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DA: May be week or more before man tied to kidnapping is returned

Michael Burham

It could be a week or more before the Chautauqua County man taken into custody last week on numerous federal and local arrest warrants is back in New York.

Jason Schmidt, Chautauqua County district attorney, released a statement Tuesday on Michael Burham — the 34-year-old arrested in South Carolina capping a nearly two-week search.

Burham had been wanted locally on charges of rape and unlawful imprisonment when he was implicated in the May 11 death of Kala Hodgkin. The 34-year-old mother of three was found dead inside her William Street home in Jamestown.

“My understanding is that the U.S. Marshals Service is handling his transport back to the Western District of New York and that his ETA is not yet clear,” Schmidt said. “It may take another week or two, if not more, before he is back in New York.”

Documents filed in U.S. District Court in the Western District of New York detail the alleged crimes committed by Burham in New York and Pennsylvania before he fled south.

Moments after police were called to Hodgkin’s home the early morning of May 11, Jamestown police received word from another woman who said Burham had tried to break into her home. When the break-in failed, the 34-year-old Burham allegedly set her car on fire. The incident was captured on a doorbell camera and later shared by police.

Court documents state Burham on May 20 — nine days after the homicide — kidnapped a man and woman from their Sheffield home in Warren County. The pair was later reported missing by a relative.

According to an affidavit obtained by Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston, S.C., the couple was found in a cemetery by North Charleston police officers. The woman told police that Burham had appeared in her garage in Sheffield with a revolver and drove the two to South Carolina.

Police located the pair’s sport utility vehicle in a nearby parking lot. Located inside was a note that, in part, read, “Sorry for all the problems I caused the family. … I’m not sorry for what I did, however I do feel terrible about the children…”

The note, apparently addressed to Burham’s father, was included in the FBI affidavit attached to the criminal complaint filed May 22 in U.S. District Court in New York.

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