcante maybe and
remember this is a two time killer.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
He shot a guy at.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
A food truck, reportedly over a car repair, and then
he stabbed his girlfriend in front of her children.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
That's who we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Cops desperately trying to find Cavalcante before he could strike again.
Let's do Lieutenant Colonel George Bivins cut a three.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Tactical teams made it the suit vision to secure that area,
that smaller area as best they could and hold it
through the storm and until we could bring additional resources
in and bring aircraft back overhead to ensure that we
did not have an issue with an escape. That resumed
early this morning, and shortly after eight am, tactical teams
(05:22):
converged on the area where the heat source was. They
were able to move in very quietly. They had the
element of surprise. Cavalcante did not realize he was surrounded
until that had occurred.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
As they said, we don't want an issue with an escape.
You mean another escape, the third escape. So let me
understand something joining me right now. IRV Brandt, Senior Inspector,
US Marshall Service International Branch.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
He's been all around the world trying.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
To find fugitives, just like Danello Cavalcante, author of Solo Shot,
Curse of the Blue Stone, and Flying Solo Top of
the World, both Amazon or Brandt. So how do you
know you finally get a beat on somebody through thermal imagery?
Is it like what we see in the movies where
you actually see a figure crawling around?
Speaker 8 (06:12):
Yes, it is actually like that. I've been a number
of man hunts where we've used handheld flear devices for
thermal imaging, and also in aircraft the helicopters fixed wing.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I bet you have wait a minute. Most people listening.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Have never been up in a helicopter or a fixed
wing where they're conducting thermal imagery detective work.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Just explain it. What do you see? What do you notice?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I mean, when you're looking down at a disneywooded area,
I'm sure there's all sorts of critters and creatures.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
How do you know what you're seeing?
Speaker 8 (06:54):
Nancy? The devices are very advanced, and what you're looking
at on this screen is you'll see a darker area,
which is the cooler area. Then you'll pick up the
heat signature which contrasts to the darker area. Then as
it's moving, you can tell by the way it's moving
(07:16):
whether you're looking at a person, whether you're looking at
something like a deer, or maybe you know, something smaller
like a raccoon.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
You mean it's that detailed, it's blurry.
Speaker 8 (07:28):
But with practice and with experience, yes, you can tell
the difference between a human and an animal.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Have you ever seen a sonogram or a Brent?
Speaker 8 (07:37):
Yes, that's spot on, Nancy, that's what you're looking at.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
This is just amazing to me. What did you say,
except for the colors.
Speaker 8 (07:44):
Right, it's the colors that the heat signature is giving off.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
So it's so finely tanged you can tell if you're
looking at a deer, a rabbit, apostles or a person. Wow,
did not realize exactly how accurate the thermal imaging really
is and you know.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Back to you.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Investigative reporter with thoughts twenty nine Eddie Cadam Eddie. It
was a DEA plane. How did the locals get their
mits on a dea plane?
Speaker 5 (08:13):
They had every resource available to them, and as the
days got on, they just increased their presence bringing in
There was DA They had the SERT team. I was
told the moving in the team and squad Middleen in
those twenty to twenty five tactical guys, some of the
most serious guys you want looking for him, that got
(08:35):
there quickly.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Twenty five tactical guys. What does that mean? Er Brandt?
Twenty five tactical guys.
Speaker 8 (08:42):
Let's basically saying swat. Yeah, they're bringing in the big guns,
heavily armored people.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Even though we've got dea drug enforcement agency, which is extremely,
extremely powerful. Listen, I was a FED for three years
before after that, I was a felony prosecutor. I could
never get the FEDS to help me on a single case.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
They have their own cases to deal with.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I got to help some county prosecutor trying to solve
a murder.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
They're not gonna help.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
They've got their own basket of worms to deal with.
So hats off to the locals that get the DEA
in on this. But guess what he wasn't caught by
thermal technology in the end?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Bow wow? Is that a hint? Take a listen our
cut eighty four.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
He began to crawl through thick underbrush, taking his rifle
with him as he went. One of the Customs and
Border Control teams bore attack had a dog with them.
They released the dog. Some of our PSP cert members
were also there, had him surrounded. The dogs subdued him,
(09:55):
and team members from both of those teams immediately moved in.
He continued to resist, but was forcibly taken into custody.
No one was injured as a result of that.
Speaker 8 (10:06):
Excuse me, He did sustain.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
A minor bite wound. We had medical personnel at the
scene and they took a look at that.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Okay, I love the way that he kind of airbrushed
that whole thing.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
The dog subdued him. Okay, he was covered in blood.
The dog chewed him up.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Let me remind you before you start feeling sorry for
Calvin Kante.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
He had a sowd Off rifle with him. He's already
killed twice that we know of.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
You don't think he would have unleashed a hell of
bullets on any law enforcement that came toward him once
he could identify them in the dark, unless that dog
hadn't got to him first. Bloodied Chiller Danello cal contest
sniffed out by canees while lying under a pile of
(11:04):
leaves and wood as the cops surreptitiously creeped up and
surrounded him. Time Stories with Nancy Grace, Eddy Kaden with
(11:27):
me investigate Reporter Fox twenty nine, tell me every detail.
Don't leave anything out about this particular juncture.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Of the manhunt.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
All right, So let's start with the first sighting. Last
night there was a burglary alarm at a residence inside
the perimeter. This is near Priser Road. They didn't find
him there, but what that did do is it brought
manpower to that area. After that, they put up the
aircraft with the infrared tech. This is now around one am,
(12:00):
picked up a heat heat signature believed to be him,
converged on that heat source and so at the same time, though,
some storms made it came in and that caused the
aircraft to actually go down. But at this point, the
teams are in position, and this is all information from
the presser.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
So they're out there in the dark and in the rain.
After they pick up a heat signature.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Is that right?
Speaker 5 (12:23):
Yeah, And this is a serious storm. It's thunder, it's
lightning too. It's in rough condition.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
But they didn't give up.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
They stayed out there even when the plane had to
come down.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Okay, then what happened?
Speaker 5 (12:33):
So they converge on him, and as you were just saying,
spot on, very sneaky. They he did not They saw
him before he saw them, so he didn't know he
was getting rolled up on until he was getting rolled
up on. Essentially, he was, we're told, in a prone
position when he noticed he was surrounded. The way law
enforcement put it, he didn't even have a chance to
(12:55):
get his gun out once once the engagement started. They
said it was about five minutes total. He was trying
to crawl away. They released that dog. Shout out to
dogs everywhere herero today. They released the dog. The dog
got to him, The officers were able to get to him,
bring them in take.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
A listen to our friends at Thoughts twenty nine.
Speaker 7 (13:15):
The first moments when he was captured, we were there.
Sky Fox was there showing all of the police as
they gathered around him, see all the wood and they're
wiping his face and cords.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Of wood, wiping his face possibly of blood.
Speaker 9 (13:29):
Who knows what the takedown was like.
Speaker 7 (13:32):
And so we're learning now as we take a look
in the juxtaposition here when they first captured him, when
they first caught him and they put his handshind his
back to now he's being taken away to Sci Phoenix.
We've learned that he was found inside of a shed
there at Prisoners that's where they found him, and he
did have that stolen rifle with him.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
How fast it would have been for him to take
that rifle out and start shooting, That's the question, guys,
for those of you just joining us, the man hunt
is overco he found and brought out covered in blood
after K nine got hold of him, but that K
nine disarmed him, so he never had a chance to
(14:08):
start firing on law enforcement.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Doctor Jan Gorniac joining US.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Renowned forensic pathologist, former medical examiner Clark County. That's Vegas
and you know as well as I do, there's never
a lack of business from medical examiner in Vegas. Doctor
Gorniac explain why he was bleeding from the head, And
isn't it true that around your face and your nose,
(14:36):
your neck, you bleed so much more profusely then you would,
for say, a cut on your arm.
Speaker 10 (14:42):
Yes, good morning, everybody. You're absolutely correct. Your scalp especially.
Speaker 8 (14:47):
Is very vascular.
Speaker 10 (14:49):
So if he was in a high energy state, as
in being trying to get away from a dog or
trying to get away from law enforcement, his blood pressure
is high. So any cut to the head is going
to bleed terribly. I mean, it looks like you're like
bleeding to death because your scalp is so vascular, so
(15:10):
any cut he has is going to look like it's
it's profusely bleeding compared to his arms or his legs.
And it sounds like the brush that he was in.
I don't believe the bleeding from his head is from
the dog, but probably from other you know, the brush
or whatever else he was in contact with.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
I think the dog bet him on the head, That's
what I think.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
But when you say heavily vascular, you mean a lot
of veangs, right.
Speaker 10 (15:37):
A lot of blood vessels. You're correct, at a lot
of blood vesters. I remember at a camp when I
was younger, one of my playmates fell hit his head
on a rock and I really thought he was going
to die, that's how much it was bleeding. And then
once you clean it up, it was just this little
a little cut. So, yes, if you're in a high
energy state, meaning you know your blood pressure is up,
you're moving around, your blood is pumping harder and fact,
(16:00):
so your scalp is going to bleed excessively, but not
enough to die from.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
And Jackie is waving a note at me, Yes, you're right.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
He was bitten by the dog and he was crawling
away when the dog.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Caught him and started chewing.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Wow, Thank Heaven, because this guy had his sought off
right behind him and a backpack that I'm still curious about.
Where the hey did he get a backpack?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Guhys?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
The escape prisoner Danello Cavicante's to Do by k Nines,
captured in the early early morning hours fall we were
all asleep. He was looking at life behind bars without parole.
In the Murder, the brutal stabbing death of his girlfriend
in front of her children. He was in a local
jail that they call a prison. He had not made
(16:54):
it to a max security prison yet, and he actually
scaled the wall a spider so called crab, walking up
the two sides of a hallway in alcove to get
to the ceiling through barbed wire, run across the ceiling,
jump down, and make off. Over an hour passed before
(17:14):
anyone realized he was even gone.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
The guard on.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Watch has been fired. He had an inappropriate cell phone
with him. In other words, it was against regulations. I
don't know what he was doing scrolling through a dating
app TikTok, who knows, but he wasn't watching. Cavalcante one
of the most dangerous prisoners they had in the facility. Now,
this is after he kills somebody in his homeland Brazil,
(17:39):
goes and hides in the jungle for weeks on end,
makes it out of the jungle to Puerto Rico, hides
out there until.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
He can make it to the prize the US. What
more do we know.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
About the takedown in the early morning hours, take a
listening to our cut sixty five.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Our friends at CBS.
Speaker 11 (17:57):
Jim Barnes and his wife. They knew caval Kante around
their area, and he says they've been very vigilant, locking
their doors, locking their cars as this search goes on.
But nothing really could have prepared them for what happened
last night when their home actually became part of this investigation.
Speaker 8 (18:16):
We had a very interesting night.
Speaker 12 (18:19):
It was very sleepless.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
How did the varns is minding their own business suddenly
become part of the search for a double killer? Take
a let's not cut sixty six CBS.
Speaker 11 (18:30):
It started as a pretty typical Monday for Jim Varnes
and his wife on Fairview Road. Jim's wife went out
for groceries and they sat down to relax.
Speaker 8 (18:39):
We got our.
Speaker 12 (18:40):
Groceries in it and then we locked everything up and
we're just sitting here watching mass TV.
Speaker 11 (18:46):
They knew escape Chester County in Maitdenelo cabal Conte was
around their area, but the Barnes never thought they'd be
dragged into the case. Then they saw the police lights outside.
Speaker 12 (18:56):
Maybe five ten minutes later. They were all here and
we're like, what the heck's going on?
Speaker 3 (19:01):
What the heck's going on?
Speaker 2 (19:03):
You got a double killer outside your door, That's what's
going on.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Listen.
Speaker 11 (19:07):
Varnes says police told him a passerby saw a man
crouching in the field across from their home and called
nine one one. Then his wife made the discovery. Jim's
grass cutting boots were missing from the.
Speaker 12 (19:17):
Back porch, and we'd be right down there where the
where the where chair was right there.
Speaker 11 (19:23):
Police now believe Cavalcante stole the boots from the Varnes
home Monday night, no more than twenty feet from where
Jim and his wife were watching TV. Varnes says. Investigators
also found what's believed to be Cavalcante's shoes on their property.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
To Karen Start, joining us renowned psychologist also TV and
radio trauma expert. You can find her at Karenstart dot com.
That's Karen with a C. Karen Start, thank you for
being with us. I guess what's so disturbing to me
that I can't really convey is that this guy was
going to be shipped off to a max facility prison day.
(20:02):
That's why he had to escape then, That's why he
couldn't be caught. That's why he was willing to kill
again if he had to. That's why he had a
sawed off shotgun with him at twenty two right there
in his backpack. When you have somebody cornered like Cavalcante
and they're looking at life without parole, they'll do anything.
(20:24):
Explain what I'm talking about here and start.
Speaker 13 (20:26):
It's desperation, Nancy. So when you are telling the story
about them watching television, I'm thinking to myself, they have no.
Speaker 10 (20:35):
Idea what could have happened to them?
Speaker 13 (20:38):
Because this guy would do anything.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
What does he have to lose? He would do.
Speaker 13 (20:43):
Anything to make sure that he's not captured, and so
their life was really at stake.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Guys, this family and other families suddenly get the message.
Take a listen to our cut seventy six bucks twenty
nine Philly.
Speaker 7 (20:58):
They reverse nine one one call was sent to residents
in the area of the Perimeter and quote. What it
said was, this is a message from Pennsylvania State Police.
The search for Dnello cavlo Conte is over. The subject
is now in custody. So the word has been spreading.
The reverse phone calls have been made.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
It's over.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Wow, what does that mean to anybody on the panel.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
A reverse nine to one one.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Call goes out to the whole community. How does that
work straight out to you. IRV Brant or Douglas McGregor,
how does.
Speaker 8 (21:31):
That work well, Nancy? In an emergency situation, the homes
in the area in a nine to one one area
can receive messages and it's like an automated message telling
people about different dangerous situation.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
You mean, like an amber alert.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Correct that pops up on your phone with that crazy
piercing screen. So it basically goes out to every number
that police have in their registry.
Speaker 8 (22:02):
Correct, Correct, within that nine one one operating area.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Ah, got you, So that's where the nine to one one,
that's the operating area.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Guys joining me right now.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
In addition to our other guests that you've been listening to,
Nima Romani is joining us. He's a renowned former federal
prosecutor turned trial lawyer, president and co founder of the
West Coast Trial Lawyers, author of.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Harvard to hashtag Nima, thank you so much for being
with us.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You and I have both dealt with prisoners with nothing
to lose.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
That is why when a.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Verdict is read in a courtroom, multiple sheriffs come in.
If you know what's happening, you'll see that armed sheriffs
bailiffs are at every window, in front of every window,
in front of every door. They're in front of the jury.
They may stand in front of the prosecutor. I didn't
like that because I couldn't see. I'd have them behind me.
(23:00):
There'll be one to the side of the judge's bench,
so they can jump in front of the judge's bench if.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
They have to.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
But you want everyone to be able to see and
hear the judge and the prosecutor.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
In my case, I always had to read the verdict.
But that's for a reason.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Once a guilty verdict, if it is a guilty verdict
is read, that defendant is no longer innocent. He or
she is going to jail, and you can never underestimate
what that person will do. I've had a defendant lunge
at me in the courtroom I hadn't been for my investigator.
I don't know what would have happened, because I did
(23:40):
not expect it. I was standing there waiting for the
I think the jury to come in, just looking at
the jury deliberation room for them to come back in
to resume evidence, and all of a sudden, the guy
leaps across the desk at me, with a pen, I
guess to stab me. If my investigator hadn't been sitting
there would happened. So you can't underestimate the mindset of
(24:04):
Danello Cavalcante at this moment.
Speaker 14 (24:07):
Well names that you can.
Speaker 9 (24:08):
And there's a reason his mom said that she prefers
that he actually dies and go back to prison. So
if the one's mom's telling them that, think of what
the mindset of a double murderer is. I'm shocked that
he didn't try to shoot his way out of this
or fight or I mean, obviously the reports are coming back,
but yeah, if you spend the rest of your life
(24:29):
in prison, there's a lot of people who would rather
die than experience that.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Well, Nima, I was saving this as a little surprised
for you. But speaking of the mom that gave birth,
this is her spawn.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Take a listen.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Our cut seventy two are our friends at crime online
dot Com.
Speaker 15 (24:47):
Daniello Calacante's mother is defending her son while admitting he
did kill his former girlfriend in front of her two children.
But the fugitive's mother tells The New York Times he
did it but he had no choice. Iris Siema Kava
Kante said quote did it happen. It happened, but it
happened because of the stranglehold she put on him, the
stance she took with him. It wasn't femicide. He had
(25:09):
to he had no other choice. Unquote the choice she
speaks of. Deborah Brendeo was tired of being threatened and
beaten by Cavalcanti and threatened she would go to police
in Pennsylvania and tell them about Cavalcanti, the illegal immigrant
wanted for murder in Brazil for a stabbing a friend
at a food truck in twenty seventeen. That is the
corner of Cavalcanti's mother is speaking.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Okay, let me understand this. You know what, I'm just
a JD. I need a shrink to you, Karen Stark.
Mommy is saying he had to butcher his girlfriend in
front of her two little children.
Speaker 13 (25:46):
They will never recover these little children.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
And mommy is saying, oh, my son, it's her fault.
She got stabbed thirty nine times. And when she says stranglehold,
she's not talking about the girlfriend having him in a stranglehold.
She is talking about the claim that Deborah Brendeio, the
girlfriend stabbed thirty eight or thirty nine times. And I'm
(26:10):
going to go back to doctor Gorniac about how you
can't tell how many stab wins exactly thirty eight or
thirty nine times.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
She'd have been a physical stranglehold. Oh thank you, Jackie.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Children ages seven and four see their mother stabbed thirty
nine times to death seven and four.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
You think they're ever going to get over that answer?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
No, Mommy is saying he spawned calvil Kante.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
It's not his fault. She'd have been a stranglehold in that.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
She told him if you didn't quit beating her all
the time, she'd tell authorities he was wanted from murder
back in Brazil.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Karen Stark thoughts.
Speaker 13 (26:50):
Well, I mean, Nancy, you know mothers to spend their children.
We're not surprised about that.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Oh you are not telling me that you expected this.
Speaker 13 (27:00):
What this is about as an extreme as you could
possibly get. I mean, here is a mother and it
just goes to show talk about Sponge why he turned out.
Speaker 10 (27:11):
To be the person that he is, because he's.
Speaker 13 (27:14):
Allowed to get away with anything. He could kill somebody
because they're threatening to go to the police, and she's
saying that he had no choice that she was strangling him.
Speaker 10 (27:25):
What this is not your everyday mother.
Speaker 13 (27:29):
This is a mother of a criminal.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
It's a monster mother. It's a monster mother.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Now we'll say it's okay to stab the girlfriend.
Speaker 13 (27:37):
Not just that, but Nancy. She also said she'd rather
have him dead than be captured again. This is his mother,
would rather see him dead.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
Doctor Gane.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Gorniac joining us, very well respected pathologist who has taken
to the autopsy table there in Vegas many many times,
hundreds of not thousands of times to perform autopsies.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Doctor Gorniac. When someone is stabbed.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Multiple times, and the first time this may have come
into the public's consciousness was in the case of Jody Arius.
I hate to even say your name. I don't want
to conjure her up out of the cauldron. But she
stabbed her lover, Travis Alexander. I believe twenty nine times.
(28:25):
Can you check me on that, Jackie. But the number
of stabbings fluctuated depending on who was reporting it, and
the reason was, once you stab somebody so many times,
you start stabbing them in the same place, the stab
wounds begin to overlap each other, and it's very more
(28:48):
than twenty seven c see I said twenty nine because
another person said some doctor said twenty nine. But you
stab on top of your stab wounds, and it's for
the medical examiner to determine exactly how many times you
stab somebody.
Speaker 6 (29:04):
Yes, you are correct.
Speaker 10 (29:05):
Also not even that the wounds will start to overlap.
You don't also don't have to remove the sharp force,
the instrument, the knife out of the body to continue stabbing.
So therefore you can have one stab wound into the body,
but you can be moving the knife around and have
like say four or five stab wounds to the lung
(29:28):
with one stab wound through the skin, if that makes
any sense. So you don't withdraw the knife out, So
it could be I mean, you can see one stab
wound on the body, but have four stab wounds on
the inside to the heart in the lungs. So yes,
it's very difficult to count how many times someone is
stabbed because they do overlap. People move, you know, if
(29:48):
you're not just gonna lay there or stand there and
get stabed. So the more you're moving, not only you're
going to have stab wounds of your body, you're going
to have you know, defensive wounds on your hands. If
you grab the neck. So these are the worst cases
for me. I really do not of all the cases
I do, except for pediatric cases those babies. Stab wound
(30:11):
cases are the worst cases that I have to do.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
I hate stabcases. I hate them. It's visceral.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
I can't tell you why I hate them more than
other except for child victims.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
I'm with you, doctor Gorniac.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Prime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Doctor Garniac. Personal question, do you compartmentalize? I mean, how
do you just go about your day, your regular day,
like with your family, with your dog or your cat,
or going to the grocery store without visions of stabbing
autopsies coming up in your hand and dancing.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Through like a parade.
Speaker 10 (31:10):
Right I did? I do get that that question quite
a bit. So when I'm doing my job, I'm a
physician first, so and that's the only way I can
get my job done. So if I go into the
autoives room as jam, it's not going to be a
good thing for myself or my colleagues. So I equate
(31:32):
us to being like the room the emergency room physician
when people come through the door with bloom Forth's trauma,
stab wounds, gunshot wounds, that emergency room physician has to
respond and react and treat that patient. Unfortunately, for on
our side, our patients are deceased, so we put on
our doctor's head and we treat our patients and then
(31:56):
we have to you know, then jam comes out. So
over the years that it has taken time, but I
have worked very intentional on leaving it in the autax room.
Not to say that some cases do not stay with me.
Like I said, some of these as I'm talking about it,
I can picture a stab wound case I had back
(32:17):
in two thousand and seven. So but you know, you
just have to be professional, be that puisition, treat your
patient the best that you can, and then leave it
in the autopsum.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Nima Romani is with me, former federal prosecutor turned trial lawyer.
You can find him at West Coast Trial Lawyers dot com,
author of Harvard de hashtag neema. I guess same thing
for you, and I want to use this segue to
talk about the mind of Danello Cavalcante. You know, when
(32:50):
I had one particular judge, and I know this is unorthodox,
but it worked whenever would have a big arraignment calendar
or pola calendar. I would sit in a ram a
conference room, of course, with armed guards, and the defense
attorneys would come in and they would bring their jill
clients who'd been brought over like four o'clock that morning
into the conference room.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
That's sit on the other.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Side of the table, and I go through the police
report and all the evidence and let them look at
everything there was, and I'd give them a plea deal.
Of course, they would never want the plea deals that
I gave them, but a lot of times they would
get a plea. I would look at them, and very
often they would seem like a regular person to just
(33:33):
look at them in their demeanor. But when you look
at the police report and you see this guy is
sidomized children for the last seven or eight years, or
this guy killed his own mom, or this guy gunned
down a store clerk and his assistant for a pack
of cigarettes, and you're looking at the guy and they
seem charming and affable.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
It's freaky. And this guy, we know, Calvalcante, could be very.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Very charming.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
That's how we got the girlfriend to start with Nima.
Speaker 14 (34:08):
Well, in the beginning of Targe, you know, I put
more than a thousand people in federal prison. And now
I don't feel any sympathy for the defendants, but the
family members.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
I didn't say sympathy, hgl n oh.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
I didn't feel sympathy, but I was always intrigued, like
looking at a spider in a box or the snake
at the snakehouse at the zoo. I'm intrigued by how
they can be so charming when I know they're a
cold blooded killer.
Speaker 9 (34:35):
Oh, no question.
Speaker 14 (34:36):
There's really those family members, right, the kids, the girlfriend,
the moms. Right, they're crying, they're begging, they're pleading. But
after a while, an you know, you just get desensitized
and you realize that these are criminals and their own
families are better off if they're locked up in prison
for a very long time.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Have you always noticed, as I did, I don't care
how bad the evidency is. Mommy the defendants, Mommy sits
through it like she didn't hear a thing.
Speaker 14 (35:06):
No matter what, Mom's going to get up there and testify,
and we're cross examined moms, right, and the cross examination
is always just say, well, you love your son, right,
and you don't want him to go to prison, and
he'll do anything or say anything to protect them.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
And that's it.
Speaker 14 (35:21):
You know, the bond between a mother and her son
is unlike any other.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Back off if you're talking about my son John David
Lynch or my daughter Lucy, because they can never do
anything wrong.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Okay, you're right.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Douglas McGregor joining me, Guys McGregor. That's what you call
a geographic profiler. He specializes in serial and violent crime,
missing persons, locating clandestine burial sites. You can find him
at at the geo Profiler. Douglas did Cavalcante.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
Do exactly what you thought he was going to do?
Speaker 6 (35:58):
I think that he did, Nancy, Yes, he did. He
had he had a plan. He executed it fairly well.
He just got interrupted by law enforcement doing a good job.
He he traveled north and he went to East Pikeland
and Phoenix, still looking for you know, accomplices, people that
help him out resources. And then after that he traveled
west and the key here is the place that he
(36:21):
dumped the vehicle, the van. It wasn't random, it wasn't
a mistake, and it wasn't just because he ran out
of gas like that place was pre selected. It was
actually the property of the father of Michael Cahill, Michael
ska Hill who helped him after he murdered his ex girlfriend.
(36:45):
So he knew where he was going, and he knew
where he was dumping that van. And then that's not
to implicate Michael ska Hill at all. He may have
had no knowledge that Cavalcante was heading to that residence,
that property, but Cavalcanti might just have been familiar with it.
He might have stayed there at one point, and he
(37:06):
may have been having continue to head west. I mean,
if if Skhill was involved in this, or wasn't accomplished
in this in any way, then Cavalcante may have been
continuing on to Ohio, specifically of a Youngstown area. So
I can't say that for sure, but he did have
a plan and he was he was trying to follow it.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
Through Youngstown, Ohio college town, and there would be plenty
single young women alone all over the place in Youngstown.
Speaker 3 (37:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Now police are trying to figure out did Cavalcante have help.
Don't feel sorry for this guy. I know he looks
bloody and pitiful, but remember he had a soft off
in his backpack. He's killed before and he would do
it again.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
RV brand.
Speaker 8 (38:01):
What do you think, Nanthy, You were talking about how
people are surprised that he wasn't taken alive, that he
was captured and this was done. I'm sure he planned
was not to be taken alive, but it was superior
tactics by the police. Like the colonel said in his briefing,
(38:21):
they surrounded him and he was unaware that he was there.
And then if they would have lit him up with
floodlights and bullhorns telling him he was surrounded, he would
have shot it out with police. He had no intentions
of going back to jail. But in police work, we
have a saying action is faster than reaction, and there's
(38:44):
nothing faster than a canine. They let the dogs loose
on him and before he could react. He was trying
to crawl away. He wasn't given up. He was trying
to call it, but he couldn't resist the canines. Then
they moved in and they captured him. That's the only
reason why he was captured a lot. So when you
(39:04):
look at that bloody picture of him, well he's alive.
If it would have went any other way, the picture
would have been with him with a bullet hole in
his head. From a sniper.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
You are hearing the voice of IRV Brand, Senior Inspector,
US Marshall Service and author Eddie Cadam joining US Fox
twenty nine Crack investigative reporter. Where is he now and
what happens next?
Speaker 5 (39:28):
He's heading to Abingdale for processing and then he'll be
taken to the State Correctional facility where he will serve
his life sentence. And important with that too to the tenant, saying,
as long as he's in their custody, he's not getting
out again, something everybody wants to hear, obviously.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
An amazing effort, and finally Danello Cavalcante behind bars where
he belongs.
Speaker 3 (39:56):
Goodbye friend,
Host
Nancy Grace
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