JAMESTOWN, N.Y. (WKBW) — Michael Burham, who was the subject of a massive manhunt after escaping from Warren County Jail, has been indicted on a rare first-degree murder charge.
The 35-year-old Jamestown man is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend Kala Hodgkin on May 11, 2023. The Jamestown woman was a mother of three.
Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said he decided to pursue the first-degree murder charge because Hodgkin had gone to the police before her death to report that Burham had raped her and held her against her will.
Court documents show a note that appears to have been written by Burham.
Authorities had obtained an arrest warrant for Burham and were on the lookout for him when he was accused of breaking into the home and shooting her in front of her children.
"Anybody who is a witness to a crime and the purpose of intentionally causing that person's death is to prevent them from testifying in criminal proceedings — that's murder in the first degree," Schmidt told reporters at a news conference in Jamestown. "It's rare that we see murder in the first degree. I think it's very rare in this community from what I've seen in the past. But, I felt that the, and all of us felt that the facts and circumstances here gave rise to presenting that to a grand jury to consider and vote upon."
Burham was taken into custody two weeks after Hodgkin's murder after he kidnapped an elderly couple in Pennsylvania and forced them to drive him to South Carolina. He was brought back to Warren County, Pennsylvania but then escaped. After another manhunt, he was tracked down and brought back to Pennsylvania where he faced charges related to the kidnapping and escape. Schmit told reporters that the saga has left a deep mark on Chautauqua County residents.
"Any violent crime hits home. But something like this, where we have somebody who had come to the police for help and the police were doing all that they could to help her and in fact, had followed the process and we had somebody here that was taken from us under these circumstances. Well, that just implicates the entire community. And we were very well aware. You could see that everybody cared about Kala and what happened to her because it really could happen to anybody."
Michael Burham was indicted on the first-degree murder charge, as well as second-degree murder and arson. He has already been convicted on the kidnapping charge. He could face up to life without parole if convicted on the first-degree murder charge. He has been remanded without bail at the Chautauqua County Jail. His trial is not expected to take place until next year.
