Disguised prison escapee found dead

The Brazil inmate who dressed up as his teen daughter in a dramatic, albeit failed, bid to escape prison has been found dead in his cell.

A Brazilian criminal who tried to escape prison disguised as his teen daughter has been found dead in his cell just days after his dramatic failed bid for freedom.

Clauvino da Silva, a 42-year-old gang leader and drug trafficker, died in an apparent suicide on Tuesday, Rio de Janeiro prisons authorities announced today.

His death comes after Da Silva, nicknamed “Shorty” or “Baixinho” in Portuguese, was caught trying to walk out the front door of a Rio de Janeiro jail on Saturday.

Da Silva wore a silicon mask, long dark wig, glasses, white thongs and the clothes, including a pink T-shirt, blue denim jeans and black bra, belonging to his 19-year-old daughter, who was visiting him.

She had planned to stay behind while he made his getaway from the maximum security prison.
 

Da Silva, a senior member of the Red Command, one of Brazil’s main crime groups,

was serving a 73-year jail sentence. He reached the “exit” doors but was caught after guards noticed he looked “suspicious”. His daughter and seven other visitors were detained over the foiled breakout. A video released by the state prisons administration department showed da Silva stripping off his elaborate disguise in front of officials.

Three days after his failed escape he was dead. An investigation has been launched into his death.

Experts estimate hundreds of prisoners are killed in Brazilian prisons every year, mostly in confrontations between rival gangs battling for control of one of the world’s most important cocaine markets and trafficking routes.

Brazil has the world’s third-largest prison population after the US and China, with more than 800,000 inmates.

— with wires

megan.palin@news.com.au | @Megan_Palin