Current:Home > reviewsHomicide suspect sentenced to 25-plus years to 50-plus years in escape, kidnapping of elderly couple -PrimeWealth Guides
Homicide suspect sentenced to 25-plus years to 50-plus years in escape, kidnapping of elderly couple
View
Date:2025-04-16 05:10:09
WARREN, Pa. (AP) — A homicide suspect who escaped from a northwestern Pennsylvania prison last year and was on the run for more than a week before a pet dog led to his recapture has been sentenced to decades in prison.
Michael Burham, 35, was sentenced Friday in Warren County Court to serve from 25-plus years to 50-plus years after pleading guilty in November to charges in the July escape and the earlier kidnapping of a Pennsylvania couple.
Judge Gregory Hammond called Burham a “grave threat to the public” who would “do anything to anybody” to maintain his freedom, the (Warren) Times-Observer reported. Hammond said the 89-year-old and 68-year-old kidnapping victims, retraumatized by his escape, ”will never completely recover” and the escape “has had a greater negative impact on the community” than anything else he could think of.
“Everyone in the community changed the way they lived their lives,” Hammond said. “They know you were capable of victimizing a law-abiding couple in their own home.”
Hammond sentenced Burham to 10- to 20-year terms on kidnapping and burglary charges and 3 1/2 to 7 years on the escape — which he said were the maximum terms allowed by law. He imposed lesser terms on reckless endangering, terroristic threatening, and theft counts. The judge also ordered some of the sentences to be served consecutively.
Burham’s attorney, Chief Public Defender Kord Kinney, had pointed out that his client only previously had a driving under the influence count on his record, had served 12 years in the Army reserves and had a solid work history. He said his client was “remorseful” and understands the impact of his actions.
Burham, given the opportunity to speak, apologized to the victims and “everyone in Warren” and also to Erie County correctional officers whom he said he had “treated poorly.” Hammond said during the hearing that there had been 25 misconduct violations during Burham’s time in the prison.
Burham had been accused of kidnapping the couple in Pennsylvania and driving them to South Carolina to evade a New York murder investigation when he escaped from the Warren County jail, about 66 miles (105 kilometers) east of Erie. Authorities said he climbed from exercise equipment to a grated metal roof and slid down a rope made of bedsheets.
During his time on the lam, police described Burham as “a self-taught survivalist with military experience,” warning he could be dangerous. He evaded authorities for nine days before a couple responding to their barking dog encountered him. They contacted police and Burham was recaptured about two hours later.
His escape came just months before another high-profile incident in southeastern Pennsylvania, where a murderer evaded authorities for nearly two weeks.
District Attorney Jason Schmidt, of Chautauqua County, New York, said in June that Burham was the prime suspect in the May 11 killing of Kala Hodgkin, 34, and a related arson in Jamestown, New York. Officials in that state said they opted to let Pennsylvania handle the initial prosecution as they probe the killing and arson.
veryGood! (7)
Related
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Police say a 10-year-old boy from Maryland was attacked by a shark at a Bahamian resort
- New doctrine in Russia ally Belarus for the first time provides for using nuclear weapons
- Turkey’s Erdogan vows to widen operations against Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- New Mexico’s financial surplus and crime set the stage for the governor’s speech to lawmakers
- Sofía Vergara on remaking herself as Griselda
- The second trial between Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll is underway. Here's what to know.
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- China's millennial and Gen Z workers are having to lower their economic expectations
Ranking
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Alix Earle Recommended This $8 Dermaplaning Tool and I Had To Try It—Here’s What Happened
- Provider of faulty computer system apologizes to hundreds affected by UK Post Office scandal
- Guinness World Records suspends ‘oldest dog ever’ title for Portuguese canine during a review
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- Emmys 2023 Red Carpet Fashion: See Every Look as the Stars Arrive
- Guinness World Records suspends ‘oldest dog ever’ title for Portuguese canine during a review
- Virginia gun-rights advocates rally at annual ‘Lobby Day’ amid legislators’ gun-control push
Recommendation
Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam
Korean Air plane bumps parked Cathay Pacific aircraft at a Japanese airport but no injuries reported
Heading into Iowa caucuses, Ron DeSantis says a lot of Iowans haven't made up a final decision
Vandalism probe opened after swastika painted on Philadelphia wall adjacent to Holocaust memorial
NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
MLK Jr. holiday celebrations include acts of service and parades, but some take a political turn
Heading into Iowa caucuses, Ron DeSantis says a lot of Iowans haven't made up a final decision
Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans: Odds and how to watch AFC divisional playoff game