Four-time convicted murderer Norman Johnston managed to elude Pennsylvania State Police in three different states — Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware – and stayed on the lam for 19 days.
ended Wednesday after Danelo Cavalcante was captured, officials said. But decades before Cavalcante used a"crab-walk" to scale the walls of the Chester County Prison exercise yard, another manhunt in the '90s had Pennsylvanians on edge. managed to elude police in three different states — Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware – and stayed on the lam for 19 days.
The choices made by the escaped killers during their time on the outside were nearly identical. Both Johnston and Cavalcante stole vehicles and contacted relatives and friends to help them. Hundreds of law enforcement officers swarmed Chester County to search for both escaped killers during the hot August months. Residents reported multiple sightings. And both manhunts ended just miles from the prisons from which they escaped.
Norman Johnston, left, and his brother David Johnston enter a Cambria County courtroom at Ebensburg, Penn., March 19, 1980. They were found guilty of four of five murder charges against them. Prosecutors say the murders were carried out to protect a lucrative family crime ring.Johnston had about a 10-hour start because he counted on correction officers not taking a close look into the cell.
Oleyniczak said that even though Chester County residents were scared, there was a mystique around the"Johnston Gang," led by older brother Bruce, who illegally sold tractors, trucks and other automobiles. Numerous books have been written about their criminal exploits and the The family had deep roots in Chester County and Oleyniczak said there were businesses selling T-shirts during the manhunt that said"Run Norman Run.
One of the first things that Johnston did when he reached the heavily wooded forests surrounding the prisons was steal a vehicle –on Monday night. A hundred law enforcement officers swarmed the 600-acre Nottingham County Park where Johnston first escaped, according to testimony Oleyniczak gave. The heat and humidity made it difficult to locate Johnston; the summer brush and tree cover were so thick that they"couldn't cut through it," he said.
A $40,000 award was offered and Johnston's story was featured on"America's Most Wanted." About 60 leads were generated from the show, but no Johnston. On Aug. 16, 1999, almost two weeks after he escaped, Johnston got into a fight with an unarmed University of Delaware police officer in Newark, Delaware.
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