Danilo Cavalcante makes a brief first appearance in court to face a judge in his escape and other crimes

Danilo Cavalcante, the convicted murderer who was the subject of an intense manhunt this summer in Chester County, made his first appearance in court Friday to face charges related to his flight from justice.

During a brief hearing before District Judge Matthew Seavey in Kennett Square, Cavalcante was arraigned on new criminal charges filed earlier this week, and Senior Deputy Attorney General Christopher Phillips consolidated them with the initial escape charge Cavalcante faced after he was captured Sept. 14.

Both sets of charges will be outlined in more detail at a preliminary hearing at a later date.

Cavalcante, 34, has been charged with escape for fleeing the Chester County Prison on Aug. 31, as well as burglary, trespass, theft, receiving stolen property, and unlawful possession of a firearm for crimes prosecutors say he committed during the two weeks he spent on the run.

» READ MORE: Two weeks on edge: How law enforcement tracked down an escaped murderer in Chester County

The most recent charges were filed Monday, exactly two months after the Brazilian national was captured by law enforcement officers who tracked him to a patch of woods behind a tractor dealership in South Coventry Township.

During his brief court appearance Friday, broadcast over Zoom from the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix, Cavalcante said little. The dreadlocks he sported during his much-publicized arrest had given way to long, shaggy hair that touched his neck and nearly covered his eyes.

Neither Cavalcante’s attorney, Susanna Dewise, nor Phillips, the prosecutor, commented after the hearing.

Hundreds of local, state and federal officers pursued Cavalcante across Chester County in September, disrupting life for residents in the rural suburb and drawing international attention.

A week before his escape, Cavalcante was sentenced to life in prison for stabbing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, to death in front of her two children. He killed Brandao, prosecutors said during his trial, because she had threatened to tell police that Cavalcante was wanted for an earlier murder in Brazil.

Cavalcante’s trial attorney, Maria Heller, appealed his life sentence to the state Superior Court on Oct. 17 for reasons not specified in the filing. Previously, on the day after Cavalcante escaped from prison, Heller unsuccessfully asked a judge to vacate his sentence and grant him a new trial. Chester County Court Judge Patrick Carmody denied that request.

Cavalcante made his escape by scaling a wall in one of the prison’s exercise yards, according to investigators. He then hid in thick vegetation, traveling mostly at night, and eluding law enforcement for two weeks in a search that drew up to 400 law enforcement officers and gripped the nation and beyond. He sustained himself initially on stolen watermelon before breaking into several homes to gather more food and supplies, including a stop at a home in West Chester.

While dodging his pursuers on the property of Longwood Gardens, Cavalcante stole a Ford van owned by nearby Baily’s Dairy that had been left unlocked with the keys inside. Cavalcante traveled nearly an hour north before ditching the van, stopping along the way to contact former coworkers, who ignored his requests for aid.

As he grew more desperate, Cavalcante walked into an unlocked garage next to a home in South Coventry Township and stole a Ruger .22 rifle during a brief encounter with the home’s owner. Days later, thanks to thermal imaging from a plane belonging to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, officers were able to find Cavalcante and take him into custody without any injuries.

Cavalcante’s preliminary hearing will be scheduled in the coming days. He will remain at SCI Phoenix, denied bail, until then.